What’s In The Food?

How does the food we eat daily affect our health? Generally, people enjoy their sweet treats or salty snacks. Poor eating habits can be developed at an early age and if left unchecked can lead to long term habits. Today there are many growing concerns with the quality of our food. There are a lot of unnecessary additives in the food being sold across the country. The food industry is being questioned by many for these weird ingredients and many people are finding alternatives. This information may be alarming, my experience in the fitness industry has exposed me to a variety of different weight loss methods. As a personal testimony, moderation is the key to any successful diet.

The Food and Drug Administration has a way to review foods and other products that will be consumed by people. The process the FDA uses is a lengthy safety review, this determines a products safety for the general public. There was a law passed decades ago which circumvents the FDA’s safety process. History has show companies time and time again abuse this law to get their products out and selling quickly. What’s more disturbing is that some of these rushed products have been shown to contain ingredients the FDA has proven to be dangerous when consumed. It is absurd to even think that our food system is flawed, America is the best country right? Well, we are one of the best for obesity rate. Looking at the photo below we can compare staple foods. Why is the food being produced and sold in the UK’s have less calories than the US? Tell me how a soda is double the calories, how the Mc Donald’s berry shake has 800 calories in the US but 488 in the UK.. It’s disturbing, what is in the food? This small comparison shows how nonchalant the US is when determining what should and shouldn’t go in our food.

Let’s take a deeper look into what we consume on a daily basis. Coming in at the top of the list is MSG (monosodium glutamine) a familiar additive used by many food companies to enhance the flavor of salty foods. What are the long term exposure effects of MSG? I’m glad you asked… The FDA has gone on record associating consistent consumption of MSG with an increased risk of developing life altering health conditions, like cardiovascular disease. Great, let’s look at another one. Artificial sweeteners have become more popular due to the growing awareness that added sugar is bad, so what happened? The food industry found a clever way to engineer and produce a sugar like substance and package it in a way that appealed to the public. This was a genius idea because the artificial sweetener eliminated the calories while still delivering a sweet taste. What’s not so sweet is consuming these artificial substances over a long period of time. Long term exposure can lead to an increased risk of cancer, primarily bladder cancer. The food industry has been under surveillance by the general public lately for their deceptive products. It’s sad to think food being sold by big corporations that have been around for such a long time are cutting corners and profiting off selling harmful products. I know it sounds extreme but consider the wester diet, full of additives and preservatives!

Added sugar deserves it’s own paragraph. First let me say, natural sugars found in foods are okay in moderation. These are found in fruits and vegetables and some companies that emphasize on quality will use these ingredients as sweeteners for their products. Bravo! Not all food companies manipulate the public and disregard health concerns. The issue is consuming added sugar, you know the kind that is processed and has no health benefits or nutritional value. This is just one ingredient manufacturers love to use to increase flavor and extend the shelf life of their products; the most common being high fructose corn syrup. What’s the big fuss? Life is made to enjoy the little things, why should we care about sugar if it’s in all the foods? Well, this is true, the little things are important. Let’s see how a little change in being more aware of an ingredient can affect someone’s life.

Eating an excess amount of sugar can increase the risk of a variety of different ailments, are you ready to hear the truth? Consuming too much sugar can cause weight gain, increase the risk of heart disease, increase the risk of type 2 diabetes, and it can increase the risk of cancer. With our food being contaminated with this unnecessary ingredient it might seem that there’s no solution. So, what is a good way to combat this evil ingredient? Don’t consume it! I know it’s unrealistic, I am only suggesting monitoring the amount of sugar in the foods you consume on a regular basis. As an example we will create a hypothetical day of eating. For breakfast a bowl of cereal, cinnamon toast crunch and a glass of orange juice. A few hours later, a chicken sandwich with BBQ sauce and soda. Lastly, for dinner, some nice spaghetti. Out of the foods listed above which have the most grams of sugar per serving? Is it the cereal, the juice, or how about the chicken? Yep it’s the BBQ sauce, Pepsi, and juice. Don’t get me wrong all of these foods have sugar in them, but without paying attention to the nutrition label it’s easily overlooked. This is a light day of eating for some and this scenario has about 100 grams of sugar in it. The American Heart Association suggests that men only consume 37 grams of added sugar a day and women 25 grams. Why don’t we know these things?

