“So…telling people what to eat seems to be quite the thing to do, no?
“And telling people to eat whatever they want is…well, it’s incredibly controversial.
“It’s just not done.
“You know why I think it’s controversial? Not just because we live in a culture that’s messed-up, food-wise, but because we, as a culture, seem to take the worst possible view of human nature.
“Let me explain.
“It should come as no surprise to anyone reading here that our culture views food as a moral issue. A potentially dangerous moral issue. And, setting aside the very-interesting-but-not-to-be-had-right-now discussion of ethical and religious foodways, food just…isn’t.
“Food isn’t moral. It’s not immoral, either. It’s morally neutral.
“But, sadly, we live in a time and a place where it seems Twinkies = Eternal Damnation. (Notice, here, how the supposed moral value of food pretty snugly overlaps its supposed nutritional value. This is not a coincidence.) And we tend to take the most pessimistic view of human nature.
“So, when I say “Adult human beings are allowed to eat whatever, and however much they want,” what people actually hear is: “GO OUT AND CRAM YOUR FACE WITH BAD, BAD TWINKIES!!!!!!”
“I’m here to plead with you on this: first of all, people aren’t stupid. Please stop thinking that — it’s unkind and incorrect. Also, Twinkies aren’t bad. Even if they were, they couldn’t make you bad by association.
“You know what else? This may come as a huge surprise, but if you’re willing to let go of those negative assumptions about human nature for one second, you might realize that pretty much no one wants to eat that way, anyhow.* Or not for long.
“We’re animals, which means we’re pretty highly motivated to stay alive. We want to stay alive, okay? Which means means:
“We want to be healthy.
“We want to eat food that’s good for us.
“Those desires, being tied to the ultimate desire — to survive — are pretty damn strong.”
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Eat food. Stuff you like. As much as you want. on The Fat Nutritionist
