The Fruit and Vegetable Cult

My blog abstract says I'll post on: "Canadian politics with digressions into international politics and anything else that seems relevant, interesting, amusing, or at the very least better than not posting at all," and, after some deliberation, I decided this post qualified (barely) for that last category.

Anyway, Marla Shapiro had a fairly routine article in the Globe and Mail today about rising obesity (she claims that 'fighting obesity is crucial to our society as a whole' - but if you ask me, given the coming demographic challenges, *not* fighting obesity might be our best bet - if we were only considered about the impact on society as a whole and not that on the individual people, but I digress).

I only bring it up (the article) because of the following paragraph,

"Fighting weight gain is simple math: The energy you take in (food and drink to fuel your body) must be offset by the energy you put out (through body activity and movement). It's no surprise that people who spend their leisure hours in a sedentary state are more likely to be obese, or that eating fewer fruits and vegetables correlates with weight gain."

The first sentence is, in my opinion, the first and last word on weight gain/loss. Want to gain weight? Take in more calories than you use during the day. Want to lose weight? Do the opposite.

The second sentence follows logically, if you use fewer calories, you'll trend toward increased weight.

But the third sentence is odd. It claims that if you consume fewer calories (eating fewer fruits and vegetables) then you will gain weight. Do fruits and vegetables contain negative calories? If not, then how does this sentence makes sense? Now, if it had been written, 'eating fewer fruits and vegetables and instead eating *more* other food will cause you to gain weight', then it would make sense. But you could also write that, 'eating less cheese and potato chips and instead eating *more* fruits and vegetables will make you gain weight' and it would make the same sense.

I'm sure there is a correlation between weight and fruit/vegetable consumption, but I suspect that is because the people who make the sacrifice of eating fruits and vegetables are more likely to be those who worry about health and fitness and stuff like that.

Anyway, I'm sure this post was pretty boring for everyone, but I just wanted to note how a received wisdom (the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables) can be so strong that it causes people to flat out contradict themselves / make no sense, even in the midst of an otherwise sensible, logical piece.

(or maybe I was just irritated by the title, 'Fat Chance of Being in Shape with Poor Eating Habits', given that I have terrible eating habits but am reasonably in shape, all the same.)