I am seeing so much crazy food and health related information on social these days (but as you know what the algorithm feeds me will be different from what it feeds you), so I just wanted to pop on and talk a bit about our current food system. I will do this in 3 parts. 🙈
I think this stuff is really important and I don’t want to assume that everyone knows. If you do know already, you have my permission to feel smug. 😎
The 1st thing you should know is that in today’s world, the food industry is driven by one thing (and one thing only): profit. That is all.
Major food corporations, many of which are based in the U.S., prioritize their bottom line over public health. Their goal is not to nourish us, but to sell products that are cheap to produce and addictive. 🙃
How do they do this?
By using artificial ingredients and employing scientists who understand the addictive properties of food, similar to those used by the tobacco industry. As a result, we are left consuming foods that are low in nutrients and full of chemicals designed to keep us hooked.
Take, for example, how American companies create healthier versions of their products for other countries, but not for their own citizens. (And where do you think most of our food comes from? 👀)
Kraft’s macaroni and cheese in Europe doesn’t contain artificial dyes, while the U.S. version does, despite potential links to hyperactivity, allergies and leukemia in children. While this is completely unethical, these practices aren’t just isolated to Kraft — the famous chain Subway was using a chemical called azodicarbonamide (the same chemical used in yoga mats and shoe rubber!) in their bread in the U.S., a chemical banned in many countries! 😳
It’s obvious that the food industry doesn’t have our best interests at heart. Their marketing misleads us into thinking we’re making healthy choices when we’re really consuming heavily processed and harmful foods. From hidden MSG and chemical additives, to the sugar added to 80% of processed foods, these products are contributing to rising rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. Worse, they target children, aiming to hook them young on processed foods full of artificial ingredients that disrupt brain function and sugar processing.
Parents are beginning to see that when they eliminate artificial dyes and additives from their children’s diets, they see improvements in behavior, allergies, and even school performance. But just know that change won’t come from the food industry. It has to come from us. We must ignore the flashy marketing (the low fat, the gluten-free, the low calorie) and focus on reading ingredient labels. (Yes, I will keep shouting this from the rooftops!)
Just remember: The front of the package is marketing; you have to look at the back of the package for the ingredients. If you don’t recognize an ingredient, just put that product back on the shelf, or educate yourself about that ingredient. I can guarantee you, it’s almost always something you don’t want in your body.
Don’t rely on the food industry to create products for you to go gluten-free; go back to basics. They have figured out how to make cheap, hyper processed gluten-free with low quality, high starch ingredients that raise blood sugar as much as some of the wheat and gluten products. Along with that, they’ve increased the additives to give them texture and make them shelf stable (with things like carrageenan, that’s linked to intestinal issues and IBS).
We have always processed our food (by chopping, soaking, cooking, grinding, drying and fermenting it). Unfortunately, nowadays we are substituting this with factory and industrial processing that diminishes the quality of the food and also adds a plethora of additives and toxic chemicals. 🤦🏽♀️
It might not seem like there is much you can do, but every dollar you spend is a vote. Are you voting for more of the same? Or change for the better?
Stay informed, and together we can be a part of the solution. Also, thanks for listening to my TED talk. 😊
So proud of you for making it to the end! 🤗 Click here to hear about some of the challenges & complexities of the system in Part II of this series.