Month: December 2016

Enlarge / Various seeds and dried fruit mixture. Seeds and dried fruits are a source of protein for vegetarians and vegans. Currently, healthy eating includes both foods as an integral part. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images) (credit: Getty | Roberto Machado Noa )

As a new year dawns and we try to recover from a 2016 hangover, many of us will be reassessing our diets, health, and waistlines. It’s an annual tradition that naturally follows indulgent holiday feasting. But, after many spent the year stress-eating, our 2017 resolutions may be our firmest yet... maybe.

So, what did we learn from researchers in 2016 that we could apply to our totally firm 2017 diet and health resolutions? Plenty. Some of it is even useful.

Like any year, 2016 served up a heaping pile of low-quality nutrition studies and forehead-slapping dietary advice and headlines. Federal dietary guidelines, meanwhile, got their five-year reboot and remained largely unchanged. Yet, there were some illuminating revelations to keep in mind as we chew over our diet choices. Most notable of those is the extent to which the food industry has been messing with our minds—and our research. Plus, 2016 saw some scientific insights into why dieting doesn’t reliably pan out.

Enlarge / A dekotora dump truck in action in Sendai. (credit: Sarah Baird)

SENDAI, Japan—The first time I saw a real, live dekotora truck, I was mid-stride on the eerily empty streets of Tokyo, trying to shake off a serious case of jet lag with a just-before-sunrise run. But when it passed by, I stopped. I couldn’t help but stare, wide-eyed, with all the heart-pounding enthusiasm of a fangirl seeing her favorite movie star in public. It was even more magical than I had imagined.

I would later realize this wasn’t even one of the fully tricked out, chandelier-on-the-inside 18-wheelers that have defined the dekotora culture for many and become such popular Internet fodder. No, this vehicle was an honest-to-goodness, trash-hauling garbage truck that had been painted ever-so-gently with the dekotora brush. There were runners of rainbow lights pulsing along the undercarriage, chrome extensions jutting out the top, hot pink lightning bolts blasting down the side. To me, it was still perfect.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve had a more-than-middling interest in trucker culture, even procuring my own CB radio handle by the time I reached middle school (it’s Croque Madame, if you ever want to chat). My playlists are often found littered with songs like “Freightliner Fever” by Red Sovine and “Truck Driver’s Blues” by Ferlin Husky. So when I learned about a Japanese subculture inspired by the height of the American trucking craze in the 1970s, it seemed almost too good to be true. But as a recent trip to Japan only confirmed, it is—gloriously—real and spectacular.