DIETS

So while walking around Target the other day, I couldn't help but notice all the special diet foods there are for sale. Atkins and South Beach Diet have their own brand of foods. The funniest part to me is they are all junk food. Cookies, chips, and chocolate for those on a diet. A few months back, Coke released C2, which had half the carbs, half the calories, and probably half the taste. My Target doesn't carry it anymore so I'm guessing they pulled it (and I no longer see those annoying commercials when I go to the movies which play "You Can't Always Get What You Want" while showing people drinking this sludge). They now plug the Diet Coke with Splenda instead. Not long ago, I was at Applebee's for dinner with some friends and noticed the wine list has something called Merlot 1.9. This cleverly-named beverage has only 1.9 carbs per serving (see "glass").

Similarly, Hersheys currently sells reduced carb Reeses and regular chocolate bars. With this anti-Carb mentality sweeping the nation, sugar has been taken out of gum and mints. Most of those have Aspartame in them instead. What is Aspartame, you ask? It is a sugar substitute which turns to formaldehyde at a certain temperature. Formaldehyde, for those who don't know, is used in embalming fluids and some fertilizers. Hmm....suddenly, sugar doesn't sound so bad! I was shocked to see Aspartame is an ingredient in Bubble Tape gum, which (as far as I know) is marketed to kids!

In the end, is it possible all these diet foods are just one way of selling you the same crap with no interest in your diet? I mean if you are seriously on a diet and trying to cut carbs and such, you shouldn't be eating candy and chips and drinking wine even if Dr. Atkins has smeared his name on it. I would think the idea is to get you into the habit of not eating these foods or reducing your intake altogether as a continuous healthy diet, not to feed you the same stuff so you are giving up nothing. Just remember when you keep that Diet Coke in the car in the summer heat, you may be dead from poisoning in a few days, but you will be well-preserved.