Is a low-carb / low-fat (take your pick) snack bar really that good for you? Take a look at ingredients list - can you decipher all those numbers? Do you understand what a 'partially hydrogenated oil" is?

What about those great 'health' bars for kids - they even have healthy tick on them (indicating they are recommended by American Heart Association). On closer inspection those 'healthy snacks' are nothing but lots of refined sugar, some white flour, trans fats, and a host of other chemicals. But hey - they're low in fat so they must be good? Right?

Finding Right Food

It's a nightmare. What exactly is good for you? Who do you believe? Next time you see those bright colors, and eye-catching ads - do your own inspection of ingredients list - you might be surprised.

Recently we bought some cranberry juice for our young daughter who had a slight urine infection - knowing that cranberry has some useful medicinal properties. Like any frazzled parent, having time to stand and stare at nutrition panel while shopping with children is a rarity. That night our daughter had trouble getting to sleep, and woke up 3 or 4 times in night. This is unusual for her.

On closer inspection of so-called cranberry juice - we discovered that only 30% is actually cranberry, and rest is water and 'high fructose corn syrup' - a chemically altered sugar with a fair share of (anecdotally) noted poor health affects.

What Is The Answer?

If obesity had a simple cause, don't you think we would have answer by now? Good diet and exercise are answer - but when we have large corporations spending millions to make us buy their food - it doesn't seem so simple anymore. Go figure - profit in food industry is made by either people buying more food, or sourcing/manufacturing basic ingredients at less cost. How does good nutrition factor in this? Are you starting to get picture?

There is no miracle weight loss cure - no diet plan that will fit everyone. The only long term answer is understanding how your own body reacts to foods you eat. Weight loss is not a 6 week program, but a lifelong commitment to good nutrition and lifestyle.

www.freedieting.com is a resource for everything concerning losing weight.

Side observation: a chunk of land producing balanced protein from grains and legumes can support about 20 times as many people as same land producing four legged meats. Oh, and people getting most of their proteins and calories from plant sources are far less likely to have heart attacks, strokes, cancers, et cetera, than big meat eaters.

I have written elsewhere that selecting sensible foods means one never has to count calories. I'll go further and say that most carbohydrate restrictions are dumb.

Here are only carbohydrate restrictions I recommend. • all refined sugars (cane, beet, high fructose corn syrup, sorghum molasses, maple syrup, etc.) • beer in large quantities • anything made from white flour, even if "enriched"

If you have a craving for sweets that you just can't break (which I don't belive), learn how fruits and nuts together can taste very sweet. Also, unsaturated fat in nuts (or edible seeds, such as sunflower) will satisfy hunger with no risk to arteries. My favorite is raisins and almonds, perhaps with some fresh red delicious apple slices.

Pasta, preferably made from whole grains, is healthful, if not served with lots of cheese, oil, sauces which contain oil, sugar, cheese. Noodles with little meat is a main menu item in Orient.

Oh, about carbohydrates in potatoes: they are harmless if you don't add butter, margarine, fat from frying, sour cream for topping, and other insults to a great food. People in parts of Central and South America eat little more than potatoes of traditional breeds.

** Diet with FACTS, not MYTHS. **