Grumpy old man on food

I have for some time now been pondering the pro’s and cons of the type of food that I eat. This is not some kind of fad or fashion, nor is it that I wish to change the shape of my body to that of some Greek god or Adonis in order to attract the opposite sex. No, this is due to a medical condition that if I were to ignore it, would in the fullness of time kill me. When I was first told of this by my physician said that I was no longer to partake of sugar, salt or fat. It ran through my mind that the only thing that left me with was the occasional cucumber, perhaps a stick of celery or the odd lettuce leaf. Ok this may be a slight exaggeration but the basic premise is nevertheless true, a definite reduction in all three substances must take place if I am to reach my three score years and ten.

From that point I began to look at the small print on all packets and cans, I made a point of looking to see what the ingredients were that I had been swallowing for so many years. Until I gave up work I cared not one jot as to the make up of my food, as long as it tasted nice I was quite happy. So I was more than a little surprised to find that apart from wholesome ingredients, which may not be so wholesome once they have processed it, was those little extras. It would seem a lot of processed food comes with things that to my mind should not be there, such as taste enhancers, colours and additives to give a longer shelf life. Now I have no idea what the rest of the world uses to make their food more palatable, but in Europe this is a list of things that are mixed with what should be perfectly edible food.

Now if I make a meal, and make no mistake I can, with fresh vegetables and all the trimmings. I would never dream of sprinkling an E310 nor an E640 and god forbid a dollop of E974 (miscellaneous) what ever they may be, over my finished meal. I can’t help wondering if all of these extra chemicals are not to blame for some of our modern day ills.

I am no Nutritionist, nor am I versed in any of the food sciences. By the standards of today I am ill educated with no major certificates to adorn my walls. But I have a gut feeling that the continual use of all these additives over an extended period cannot in the long run be good for the human body. I understand that since I was born the world has moved on, this was driven home when my son said “What was it like in the olden day’s dad”. I of course then told him of my endeavors at the court of King Arthur, and how I helped Merlin make a brew consisting of bat’s wing, eye of newt and E973 (Miscellaneous). The point I’m trying to make is that when I was a child there was no ready made meals, there was no chunks of beef wrapped up in hygienic plastic, nor was there mountains of frozen foods full of E numbers. Come to that there were no freezers, not only no freezers but you would be hard pushed to find a fridge on sale in the high street. No, if your mother didn’t cook dinner or bake you didn’t eat.

When I was a child there was no such thing as ADHD, nor was fatness a problem. If I remember rightly in the whole of my junior school there was only one fat child and I have no doubt that was due to some medical problem. As I remember we were all healthy and fit, we played out until bed time, called in to bathe and went to bed. Not for us the joys of computers, Game Boys or the solitude of watching a DVD in ones bedroom.

Then it seems that we advanced from those days and progressed to what we have today. I find it something of a strange coincidence that with the advent of packaged processed foods and the introduction of E numbers we see the rise in ADHD. There was no such thing while our mothers were cooking for us, and yet it now seems rampant along with obesity. As I understand it there is no definitive test for ADHD, but to be diagnosed with this mental infirmity one needs the subjective opinion of a Psychiatrist. I have even heard of parents in America being threatened with child neglect if they refuse to put their child on drugs. Once this psychiatrist has made his pronouncement the drug that is the great cure all is Ritalin. I am led to believe that this drug is at the moment given to millions of American children. The sheer numbers involved should set alarm bells ringing in the heads of all parents. What has gone wrong to cause millions of children to be taking a drug that is equivalent to crack cocaine? What is more distressing is the fact that a number of these child drug takers have actually died due to the drug. It seems to me that there is a whole industry devoted to the distribution of Ritalin to school kids. How on earth did we manage without it in the 40’s and 50’s?

I have no doubt whatsoever that there are people out there who have all the answers to these questions, and because of their academic qualifications can convince most people that they know best. No doubt many will believe every word they say, but not me. Do you trust your doctor or the people that are supposed to be looking after your welfare? Don’t forget the American doctors that gave healthy men syphilis to study the affects on them. Or the tests that the CIA did with LSD on an unsuspecting American population. Or Dr Shipman in the UK who murdered two hundred of his patients. Not all those in authority have your best interests at heart.