Food for thought.

I don't want to make too much fun of all this "eat this, not that" mania because we're at a state where any nutritional advice that's not dead wrong is better than none. But this article is certainly one for the duh files, at best.

Best & Worst Brain Foods

My first thought was that it'd be another article championing the merits of such and such an ingredient when, in fact, no single food you eat is going to offset a bad diet and increase human performance. It's a ridiculous premise, but actually less absurd than what I was in store for once I began reading.

The eat this, not that comparison to think faster is salmon vs ice cream!

I read it again just to make sure. I read the next comparison: high-protein salad vs. pancakes. Then went back to read it again. Could that be right?

Actually, it wasn't. It was salmon or mackerel vs. full-fat ice cream. Oh, now it makes sense.

Who makes a comparison of salmon vs ice cream? Isn't eat this, not that about whether to have chicken or fish, or at least comparing things from the same geographic nutritional zone? Who even thinks about these two things at the same time? If I'm in the mood for salmon, I never want ice cream. And if I'm in the mood for ice cream... um, the sound of salmon (or mackerel, even worse) makes me gag and I'm not known as a picky eater.

Scanning the rest of the article we have:

peppermint tea vs candy
yogurt vs soda
spinach salad vs white chocolate
and, finally, "one tablespoon of ground flaxseed daily" vs "alcohol"

I think I'll saunter on down to Woody's Tavern for dollar shots of flaxseed. Is it April 1st? Was I reading The Onion? Or has our nutritional knowledge really fallen to the point where this kind of drivel makes the New York Times bestseller list? Can someone please explain this to me?