I think we are all screwed up, me included. Somehow it is okay to have a diet soda or pop (if you are Canadian) but it isn't okay to eat corn on the cob. Why is that? The diet soft drink has zero calories. I don't know about the corn but my guess is about 100 calories a cob. Sometimes I am very good. Essentially, I don't believe in pop because it is all chemical and doesn't have any nutrition whatsoever. But every once in a while I go on a Coke Zero binge or the like because it is good with a hamburger or a pizza... or has caffeine when you are tired. But then again, I smarten up and pull back the reins and say enough of this crap. On the other hand, I love corn but seldom eat it but make it all the time for my husband.
Ironically, the low-fat frenzy seems to be making people fatter! We are puffing up, as a continent like the fat-free rice cakes we hoover down. We figure as long as it says "fat-free" or "zero calories" we are good to go. I have said it before, and I will say it again, we have to stay away from the packaged, processed, sugar-laden, fat-free concoctions. Now all I have to do is put it into practice.
Here is the sad news! Drinking diet soft drinks makes you gain weight. Okay, okay.... so you don't believe me! A 25-year-long study showed that drinking diet soft drinks increases the likelihood of serious weight gain, even more than regular ones. It really sounds far-fetched but apparently there is more to weight gain than calories. Artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose help us pack on the pounds by rapidly boosting the fat-storage hormone insulin, just like real sugar. They also affect leptin, the hormone that tells you when to stop eating. What happens when insulin and leptin levels are out of whack? You're ravenous, you crave sweets, you overeat and you store more fat. OY! and that is me, I have been ravenous and craving sweets. Researchers say that fake sugars are making us crave more real sugar.
So maybe it is better to have corn on the cob without the butter or definitely no margarine and drink a tall glass of water with lemon. It actually doesn't sound bad and as a gal raised in Ontario, I just love the sweet corn that grows here. It creates real home mealtime memories... although I must admit my father didn't feel that way. My family and I were born in England. I came here when I was 3 years old. My father could never get used to people here eating corn or squash. After all, it was what they fed the pigs in England. People didn't eat it. It was for the animals.
My memories are more of being an adult and being invited to a friend's annual corn-boil. Does anyone have corn-boils anymore, or is it too plebeian? I had often thought about it though. I think we should resurrect it much like they used to have wine and cheese parties. They were good times.
Now, corn in many people's minds is given a bad rap. It is so cheap that North Americans are using it for everything including fuel. And perhaps, once it is processed into high-fructose corn syrup you have lost the benefit of it. But let's get back to fresh, unadulterated corn on the cob. It may surprise you that it is low in saturated fat, high in fibre as well as magnesium, phosphorus, thiamine and Vitamin C.
I always thought that anything grown is better than anything fake or packaged. If you cook more, you eat better. More veggies, more lean meats, more whole grains, more fresh, good stuff. People today are not cooking like they used to. Take-out, drive-thru, eat-in restaurant, or microwaving, you name it. That means we are eating more sugar, salt, bad fats, high-fructose corn syrup, MSG, and artificial ingredients than ever before.
Okay, I am going to make my husband's favourite dinner, home-made, lean burgers on the barbecue, corn on the cob, my Dad's best-ever potato-salad with low-fat mayo, lightly sauteed mushrooms and a bowl of fresh, deep red cherries for dessert. And, of course, I will have a tall glass of ice water with lemon. This may not sound like diet food but what the heck is that anyway?
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