While I wholeheartedly back the efforts of the Archimedes Movement and We Can Do Better, I take issue with your recent support of the Multnomah County and, eventually, Oregon State proposals to require the addition of calorie labeling to menus and menu boards of chain restaurants, etc.

Although I personally support preventive health care measures (to keep people healthy and our health care costs down), in reality, the mere posting of calories on menus and the possible counting of calories by the public doesn't ensure that dieters/consumers are always savvy about the relationship between calories and knowing what foods and drinks actually have the best nutritional value for their and their loved ones' bodies. For example, one hundred calories of lean protein and healthy low glycemic vegetables are processed and utilized quite differently in our bodies than one hundred calories of a sugar-laden candy bar or sweet roll.

In addition, while the “calories in versus calories used” concept makes sense mathematically, there are an ever-increasing number of us who have insulin resistance and other metabolic conditions which prevent us from losing weight based on calorie intake/output alone.

Research has been showing that it’s not the number of calories we’re consuming, per se, that cause weight gain but the actual foods and/or chemicals being ingested and processed in our bodies.

While so many of our manufactured foods contain high fructose corn syrup and other chemicals and added sugars which spike our insulin levels (which, in turn, cause our bodies to store more fat), many of the so-called “experts” have been misled to believe that the matter of weight loss is just a calories in/calories expended formula.

Also, in our high-stress world, cortisol, adrenaline and other "fight or flight" hormones and biochemicals become elevated and affect our body fat storage. Eating animal products that have had hormones and antibiotics injected and plant products that have been sprayed with pesticides and other chemicals or have been grown with unnatural fertilizers, etc. can further negatively affect our health and our bodies' fat-storing and fat-utilizing processes.

Counting calories does not work for many of us and I’m concerned that the focus on requiring restaurants to place caloric information on their menus is simply diverting us from the *real* problems behind our obesity epidemic which include the addition of unhealthy but flavor-enhancing and profit-increasing chemicals and ingredients in our foods and drinks. Now *there’s* something that would make a *real* difference! But trying to work to remove all these unhealthy ingredients in our foods and beverages would be an uphill battle -- like the one we already face with health care reform.

Finally, most major restaurant chains already provide nutritional information about their products at their various locations and online. Since sodium, sugars and carbohydrates and other nutritional data can be useful (and even life-saving) to most restaurant-goers (and all of this nutritional information, certainly, cannot be placed on menus and menu boards), we might do better to inform consumers about these other facts and factors rather than focusing solely on calorie information.

I hope we don't become diverted from our real and needed efforts to secure quality, affordable health care for all Oregonians -- and beyond. Right now, *real* people are suffering.

Thanks for your consideration!

Sincerely,
Linda Davis