When I was a kid, and maybe still today (I don’t care enough to look it up), Wonder Bread touted that it “buil[t] strong bodies 12 ways.” What was really going on is that its food technologists had started with grain products of nature, “refined” it beyond recognition, and then tossed in a bunch of nutritive additives to make up for what they had taken out. In effect they were saying, “look at all the goodness we’ve added, so you won’t notice all the goodness we took out.”

What resulted, of course, were slices of blindingly white near-paste that could be compressed into a ball that would have hurt if launched in a food fight. It seems so ‘60s, but check this out:

PepsiCo is seeking to patent a method of adding fiber- and polyphenol-rich co-products from fruit and veg juice extraction back to juices and other beverages in a bid to improve their sensory and nutritional profile, and minimize waste from the juice extraction process. ~ FoodNavigator-USA.com

Still crazy after all these years — breaking what’s good down into its parts, and then trying to figure out how to put more of it back in. How ‘bout, don’t break it down in the first place?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the concepts of “restriction” vs. “freedom.” For me, of course, the context is often around how to eat.

All in all, a very good effort on food addiction from the Institute on the Psychology of Eating, presented by its COO, Emily Rosen.

This is not new, but I bet you haven't seen it.

The person who shared this video with me suggested it was the companion to "Fed Up," the Katie Couric/Laurie David documentary. It is full of good information on the effects of processed-sugar consumption on our bodies and on public health. It even features a slimy industry apologist.

I write less and less about the "Center for Consumer Freedom," because a) they're liars, b) they make my blood boil with their lies, and c) every time I mention them, I make it one grain more likely that someone who didn't know about them will be infected with the scourge.

I’m not a constant reader of my RSS feed, which sometimes brings stories that were published by separate people at disparate times into my view as one tidy package. Like these:

I’ve visited this neighborhood before, but upon invitation from AB Sugar, I’m returning.

An article at FoodNavigator.com carries AB’s contention that it’s unfair to single out sugar as a leading culprit in the obesity crisis.

This is the second in a series of eight posts detailing concepts and attitudes for sustainable personal change. As one would expect of someone maintaining a 155-pound loss for more than 20 years, my examples have to do with food and weight, but their point is to provide both concepts and practical steps anyone can take to achieve and maintain healthy change. Today’s concept: “It’s never one thing.”

A guy cold-called me the other day, essentially asking for a link to a graphic his organization created about diabetes, hoping to "get this conversation outside of just the diabetes blogosphere." I said sure.

Part of his idea was that I would share what I learned from reading the graphic, but there wasn't much. Apparently, stuff I think anyone knows isn't as widely known as I'd have thought. Stuff like: