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Something's rotten in Denmark

Miss Golightly

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,312
Location
Dublin, Ireland
Coincidently, I was just moments ago watching an interview with a the perennially buff Hugh Jackman where he mentioned his 70%/30% diet/fitness regime.

I had to laugh at that! So true! I saw him years ago in The Boy from Oz and he is so fit (you'd have to be on Broadway) - but not in an overworked Daniel "Casino Royale" Craig style - for me, that's just too much.

But back to the main topic - I don't see how a tax will change people's eating habits - people will eat whatever it is that they fancy and making it more expensive won't deter them. Interesting to see how it pans out and if it makes even a small difference....
 

1961MJS

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,370
Location
Norman Oklahoma
Hi

If charging $5.50 for 20 pieces of rolled up paper with dried leaves in it don't change habits it ain't gonna happen... It's really easy to pass "sin taxes" cause you're not supposed to like sinners.
Going out for a steak after work too.

Later
 

dhermann1

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,154
Location
Da Bronx, NY, USA
From what I read, the main reason the Danish gov't initiated the tax was not so much to promote healthy lifestyles, but more simply to generate revenue. I think this will be a classic example oif th Law of Unintended Consequences.
 
Messages
11,579
Location
Covina, Califonia 91722
:eusa_doh:

Does any one think that people should not have any rights to run their own lives?
Well not if they do such a dismal job of it.

If we make all of "them" become wards of the state then govenment can make all lives totally wonderful.

Any government that can do it with the efficiency of the US Post Office and the loving care of the Department of Motor Vehicles should give it a try. How bad could it be?
 

James71

A-List Customer
Messages
447
Location
Katoomba, Australia
Hmmm, I don't know about that. Certainly in Australia higher taxes on cigarettes & ready mixed alcohol (which used to be very popular with young drinkers) has lead to a drop in their consumption. (ready mix drinks especially).

Certainly the taxes reduced consumption of those products. Didn't do anything for smoking or young people drinking of course. You just push people into alternative products. A steady increase in under the table loose tobacco and young people buying their vodka and redbull separately results.
 

Maj.Nick Danger

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,469
Location
Behind the 8 ball,..
You know.... isn't it funny that ever since I stopped listening to what the news said and stopped eating diet foods and processed foods and started eating things that were natural like real butter, real sugar, whole milk, vegetable oil (not corn oil), fruits, vegetables, fatty meat, etc, that I lost 40 lbs without dieting or exercising? hmmmm......
You've discovered the "secret" that doctors, drug companies, et al don't want us to know. I remember back in the 70's, they had William Shatner touting "Promise" margarine in TV commercials, claiming it would reduce the risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol, etc. And what do ya know,..turned out 25 or 30 years later that those artificial corn oil margarines were mostly hydrogenated trans fats, which actually contribute markedly to the very conditions they claimed they would prevent! The key to good health and nutrition is in a balance of NATURAL foods.
 
Last edited:

rue

Messages
13,319
Location
California native living in Arizona.
You've discovered the "secret" that doctors, drug companies, et al don't want us to know. I remember back in the 70's, they had William Shatner touting "Promise" margarine in TV commercials, claiming it would reduce the risk of heart disease, lower cholesterol, etc. And what do ya know,..turned out 25 or 30 years later that those artificial corn oil margarines were mostly hydrogenated trans fats, which actually contribute markedly to the very conditions they claimed they would prevent! The key to good health and nutrition is in a balance of NATURAL foods.

Exactly! I did a lot of reading about a lot of different things that were supposed to make us healthier (corn oil being one of them)..... what a bunch of malarky! I grew up in a household where just about everything was made from scratch and having only the rare meal out to dinner and I was a very skinny kid. It wasn't until I grew up, had kids and bought into that whole "healthy lifestyle" that I gained weight. My advice.... don't listen to "them" and eat like your great grandparents.
 

Maj.Nick Danger

I'll Lock Up
Messages
4,469
Location
Behind the 8 ball,..
Exactly! I did a lot of reading about a lot of different things that were supposed to make us healthier (corn oil being one of them)..... what a bunch of malarky! I grew up in a household where just about everything was made from scratch and having only the rare meal out to dinner and I was a very skinny kid. It wasn't until I grew up, had kids and bought into that whole "healthy lifestyle" that I gained weight. My advice.... don't listen to "them" and eat like your great grandparents.
Exactly!,...Better yet,..eat like their great, great, great grandparents. We are essentially hunter/gatherers. I read that a lot of our health problems such as dental caries, diabetes, heart disease etc. started when we became "civilized" and started eating a high carb grain based diet.
Bring on the bacon and eggs! :D
 
Messages
11,579
Location
Covina, Califonia 91722
Certainly the taxes reduced consumption of those products. Didn't do anything for smoking or young people drinking of course. You just push people into alternative products. A steady increase in under the table loose tobacco and young people buying their vodka and redbull separately results.

