LET’S ASK MARION: IS UNFETTERED CAPITALISM A RECIPE FOR DIETARY DISASTER?

(With a click of her mouse, EatingLiberally’s kat corners Dr. Marion Nestle, NYU professor of nutrition and author of Food Politics and What to Eat:)

kat: You joined a panel of fellow dietary experts on Charlie Rose’s science series this week to chew the fat about America’s fat problem. The scholarly consensus seemed to be that we’re filling up—and out--with processed foods that our bodies can’t handle, which plays havoc with our metabolism, raises our blood sugar levels, and makes us want to eat even more, leading us to consume more calories than we could ever begin to convert to energy, and thereby making us ever fatter.

Dr. Nestle: That's a fair summary of that lengthy conversation. The bottom line is
that genetics matters but even good genes don't do you much good if you overeat junk food and don't burn off those calories with hard work.

kat: One of your fellow panelists expressed the hope that there might someday be a pill we could take that would mitigate the damage from such a diet—a kind of carbo-offset, if you will. Perhaps pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, who sponsors this series, is hard at work developing just such a drug?

Dr. Nestle: No doubt. With 60% of Americans overweight, drug companies would adore to find a magic bullet that would let people eat as much as they want
without putting on pounds. Finding one has been difficult so far--the
existing drugs either increase the risk of heart attacks or cause unpleasant
gastrointestinal symptoms best not discussed in polite company--and for good
reason. Metabolism is set up to defend body weight against starvation. I
count 40-50 separate factors that have something to do with body weight. If
one gets neutralized, the others kick in to compensate. But that won't stop
drug companies from trying. There's too much money at stake.

And I should point out that Coca-Cola is another sponsor--a company that is desperate to keep sales up and would be happy to sell water or anything else if people would buy as much of it as they do classic Coke. It's hard for soft drink companies to deal with the facts. More and more research shows that people who habitually drink sodas take in more calories, are fatter, and have worse diets than people who don't.

kat: You prescribe a wholesale switch to a more wholesome diet. But fruits and vegetables are the perennial wallflowers wilting on the sidelines of the supermarkets, while the packaged foods take center stage and seduce us with their promise of all things sweet, crunchy, fatty, and salty. You often note that the corporations’ primary obligation is to turn a profit for their shareholders. Can Big Food make a healthy profit without making us ill, or are consumers who contract heart disease and diabetes from a steady diet of convenience foods just collateral damage—the cost of doing business--in our capitalist culture?

Dr. Nestle: I think food companies are caught in an impossible dilemma. No matter how hard they try, they can't please Wall Street and public health advocates at the same time. Healthier foods cost more to make (they have better ingredients) and they don't sell nearly as well as junk foods. If companies make healthier foods, they lose money. If they can't keep their bottom lines growing, Wall Street complains and stockholders revolt. If we want marketing to children to stop, we need to allow companies to tick along with lower profits. And we need to change election laws so that our representatives can make decisions based on public health, not corporate health.