One of the inherent problems with the World Wide Web and social media is that–especially in America–free speech can allow anybody to post anything, and they may sound like an expert simply by doing so. Sometimes these folks simply cater to what some people want to believe to fulfil those persons’ need of other supportive individuals. It’s the “I feel that”/”Me, too” connection which helps us feel that we are right about certain ideas in our lives. Those agreements are not always in our best interests.
In a previous post, I wrote about a chemical called chlormequat, which is a plant growth regulating chemical. Its main purpose in the food industry is to encourage grain stems, such as for oats, to stand up for machinery to cut them down more efficiently. For those of us who eat cereals and grains, this substance may appear in our urine, and could contribute to reproductive issues. Its use in the US for grains is prohibited, but the Quaker Oats and General Mills companies seem to be importing grain from other countries that may use it in their fields.
Why am I bringing this up? Many of us have cereals, seeds or grains for breakfast, or incorporate them into our diets in other ways. I had salmon with quinoa the other day, for example. There are those who would like us to not include these items in our meals, like a heavily advertised Dr. Steven Gundry, who pops into video and social media feeds touting dietary advice.
Sometimes these ads are interesting to listen to, because they are assembled with care and feature costly videos and lectures about how we’re doing things wrong. But I caught a piece of information earlier today which made me take a step back.
Dr. Gundry stated that the only thing oats are good for is fattening horses. I don’t know about you, but horse obesity has never, ever, been a topic of discussion in the ages and decades in which we have fed oats to horses. They get fed hay, fruits and vegetables and, yes, oats and grains. The oats are designed to provide fast energy for working animals who may need to draw vehicles. The high fiber content encourages good digestion because they chew the oats, which also wears their teeth down (a necessary activity because their teeth continue to grow throughout their lives). The oats provide protein, fiber, and b-vitamins. For humans, we get a high percent of our daily fiber, and no added sugar, not to mention pure oats are considered fine for people with gluten intolerance, because its source, avenin, is only related to wheat gluten.
So at least in terms of a particular turn of phrase, Dr. Gundry may be blowing smoke. His history shows him to be a heart physician, but he has gone into authoring books and promoting merchandise to people hoping for a dietary restrictive fix for their health problems. His big enemy is lectin, which he says is bad for people.
I still feel that everything in moderation is a good approach. I also believe that the artificial ingredients pumped into our food chain over the past three decades are mainly to blame for our obesity problem. How many people were obese drinking regular soda with sugar, compared to how many are overweight drinking today’s formulas? How many people got fat from snacks forty years ago, compared to those same snacks today? Look at the ingredient labels, and you’ll see additives which boggle the brain, and may well be what is packing on the pounds.
Meanwhile, our bakeries need to raise prices to use purer ingredients in their products, and we reject them because the other stuff is cheaper. It seems as if killing ourselves inexpensively is more tempting. As for Dr. Gundry, perhaps he should provide more proof of those horses needing somebody like Dr. Nowzaridan of “My 600-lb. Life” to put them on a diet.
Don’t believe everything on social media. Fact check with proven sources. I even invite you to fact check me. I’m human, after all, and I’m not touting any particular agenda, except to take a step back when you hear something that sounds, um, sound on the surface but just may be slightly mistaken.
Fat horses. What next?
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