Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Sorting through "health information"

Okay, if you're like most people, then all the "health information" out there can be confusing. Today I'm on a rant about things that make it even more confusing!

How do you sort though everything out there to find what's real & true? I read something today that reminds me why "health information" can be so confusing:

This is on a website promoting a raw diet partly by explaining what's "wrong" with the typically prescribed diabetic diet. While I can't say that the medically prescribed diet is healthier, I get frustrated with things like this:

"It is generally recommended that 5% of total calories of the diabetic be protein. In a 1,500-calorie diet that would mean 75 grams of protein. This amount of protein greatly exceeds the needs of even the most active man. The average person cannot utilize more than about 20 to 25 grams of protein daily." The article then goes on to talk about how too much protein is hard on the body and how raw foods have enough protein.

Makes perfect sense, right? Sure, except that whoever wrote this obviously didn't do the math. Five percent of a 1,500-calorie diet is 75, but that means 75 CALORIES from protein. There are 4 calories in one gram of protein (just look at any standard nutrition label), so 5% of 1,500 calories would be 19.25 grams of protein - just about the amount that the article says a person can assimilate.

5 comments:

  1. wow, one my students in 4th grade would have a field day with that! he hates mistakes good for you for catching it.

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  2. Eww, I do hate mistakes like this. Especially when some raw websites claim that they are above doctors - that people should only listen to unproven nutritional advice from someone with no qualifications.

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  3. Great job! I wonder if you posted this mistake on the site you found it on?

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  4. Amanda - Thanks! I didn't see a place to post it on the site itself, but I emailed them to make them aware of it & ask them to correct the error.

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