Eat, Drink, and Be Wary

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ACSH staffers are happy to pass along a message from the Center for Consumer Freedom, which reminds you to enjoy your holiday season without falling victim to the scare tactics of food activists: "[N]aysayers at the Center for Science in the Public Interest and vegan radicals at the [Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine]-affiliated 'Cancer Project' are trying to make this a season of guilt and fear. (Our advice is to ignore them: Put what you want on your holiday menu. Enjoy your pot roast, cheese, stuffing, and pie.)"

"Every year at about this time, I get a lot of calls from the media asking about whether or not it's true that people put on lots of weight during holiday season," says ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. "People who want to scare us about food tell us we get fat from all the holiday goodies like eggnog, that it's not a time to be jolly but a time to feel guilty about enjoying holiday food. The truth is: you don't get fat from excess calories between Christmas and New Year's Day. You get fat from excess calories between New Year's Day and Christmas. The idea is to enjoy the holidays and not be fearful of your food. Everything in moderation. And if you do eat some extra calories, do some extra exercise."