The Recession Diet

This NY Magazine piece on Depression-era “health regimes” as -- more or less -- the new black in self-improvement is so ridiculous and so stylish, I can’t stop myself from pointing you there.

It would be safe to assume that there’s nothing much left to be said about Gwyneth Paltrow’s self-appointed role as America’s holistic adviser. After all, what’s not to trash about a glamorous actress who fixates on having the cleanest GI tract south of 14th Street? We’ve entered a moment in which it’s perfectly acceptable to talk, if not boast, about the purity of one’s digestive functions, as Diddy did when he recently Twittered minute-by-minute details of his “spiritual” 48-hour juice fast. But while it’s easy, and cathartic, to laugh at skinny, wealthy celebrities who preach the benefits of dietary deprivation, we may be overlooking something amid all the cackling: They could be the perfect food-advice purveyors for our less than bountiful economic times.

The Mark Adams piece is here, and quite good for a guffaw.