Just when you think that our mainstream “system” can’t get any worse.

The latest terrible advice from our “system” arrived in my mailbox today—and was contained within my copy of the August-September issue of The AARP Magazine. This time, their health geniuses managed to recommend a dairy product AND added sugar within one product. On page 22, in an article entitled How to Stay Fit Forever, this was one of their twelve recommendations—from Stuart Phillips, Ph.D., a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario.

One of the most powerful carcinogens ever discovered, cow’s milk is recommended as a health drink in the AARP magazine.

Drink chocolate milk. “Consuming some protein after exercise, especially as we get older, appears to help the muscles rebuild themselves more effectively,” Phillips says. When the protein is combined with carbohydrate, such as the sugar in chocolate milk, muscles recover even better. If you’re trying to lose weight, “plain milk works well too,” Phillips adds—but it isn’t nearly as much fun to drink.

So the “protein myth” is still alive and well as it is being reinforced by one of the largest, the most powerful and the most trusted organizations in the world. Although misinformation like this no longer surprises me, it does help to strengthen my resolve to continue spreading the simple truth about nutrition to anyone willing to listen.

In a June 2011 Op-Ed piece in the New York Times (see link below), the author points out that the 37 million member strong AARP has usually ranked among the most trusted institutions in the nation.

With 37 million members, This could be AARP’s finest hour. In surveys, the organization has usually ranked among the most trusted institutions in the nation, along with groups like the American Red Cross and the Consumers Union. AARP knows there is political power in numbers — and in organization. In the past, however, it had only to activate a small portion of its huge membership base to register political impact. “All they have to do is whisper,” one consultant told me.

Frederick R. Lynch, an associate professor of government at Claremont McKenna College, is the author of “One Nation Under AARP: The Fight Over Medicare, Social Security, and America’s Future.”

• The New York Times Op-Ed piece about the AARP
• An earlier blog about dairy by my friend Nigel Richardson
• An earlier blog about sugar featuring Dr. Sanjay Gupta

One final point. At age 67, I guess that I have been receiving the AARP Magazine for almost 18 years. The only reason I continue to pay the membership fee is for the occasional discounts for members. As for the magazine, I learned many years ago that it was pretty much worthless and normally toss it in the trash before leaving the post office. 

Meryl and Tommy Lee about halfway from my house to our yacht club in Stonington, Connecticut. In the movie, they played an aging couple looking for love—and we played the quaint seaside village that was supposed to be in Maine. Great fun for all concerned.

So why did I read it this week? Because I noticed a picture of Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones on the cover. The article about them was prompted by a current movie, Hope Springs, much of which was filmed right here in my little village by the sea, Stonington, Connecticut. Meryl and Tommy Lee were in town last October for the “on location” filming of what was supposed to be a quaint village in Maine—Great Hope Springs.

It was great fun while they were here and now all of us locals are enjoying the movie itself, which opened nationwide last week. It’s been a blast to see some of our friends and neighbors on the silver screen—along with the top stars.

As for their characters in the movie, Meryl and Tommy Lee played an aging married couple who were now sleeping in separate bedrooms and hadn’t had sex in over five years. Both were probably 20 to 30 pounds overweight and could probably benefit greatly from our…

Handy 4-piece take-charge-of-your-health kit—from Amazon.com

• The movie that’s changing the lives of millions: Forks Over Knives DVD 
• Healthy Eating, Healthy World, The “big picture” about food (our book)
• An essential scientific resource: The China Study by Dr. T. Colin Campbell
• Dr. McDougall’s new book, The Starch Solution, with lots of great recipes.

Want to find out how healthy your family is eating? Take our free 4Leaf Diagnostic Survey. It takes less than five minutes and you can score it yourself. After taking the survey, please give me your feedback as it will be helpful in the development of our future 4Leaf app for smartphones. Send feedback to jmorrishicks@me.com

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J. Morris Hicks, working daily to promote health, hope and harmony on planet Earth.

For help in your own quest to take charge of your health, you might find some useful information at our 4Leaf page or some great recipes at Lisa’s 4Leaf Kitchen.

Got a question? Let me hear from you at jmorrishicks@me.com. Or give me a call on my cell at 917-399-9700.

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Blogging daily at hpjmh.com…from the seaside village of Stonington, Connecticut – Be well and have a great day.

—J. Morris Hicks, board member, T. Colin Campbell Foundation