Flipping the Script: How trendy diets and healthy advice flip-flop through decades
Published 11:02 am Monday, August 10, 2026
Anee Carmichael
(Submitted)
Having lived through almost seven decades, I have been a participant in most of the dietary trends that were en vogue in each period. I have been an involuntary lab rat, unthinkingly following and leading my family through most of the healthcare mazes, guided by scientific studies and the advice of professionals
Diet recommendations change about every 5-10 years, just like the color wheel used by interior designers and the clothing fashions paraded on runways each season
In the sixties, a bean-pole with big eyes and legs a mile long named Twiggy popped over from London, and we drank tasteless and nutritionless shakes from cans and abhorred food to get that same bag o’bones look. We even gobbled amphetamines, diuretics, and laxatives because no one had yet told us that might be very bad for us
Helen Gurley Brown of Cosmopolitan magazine fame even popularized the Egg and Wine Diet. The diet advocated the consumption of 3-5 eggs per day and a 24oz bottle of wine. You got a steak in the evening if you were very, very good. (Somehow I missed that diet, but I’d be willing to give it a go if they bring it back)
Those of us who survived waddled into the 70s, when Dr. Robert Atkins told us that high-protein, low-carb, and fat from real butter and whole-fat cheeses would turn us into lean, mean machines… and it did. But many of us found it difficult to maintain for the long haul
In the 80s and 90s, Keto promised to help us stay the course, and many have
Dr. Herman Tarnower of Scarsdale fame placated us with ‘You can do anything for just 14 days!’ And those of us looking for a sacrifice-free approach bought into the theory that we could live on ice cream and cookies as long as we just polish it off with half a grapefruit. That would burn all the fatty junk food we consumed, they said
But the pharmaceutical companies bet on our insatiable appetite. They continue to promise a thin body, amazing energy, and even dare to throw in a promise of good health. Just take our easy-to-swallow pills. What, that’s too much trouble? How about just a little shot in the thigh once a week or maybe just once a month? Yes, you’ll probably become addicted to the tons of <a href="https://healthylife7.com/chrissy-metz-opens-up-on-glp-1-weight-loss-journey-and-her-juliet-run/" title="Chrissy Metz Opens Up on GLP-1 Weight Loss Journey and Her & JULIET Run”>weight loss and your friends will tell you you look sick, but isn’t it worth it to be skinny?
You say you’re more inclined just to eat healthy and exercise. You’re a naturalist. You may not even be aware that The Industry has you hooked as well. They sold you that Peloton bike you pedal religiously every morning. And the Pilates and yoga classes you attend every single week
Those of us over 60 want so badly to believe the sweet 30-something Asian gal who materializes every time we open our social media or play an online game of solitaire or mahjong. She says in just 7 minutes a day, we can sit in a chair or lie on our bed, not even break a sweat, lose 30 pounds, and have washboard abs like her
Fact is, I have long suspected that it’s all hype and marketing. We all know of someone who has lived well into their nineties and some who have even celebrated their centenarian birthday who have eaten anything they like, smoked, had an alcoholic beverage every night, weighed 110 lbs., and were never sick a day. Luck of the draw? Good genes? No one seems to know. They sure play havoc with statistics
So who/what are we to believe? Right from the beginning of life, they keep changing the instructions…lay your baby on its tummy…no, on its side….no, on its back. Breastfeeding is best…no wait, here’s formula with folic acid…gotta have folic acid or their brain won’t function at maximum capacity
They tell us to eat fresh fruits and veggies, and then a week later, a warning comes out that lettuce, leafy greens, cilantro, and well, ‘we’re not certain what else might allow parasites to inhabit your gut.’
Awww heck… just have a PB&J and a glass of nice cold milk. Wait…you say you have allergies to peanuts and cow’s milk? We have a nice glass of almond milk and some soy nut or chickpea butter for ya
Once again, my Geri-Antics, I have no answers. Stay tuned. It’s all due to change any minute now
I give you only my best wishes for good health and a good week
