Eating in America
At the most critical moment in the history of food in America
Welcome! You have come to Eating in America at, arguably, the most important time in the history of food in this country. The food environment has changed radically in the last 50 years, and our food habits and culture have changed radically as well. The impact on our bodies and health as Americans is very real. What happens next will save or cost lives and healthy years of living.
When my mother was born in 1913 in a small agricultural town in Maryland, all food in America was, at no extra cost, free from modern synthetic pesticides and relatively unprocessed or lightly processed.
Mom died at the age of 105. Disturbingly, life expectancy in the U.S. began declining in 2015, in part due to heart and liver disease, illnesses associated with what we eat and drink. The change in our food supply, its marketing, and our eating is unrecognizable from what it was when my mother was born.
Eating in America will break this down. These are a few of our upcoming topics:
Alcohol and cancer: a shot of reality.
The upcoming MAHA Report. Good and bad nutrition health policy.
Lithium in our food and water and dementia - what does the science say?
Ultraprocessed food: the impact on American health and what can be done.
GLP-1s like Ozempic – why the stigma and what does the future hold?
The titanium dioxide, a potential carcinogen, in milk: a new study.
I hope you will join us for these discussions. Please subscribe if you haven’t, and comment freely. I look forward to hearing your perspective on what is important and what this Substack should report on and discuss.
The official launch date of Eating in America is October 8, but I’ll be posting regularly until then.
Ric Bayly
Congrats on your diet Chic! It sounds as though you don't eat much highly processed or ultraprocessed food, which often contain excessive salt. If you're paying attention to the amount of salt you take in from healthy sources like salted nuts, some fish, and many canned vegetables, then you're likely to be fine adding moderate amounts of salt in your cooking or to occasionally season food on your plate.
However, salt can have a big impact on blood pressure, and some people are especially sensitive. As we age, our blood pressure tends to increase and regular monitoring is important for all of us.
To your question, Chic, our bodies need some salt, but I'm careful about pushing it. If you're mindful about your intake and know where your blood pressure tends to be, you'll likely achieve a good balance.
Two tips I like to share:
• I like to mix together salted nuts with unsalted nuts for a small snack. The flavor is enhanced without as much added salt.
• I use a home blood pressure monitor so I can control the conditions and get readings I can count on and compare. Just the stress of rushing to and being in the doctor’s office tends to make my pressure readings bounce around from visit to visit.
I’m curious – how do others think about the salt in their diet?
Let’s talk potato chips. The ones I eat have just three ingredients - potatoes, vegetable oil and salt. Sounds pretty good to me. Or is this a “bad” highly processed food? Can’t tell from the ingredients.