Myth buster
Dr. Nancy Snyderman is the chief medical editor for NBC News. Starting June 29, she'll have her own show, "Dr. Nancy," covering health, medicine, and social policy, daily at noon on MSNBC. We spoke with her about her most recent book, "Diet Myths That Keep Us Fat: And the 101 Truths That Will Save Your Waistline - and Maybe Even Your Life" (Crown). Here's a condensed and edited version of that conversation.
Q. A lot of the myths you cite - carbs are bad vs. carbs are good, for example - are both familiar and contradictory. Why do we hold on to them anyway?
A. We as Americans embrace extremes. We love myths - they give us excuses, I think, to escape reality. And it's a post-World War II phenomenon. We have learned to hate our bodies, we see food as the enemy, and we have forgotten to come to the dinner table. We went from having fresh bread to eating crackers, from buying our meat every two days to buying in bulk and throwing it in the freezer. We raped our schools of recess time and phys ed, we built beautiful suburbs with no sidewalks, and we totally changed how America consumes food. It's a perfect storm.
Q. In your book, you encourage people to treat themselves, to indulge their cravings. Why is that?
A. If I say, "Don't smoke, eat a good diet, and exercise," people will go, "Yawn, yawn, yawn." But if I say, "Eat dark chocolate, white foods are good for you, red wine's great for your heart, and you can eat after 8 at night," they say, "Hey, I want to check out this diet."
Q. You also talk about not eating fake food.
A. I was once in Paris with Julia Child - one of those experiences you know will stay with you forever. You couldn't have gotten her to eat a fake anything. And she said, "Why would you use a fake sugar, when a teaspoon of sugar is only 13 calories?" It's one of the little myths. Diet Coke - the sweetness just makes your brain want more. Julia knew how to eat food, how to love food, and how to push herself away from the table. Food is the reason for bringing people to the table for conversation and family. We're cramming it down, not using it for pleasure and for community.
Q. So how do we restore a sense of pleasure to our relationship with food?
A. You've got to figure out what works for you. There's no magic. Your body is going to crave things that my body isn't. I would never eat a fake cheese, but I would drink a diet soda as a treat. If you are craving chocolate cake, for God's sake have it. 