OK! Enough with the salt talk and portion control. Portions need to be large because the food has so little nutrition. Salt itself is not a problem; it is the kind of salt that is used. Salt from mines that is fortified with a form of iodine that does not support the thyroid and good metabolism and is enhanced with sugar and silica is the kind used in most commercial and home kitchens. It is the form used in food processing factories, along with many other forms of sodium that adulterate the food. Salt should not have ingredients. Our bodies are 80% or more saline – the same as sea water. We need sea salt. Also, most of the problems blamed on salt in the diet are the same as those related to a lack of potassium. Put sea salt on your French fries, leave the skins on them for potassium and do not cook them in a processed vegetable oil.

If the White House and others who are blaming salt and saturated fat for our national struggle with obesity, really want to do something to improve our health, they should focus their attention and energy toward blocking continuation of the Farm Bill. Washington transfers billions of our tax dollars each year to the factory-style farming interests. As a result “junk food” is made cheap by government subsidies. Read the ingredient label of any junk food and you will find it contains some or all of the following: corn, soy, wheat or dairy.

Corn is one of my favorite vegetables, but it is processed into some negative food forms. Corn oil reduces the immune level and is a trans fat if heated above 220 degees F or partially hydrogenated. When processed into high fructose corn syrup it shuts down insulin production in the body, stimulates a fat making hormone, leptin and causes the stomach to release ghrelin, a hunger signal. Consuming HFCS stimulates fat making and makes you hungry for more.

Soy oil shuts down the thyroid and slows metabolism. While it can be a healthy food in a fermented form, too much soy can cause conditions similar to an abundance of estrogen.

Wheat is a good food for some people in moderation, but a majority of people have issues related to gluten. In addition, the wheat is milled and processed to remove most of the nutrition, leaving only the carbohydrate content which metabolizes the same as sugar.

Also, the strains of wheat currently gown are far removed from the ancient grain that was originally cultivated.

Dairy can be a good food, if it comes from cows that eat grass and it is consumed as it comes from the cow. Pasteurization kills most of its value. Ultra Pasteurization removes an even greater amount of the benefits of milk. One of the best parts of milk is the fat, but we are encouraged to consume the fat free milk and dairy products. That is because the government buys up the milk and converts it to powder for storage. Skim and fat free products are usually made from powdered milk coming out of storage at a bargain price.

Just for the record, saturated fat is a good food if it is harvested from a healthy, properly raised animal. The fifty year old conclusions claiming saturated fat causes heart disease were based studies carried out with hydrogenated vegetable oil. Big difference.

We are fat because our government takes tax dollars to subsidize junk food commodities. In addition, the government approves the use of all kinds of additives that enhance flavor and shelf life; many of which are triggers for obesity. Two of the most obvious obesity triggers are MSG, monosodium glutamate and aspartame.

We do not know the impact the more than 500 toxic substances approved for the production, processing and packaging of our food have on obesity and health in general. We also do not know what impact genetic modification of food producing seeds will have on our health. We have no measure of the negative impact on the nutrition in our food from irradiation and microwaving. The little we do know about the above is not good. We would know more, but the government is a coconspirator in the deceptions.

Yes, we have a national problem with obesity. More exercise, less salt, and smaller portions will not solve this problem. If Washington would get out of the food business, we could probably get control of our health as well as our health care costs. How much of our total expenditure on health care goes for the treatment of metabolic diseases caused by diet? Obesity, heart disease, most cancer, osteoporosis, arthritis and many other conditions and diseases are being treated successfully by changing the patients’ diets. None of these food based treatments have been approved by the government regulators, by the way.

Please, no more salt free band aids – we are not as stupid as we might look. We are capable of making the proper food choices, but we have a system that denies us access to nutritious foods. Beyond the denial, we have a system that uses our tax dollars to support marketing and promotion of compromised food. (Who is paying for the Domino Pizza commercials? You might be really upset to learn that it is the USDA.) So, please do not pretend to be concerned about our health and obesity, while our tax dollars are going to subsidize the real problems in our food supply system.

Based on material in my book, The Amber Waves of Gain, How the Government Makes Us Fat.