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The Calorie Charade

The notion of ‘calories in, calories out’ or the notion that we ‘burn calories’ when working out is insane. Trust no person who actually believes in this myth (as long as I keep my calories below 2,000 a day, I should be ‘healthy’ and not put on ‘weight’).

Why is this notion of calories such a charade? Let me explain:

1. Think hormones, not calories

It doesn’t matter how many calories a certain food or beverage item has. More interesting is the *hormonal effect* it has on your body. For example, even if you drink a “100% organic non-GMO blended smoothie of “organic” avocados, spinach, kale, orange juice, honey, matcha powder, bananas, etc … think critically:

How does this affect my hormones?

Or in other words:

What hormonal effect does drinking this sugar-forward smoothie have on my insulin, pancreas, etc?

Truth be told, the hormonal effect of drinking this $15-uber-healthy “smoothie” is probably very similar to drinking (half) a glass bottle of “100% cane sugar” (Mexican) Coca Cola.

For example look at the ‘Brands & Products‘ on The Coca-Cola Company corporate page:

  • Coca Cola

2. Beware the lobbyist groups

pepsico
From the PepsiCo.com Brand website

For example let us go to the PepsiCo website. Very suspicious:

Apparently a ‘healthy’ breakfast is Quakers Oats, Lay’s potato chips, Pure Leaf Brewed Tea, and Tropicana Orange Juice (and hummus (yes the ‘Sabra’ hummus brand we all get from Costco or Whole Foods is owned by the PEPSI corporation (the same company that sells us PEPSI SODA!)

Also apparently their ‘everyday nutrition’ includes:

  • Gatorade
  • Sun Chips
  • Coconut Water
  • Tropicana Orange Juice
  • Naked (I was shocked that PEPSICO owned the virtue-signaling “uber-healthy” Naked brand of expensive fruit juices)
  • Sabra (once again … I wonder if hummus is just junk food with a good conscience)

So anyways I can go on and on and on but the point is simple:

These huge mega-corporations which have huuuuge lobbying power in government and politics (consider they are the same suppliers who provide “healthy food options” for our kids in public schools) essentially peddle sugary crap (junk food in disguise) to us, suckering us into thinking it is ‘good’ and ‘healthy’ for us.

3. Be very skeptical of … everything.

Why I Love Cooking My Own Food

Honestly at this point, I have stopped listening to podcasts and reading any modern books by any modern person. Why? They essentially are trying to peddle you something (for example how Dave Asprey [the guy who created the ‘Bulletproof coffee’ notion] also sells his own “Bulletproof coffee” (which is predatory and capitalizes on ‘fear marketing’ (by telling you all this nonsense how other coffee beans have toxic mold or whatever pseudo-toxins which “rob you of your mental agility” blah blah blah. The problem is this:

Dave Asprey and other guys like him use their influential Podcasts and platforms to sucker us into being afraid of eating … almost everything … and to only consume *their* “healthy” products.

Now ethically it is no problem to sell products, or to make money from one’s career, passion or platform. I think it is good. What is bad is when these individuals or corporations either hide the hidden negative side-effects under the table (how for a long time we thought smoking was ‘healthy’ or maybe in the future how we realize that zero-calorie sweeteners (like Stevia, etc have the same hormonal effects on our insulin and pancreas as real sugar) is actually bad for us. And also I am very anti-fear marketing or FOMO marketing, or people peddling pseudo-scientific claims which isn’t based on a double-blind experimental study. The heuristic:

Avoid any individual who personally takes weird hormone replacement therapy, does artificial testosterone enhancement, takes all these vitamins and pills and ‘supplements’, or does any of this nonsensical ‘bio-hacking’.

Even though I love Tim Ferriss to death, even I am highly skeptical of him (Tim Ferriss is far too obsessed with supplements and strange drugs. He should take more of the ‘via negativa’ approach).

Conclusion

Once again, none of this is a personal attack on nobody. I read Dave’s original book and thought it entraining. I listened to many of Tim’s podcasts and have enjoyed all his books. But I would just encourage you to experiment for yourself and try for yourself. And what works for others won’t work for you, and what works for you won’t work for others. But if you discover something which works for you just share it … but don’t proselytize or *force* others to do as you do. Also, nobody else should force you what to eat (or what not to eat) or *how* to eat against your own free will.

ERIC


Health is the Ultimate Wealth

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Biological Health and Happiness

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