It's amazing how the truth comes out in dribs and drabs, usually as only part of another story, like this bit in a story about the world's oldest American - a coffee drinking black woman:
"According to experts, people who [live] into their second century do so because they are blessed with good genetics, rather than because of an exercise or diet regime."
I made this point in a post about Glenn Reynolds' obsession with anti-aging bullshit - he credited Jack Jack LaLanne's longevity to exercise, rather than understanding that people like Jack LaLanne have good genetics. Scam artists use this misunderstanding to their advantage, finding people with good genetics to be in those "before" and "after" photos advertising weight loss regimes. (Of course, I've also made the point Glenn Reynolds doesn't understand quackery.)
What bothers me most is that people don't recognize the obesity epidemic is, partially, due to bombarding people with moral judgements and this very kind of exercise and diet misinformation. In other words, the people trying to help are the problem, because - just as false hope is ultimately more devastating than none - the consequences of bad information are worse than no help at all:
The good intentions - of stupid people - are what's killing us,...
The other side of this being, that when a person who is morbidly obese (or knocking on the door of "way too fat") gets told "hey, just step away from the food once in a while, maybe try to get a bit of activity in your routine; maybe see your doctor and do something sensible about this" people go all ballistic with the "don't judge!".
ReplyDeleteWell, nobody said they had to be stick thin or fit enough to participate in the Olympics -- just maybe drop a few, at least enough that they don't wind up Rascal-bound or worse.
Nope, they'd rather be told it's ok, accept yourself...and what the latest, greatest fad diet tips/pills are.
PW -- and yes, I've been through the "you're a hater!" because I did indeed say that to a couple of people who were in that shape and were complaining about their lack of ability to do xyz; called a "hater" by people who were more than happy to hook these people up with the latest thing from GNC -- guaranteed to shed 50 lbs. in a month! sheesh...
And no, the old man and I far from being some paragons of slimness or fitness -- we're on the downward slide of middle age damnit and with age should come some latitude to get slack(as long as we can still stack our own hay, do our own chores, and build fence, we're good)
It does not make you some new age groupie to think being in shape is better than being out of shape.
ReplyDeleteJack LaLane was in shape (you have to be a tough mother fucker to swim from Alcatraz to San Francisco each year on your birthday). So I do not know if it was just genetics and had he sat on a couch he would have lived just as long. My guess is probably not. It is a factor. It is not the single controlling factor.
Longevity is complex. Some of it is avoiding extra-dangerous activities. It is also partly due to the will to live (because a lot of people are miserable and really just want to die). Positive attitudes do matter. People who live long tend to do a lot of things in moderation (exercise, vices, eating, etc.).
EBL,
ReplyDeleteI'm not talking about a rational approach to health, but this push to make people look like Auschwitz survivors, with the constant, never-ending "nudging" we get to do things in what is certainly a pre-determined, NewAge way - to "go green" or do yoga (with it's attendant "save the planet" mindset). There's no body science there.
Also, that desire - to deny NewAge's role in modern life - is denial writ large. I get sick of people giving me this "It does not make you some new age groupie" nonsense, when the entire fucking society is now mouthing "MInd/Body/Spirit" like we're all members of the Hitler Youth. Yes, you ARE NewAge groupies. Just because you pick and choose what parts of it you'll accept (which all NewAgers do) doesn't change what you're accepting or what that makes you - a NewAge groupie.
You definitely aren't challenging it, or being a critical thinker, or independent-minded, or even rational.
Fuck - look at how screwy this is:
Since when can we expect a cow to understand the negatives of a herd mentality?
The slaughterhouse awaits, big boy - keep on going with the flow - you'll see,...
And one more thing, Mr. "Positive attitudes do matter" (no, you're not NewAge, you just spout that kind of NewAge pablum even though science has proven that's bullshit):
ReplyDeleteMy foster mother lived to 100 on Taco Bell and KFC, and never exercised in my entire life. That's reality:
It's all genetics,..