Hows my little diet?

I've been trying this crazy new fad diet since last October and its just like all of the others, I still weigh like 205ish...so for all of you folks in cyberspace stay away from the "eat less and exercise" more diet. Its impossible to eat less when you get home from exercising and all you want is food! Food. Fooood, hm...That leads me to something else.

I hate corn.
I really hate corn.
Corn Tony?
Yes, corn, its a stupid food slut that gets around like its hot shit or something.
OK Go on...

Well...I've had a minor vendetta against corn for awhile, starting with the ethanol in my gas tank. When I first heard of this idea I was like, corn can be made into gas? Holy shit thats awesome to the Nth power! Turns out corn in your gas tank is probably the worst idea that happened to the driver since Ray Crock got rid of his silverware. Ethanol is a less fuel efficient form of gas, AKA more corn is needed to go farther. It also takes more energy to make corn into gas than oil into gas...hmm? (we should all switch to battery operated cars, powered by coal fired power plants! Go Earth!!...wait...I'm still on pins and needles for a fuel cell station here in Oakwood.)

Anyway so now that you know corn is is your gas tank, did you know corn is one of the most nutrient hungry crops we humans can grow? It requires an insane amount of nitrogen (derived from fossil fuels [mostly]) to grow and then all sorts of pesticides and other fun stuff to keep it standing. Since farmers almost always over fertilize much of this nitrogen is leaked into local waterways, ponds lakes and the gulf of mexico. (Lookup farm runoff for more information). This is bad for the environment we live in.

And that is why I used to have a tiff with corn.
I've started reading an eye opening book called, The Omnivore's Dilemma lately and its going to change the way I eat until I'm too old to care.



Corn is a food slut. Kind of like cranberry juice is in the juice isle, only corn works the whole grocery store and beyond. Next time you pick up something that has an ingredient list (try that can of pop) look for dextrose, crystalline fructose, maltodextrin, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, corn starch, and Xanthum Gum and you are looking at several different names for corn mashed and split into a new substance invading your food.

I hate corn because it still is an inefficient crop to grow and now its in EVERYTHING! I picked up the summer sausage I bought expecting the ingredients to read like 5 different meats and seasing but saw, High fructose corn syrup high on the list. WTF? Reading a Soda label is like reading the different flavors corn can be broken down into. What sucks the most about corn is that although its in everything there is still a surplus of the stuff. This is because our government pays the farmers to grow it, and grow it they do. Corn farmers ignore the simple law of supply and demand, everyone knows this one, for example Gas is more expensive in the summer mainly because more people are diving and people selling oil can get more money by selling it at a higher rate because consumers still need the stuff. Farmers on the other had go SHIT! corn cost less, I better plant more to turn a profit this year. Since they are guaranteed some government moolah all the better, more corn gets planted.

Which gets me to think, eating pretty much strictly corn in my food can't be all that good for me can it? [this isn't entirely true most of my meals need chopping not slicing open packaging] I need a well balanced diet of meat, cookies, and other stuff. So eating all this corn probably isn't that good right? High Fructose Corn Syrup has its risks and it is the number one culprit of invading any sweetened beverage in North America. Consuming HFCS can lead to higher caloric intake, increase in bodyweight, it fools your body into thinking it’s hungry thereby increasing the amount of processed foods you eat, thereby decreasing your intake of nutrient-dense foods,
and for you diabetics it may increase insulin resistance and triglycerides. Studies are also coming out linking all of this corn to heart desiease, the number one killer in America.

What has all of this knowledge meant for me? I'm seriously considering giving up cereal for breakfast, I've been reading packing ingredients a little more closely so that I am more likely to buy something that resembles the product I'm trying to get, (I really hate the idea of imitation crab 'meat'). I also am going to try purchasing things that have a smaller ingredient list. I really like when we buy sauerkraut and it's ingredients say, cabbage, water, salt. Knowledge like this has had a profound impact on me in the past, after I read Fast Food Nation I didn't eat fast food for over three months and even now I eat it only when my options are limited. The Supersize Me movie helped too.

When I buy food from now on I will be noting it's ingredients and consider if I were going to make something like it myself it should have ingredients I can find in my cupbord, not in a science class. I truly believe I can live a long healthier than normal life if I just pay closer attention to my grocery list.