As a seasoned microblogger through the medium of Twitter I gradually came to a staggering decision that I should try and release myself from the 140 character restriction, and start a blog.
Incidentally, or coincidentally, I made the decision to come here on the advice of a friend, who also blogs here, my twitter friend Malcolm Holt. (Thanks Mal). (I think).
Next came the need to decide on what to choose for my first blog subject. It came over the radio:
As we enter a new year, and are all obsessed (or not) with resolutions, and the need to shed the excesses of Christmas over-feasting, I thought a little rant on diet and health may be timely.
It so happens I was moved to Tweet on the subject just a couple of days ago, after hearing a vaguely irritating ad on Classic FM, promoting the supposedly cholesterol-reducing powers of healthy drinking yoghurts (in this case an ad for the unfortunate makers of Benecol happened to be the source of my irritation).
Now of course, I'm sure that company has funded, and/or benefited from, a raft of research tests from which they have extracted sufficient 'indications' of a statistical nature to back up the claims they make for their product. Of that I have no cross to bear, or indeed interest.
What bugs me is the way almost all marketing, advertising and promotion of products supposedly offering some dietary health benefit is made a mockery, by the inevitable phrase "as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle".
I mean, think about it. The sentence "[This yoghurt] can help lower your cholesterol level as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle" is about as Earth-shattering and useless as a chocolate fireplace. Probably less so.
I'm constantly amused at all the foods, supplements, exercise machines, prosthetic fashion accessories and pretty much any of a million or more products which are sold on claims of making you fit, healthy, beautiful, protected from disease and so on, provided they are eaten, taken, used or worn "as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle".
One can only hope that the great British, and global, population who consume these products, or at least the advertising bullshit promoting them, are wise enough to realise that it is the "healthy diet and lifestyle" itself that is the key to a healthy, beautiful and fulfilling life.
I'd even go so far as to say that almost any product is good for you, providing they are eaten, taken, used or worn "as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle". Yes, including chocolate, potato crisps, hamburgers, scotch whisky, and most classes of drug. The key is right there in that thinly-disguised, catch-all phrase that accompanies all these attempts to trick the vulnerable into unwanted purchases. We all really know what makes a healthy diet and lifestyle. Eat less bad stuff, do a lot more exercise, sleep well, drink plenty of water, and all the things your mother (or at least your grandmother) told you. IT'S THE HEALTHY DIET AND LIFESTYLE, DUMMY. THAT's what we all have to do. We know it! We just wallow in denial. We really want our fairy Godmother to wave a wand so we can be lazy couch potatoes, watch TV, eat and drink too much of all that we know is bad for us. It's not too much to ask. Is it?
So next time you hear, or read, an ad which proclaims wonderful results "as part of a healthy diet and lifestyle", pause a while, reflect on their sinister deception, resist the temptation to cling onto the promise of eternal salvation by spending your hard-earned cash on their miracle product, take it all with a (recommendedly small) pinch of salt, and simply get on with the job you know you have to do. Eat well, but in moderation and wisely, and do a lot more exercise than you do.
And have a very happy and healthy, Olympic New Year! (and roll on next Christmas!)
