The world is a different place once you start embracing and applying the principles of livin’ la vida low-carb into your daily life. You notice things that may not have been quite so obvious before. Do you walk through a grocery store with a much different perspective than when you didn’t care about nutrition? How about the health headlines that once didn’t even catch your eye that now suddenly infuriating you (we talk about a lot of these on my “Low-Carb Conversations” podcast on Fridays)? I’ve seen it happening to me and especially so over the past year on television. I first highlighted some of these in this blog post I did in October 2011 about all the low-carb life lessons I learned from watching television. I’ve got a few more to share with you today. Interestingly, these all aired at about the time–do you think some of these script writers are paying attention to low-carb and Paleo nutrition information that’s gaining in popularity? You decide.
Christine and I LOVE the CBS-TV comedy “How I Met Your Mother.” It’s funny watching the interaction of these characters. Two of the more quirky characters are the ones who are married to one another–Marshall and Lily Ericksen played by Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan. In this episode the two lovebirds feel like their world is getting smaller because they are gaining weight. Marshall’s matter-of-fact statement “okay, after Thanksgiving I’m cutting out carbs” brought a great big smile to my face!
This was the pilot episode of a brand new FOX-TV comedy called “I Hate My Teenage Daughter.” The two characters in this scene–Jack and Annie played by Jaime Pressly and Kevin Rahm–are engaged in a conversation that takes a rather interesting turn. Jack asks Annie if she would mind if he and his girlfriend Dominique leave the party early because “she’s starving and doesn’t eat carbs or dairy.” Sounds like she’s full-fledged Paleo to me! And that’s a whole lot better than “a barrel of laughs.”
This is my favorite clip, although it communicates a horrible nutritional health message to people. On the CBS-TV comedy “Rules Of Engagement,” Jeff is married to Audrey (Patrick Warburton and Megyn Price) and is being chastised for his choice of breakfast items ordered at the local diner. Apparently Jeff had “high” cholesterol when he went to see the doctor, so Audrey has him on what she thinks is a heart-healthy diet: “egg whites, dry toast, fruit and turkey bacon.” Oh brother! Can you say low-fat diet? UGH! Jeff said it best: “Turkey: stupid, lean, flightless bird!”
And finally, we have this clip featuring the newest member of the cast on CBS-TV’s hit series “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” Ted Danson joined the show this season replacing Lawrence Fishburn and has done a fantastic job in his role as the new boss D.B. Russell. In this clip, he offers some people he’s talking to in his office some coffee and wonders if they’d “like a little soy milk with that, a little agave.” Soy and fructose with coffee? Now that’s a healthy combination for you. NOT!
I had one more clip to show you from the FOX-TV show “Bones” that also aired in that same week where the main character Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan who is pregnant was eating a cup of noodles and the Seeley Booth character who is the father of the baby snatches it out of her hands declaring that it has too much salt in it and that she should be eating fruit instead because it’s healthier. It was a fabulous example of how mixed up we are about what is healthy and what is not. Unfortunately, 20th Century Fox had that blurb removed. That’s too bad because we are seeing a lot of nutritional education–both good and bad–shining through on television these days.