In fact the results from decades of research points in an alarming direction. One research group states despite knowing the potential health concerns emotional eating, food cravings, and control over consuming high calorie foods is on the rise. It is estimated that the health care industry expects costs associated with being overweight or obese projected to exceed 850 billion dollars annually by 2030 in the United States alone. This information should be widespread and known by the general public. I feel that every time I turn on the TV I only hear about negative stories, something that went wrong and the cry for justice. Where is the air time for self improvement, life lessons, etiquette, fitness, and healthy eating? The American people deserve better, compared to other developed countries our diets are ranked the worst.

Furthermore the obesity rate in children is something to consider. Over the span of the last 40 years we can see an increase of childhood obesity. Young children don’t understand that food is healthy or unhealthy. If the environment a child is in does not lead by example, teach self control, and moderate the food bad habits can form. This can potentially create a cycle of generational habits, consisting of poor eating and chronic health issues. It starts with the parents. Some may not have enough time to educate themselves or care enough to. That is why companies need to be held to a certain standard and become more transparent.

In addition it seems like there’s a new diet each day promoting the best results and easy guidelines. Some of the more popular ones seen today is the ketogenic diet, mediterranean diet, paleo diet, whole 30 diet, and vegan. Each one has a different set of rules to follow. It is estimated that 45 million Americans go on a diet each year and the average person gives up around the 5 week mark. What is interesting is that “consumers’ concerns for the impact of diets on their health have become one of the most determining factors in making food choices. Research shows that nutrition and health claims can impact food choices positively”(Emerald). A lot of products on the shelf of grocery stores have misleading titles and descriptions for their foods. This is a marketing tactic for consumers to feel better about eating their foods. I have personally been involved in the fitness industry for the past 5 years. In that time I have seen a lot of people try and fail when trying to lose weight. I can tell you confidently the number one reason people fall off their diet is not knowing how to eat in moderation, or they eat the wrong food with the idea of it being healthy. People tend to go cold turkey right away and learn quickly how much they miss their comfort foods. Sadly, a majority of people fall back to their old eating routine. I have seen the most success when people decide to incorporate a diet and also eat the things they like sparingly. Maybe once a week you have a cheat meal, where the rules are a little bent, having that craving met while not feeling guilty; like a reward for good behavior. So when deciding to go vegan, keto, or whole30 do your research, understand what is expected and be realistic with yourself. Not everyone can follow each diet and that’s fine, cater your eating habits around one specific diet and stick with it.

A good tactic is learning how to understand the nutrition facts label found on all foods sold in stores. This is my number one tip to help survive this food apocalypse. Identify how many servings are in the packaged food (this will be labeled servings per container) and the serving size. More often than not a package will tell you how many pieces a serving is. Sometimes it can be a little tricky and it will read the serving in grams or cups. This is where I suggest getting a food scale and measuring out your food that way you have an idea of what a serving looks like with the foods you eat on a daily basis. This is what a lot of nutritionists recommend to clients trying to live a healthier life. Next, look at the calories in a serving. If an item has 200 calories for 1 piece of bread and you consume 3 you eat 600 calories just in bread. Below is an example of a nutrition label. Numbered on the side are the important things you want to look for when screening your food. The next important step for healthier eating is locating the ingredients. Checking the ingredients is key because it will list everything used in the production of the food. This is how you determine how processed the product is. Below is a little Debbie treat ingredient list. Why are the ingredients on a food more confusing than filing taxes? A big tell are the first few ingredients, this is what the manufacturer used the most in making the food. At the top of the list is corn syrup, processed flour, and oil. Sounds delicious. I couldn’t pronounce most of these ingredients if I tried anyways.

The big takeaway is eating whole foods that haven’t been processed. Check how big a portion size is for a particular food. And see what’s in the food by looking at the ingredients. Practicing these few tips could change the way you feel on a daily basis and ultimately has better health benefits.