Also what happens is you find that smuggling goes up and shipments get hijacked more.
 

HepKitty

One Too Many
Messages
1,156
Location
Idaho
tip for the Danes: butter freezes well

yeah all the "diet" over-processed garbage is just that: garbage. sugar isn't grand for you but for most people it's better than sugar substitutes, which can lead to overeating due to the body preparing to deal with sugar but not getting any. I've heard that the cholesterol problems aren't caused directly by animal products, it's the combination of carbs and animal fats. a friend told me this and I admit I haven't researched much of it other than reading a review of a book called Wheat Belly. have at those bacon and eggs but skip the toast I guess

and it sucks that junk food is so cheap
 

Philalethes

A-List Customer
Messages
466
Location
Southern New Jersey, on a Farm
Saturated Fat is Good for You!

You know.... isn't it funny that ever since I stopped listening to what the news said and stopped eating diet foods and processed foods and started eating things that were natural like real butter, real sugar, whole milk, vegetable oil (not corn oil), fruits, vegetables, fatty meat, etc, that I lost 40 lbs without dieting or exercising? hmmmm......

Cheers, rue!

Here is my own story: I was a vegetarian for nine years. I tweaked my diet so that it was politically correct: I ate little fat except in the form of cheese and olive oil, "combined" my vegetable proteins, took high quality vitamins, ate lots of fruits and vegetables, and consumed whole grains. I gradually became sicker and sicker. This culminated in a few weeks of agony: I was too weak to exercise, to work - to do anything. My muscles were atrophying and in pain, and I couldn't concentrate on even the simplest tasks. I had extreme difficulty controlling my emotions.

Under the direction of a nutritionist, I started eating heavy meat and lots of fat at every meal, and I started feeling better immediately. It took a year or two for my muscles to stop hurting every time my blood sugar dropped or I became hungry. My body is almost completely recovered today, over five years later. I eat meat at almost every meal - preferably fatty dark meats - or at least lots of cheese, eggs, or butter. At one point I gained a little fat, so I have simply moderated my carb intake, and the fat went away.

My nutritionist was a Metabolic Typing specialist, following in the footsteps of the dentist Weston A. Price. In the 30s, Price visited isolated villages the world over to research the effects of nutrition on disease. He found that without exception, villagers who ate their traditional diets had no cavities and healthy facial structures and no cancer or heart disease! These traditional diets included whatever meats, seafood, organ meats, milk, eggs, insects (yuk!), animal fats, coconut and olive oils, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains were available. They also put an emphasis on raw and fermented foods. They did not include vegetable oil, margarine, refined flour, sugar, or white meat-only chicken. Price's argument was that the human body evolved to process healthy, whole foods but not the modern inventions.

I strongly recommend the Weston A. Price foundation website, as well as the following books, more or less in the same tradition:

Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats, by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig

(Excellent cookbook that applies Weston A. Price's findings to your kitchen - but so much more, too! Doesn't advocate a restricted carb diet but does advocate eating the right, properly-prepared carbs.)

Life Without Bread: How a Low-Carbohydrate Diet Can Save Your Life, by Christian B. Allan and Wolfgang Lutz

(Chronicles the research by a doctor and a chemist on patients restricting carbohydrates to the equivalent of six slices of bread a day - the remainder of energy provided by fats and proteins. Lots of interesting facts, such as this: Guess which energy source the heart prefers? Saturated fat!)

The Metabolic Typing Diet: Customize Your Diet to Your Own Unique Body Chemistry, by William Linz Wolcott and Trish Fahey

(Argues that humans are on a spectrum from requiring a high fat/low carb diet to a low fat/high carb diet, based on genetics and environmental factors. Obviously at odds with the other two above, since it argues that there are some people who can thrive on a vegetarian diet - but that most do better with an animal-based diet.)

I won't even mention the absurdity of "sin" taxes, or the issue of choosing what one eats without government interference...
 

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