Eat This, Not That and Other Nutritional Advice

Over the weekend I had the opportunity to thoroughly peruse the book “Eat this, Not That” by David Zinczenko.

It was a pretty fun look at the possibilities of what we can eat and what we do eat. Of course, there is always a “better choice” which is what the book is all about. There were some surprises however. In the section on breakfast sides, Mr. Zinczenko suggested that real bacon is a better choice than turkey bacon. Since my family just happens to eat turkey bacon regularly that of course, caught my eye. The reasoning behind choosing regular bacon over turkey bacon turned out to be because of the high sodium content in turkey bacon. Supposedly the saturated fat in bacon is the “lesser of the two evils”. Hmmm, I’ve never really concerned myself too much with sodium as I have low blood pressure and I try not to eat too many processed foods. Sodium seemed to me to be a lesser evil but then again I’m not a nutritionist or a best-selling nutrition book author, or the Editor in Chief of Men’s Health magazine. So what do I know? Even so I don’t always agree with Mr. Zinczenko’s logic. He claims that you should never eat refried beans either. When I checked the label on the fat-free refried beans that I usually buy the ingredients were “beans and water”. No fat, no salt, no preservatives, nothing but beans and water. Is there really a problem with that? Do I discount them just because of their name, “refried”? To be fair he may have been referring to Mexican restaurants that lace their refried beans with lard but he didn’t clarify that and if it comes down to believing the book or believing the label, I’m going to believe the label.

Even with Mr. Zinczenko recommendation I think I’ll stick with turkey bacon. I mean, have you seen the greasy sludge that you have to clean up after you cook real bacon? To think about that stuff hanging around in my arteries seems worse than the sodium problem. Cooking real bacon is a special occasion activity. Who wants to clean that mess up very often? (maybe it’s the clean up that trumps the sodium?). Turkey bacon it is (probably the best idea is to give up “bacon” all together! But at this time I’m not considering that option!)

For more fun with the “Eat this, Not that” philosophy, check out this game I found on Women’s Health.

Play “Eat This, Not That!”
Bon Appetit!