A recent study found that 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men in America claim to be on a diet. The diet food industry is booming. Anything low-fat, low-calorie, high protein, low-carb, or anything claiming to give us a quick pick-me-up sell like hotcakes. Yet despite these facts, people in our country are getting fatter and more lethargic by the day.
Our bodies have cravings based on pretty much two things: it craves things it needs or it craves things it’s addicted to. So let’s say your body needs more of some sort of nutrient and it sends you a hunger signal. You’re on a diet and watching calories so you grab a meal replacement bar, a sugar-free Jell-o cup, and a diet soda. Seems like a decent selection, right? It leaves you feeling somewhat satisfied and only has about 200 calories. But an hour later, you are right back in the same boat that you were to begin with because you still haven’t gotten the nutrients that your body is craving. And to top it off, some of the artificial ingredients in the snack that you just consumed are highly addictive, causing you to crave more as well. So we repeat the cycle. Crave, eat, get a temporary fix and then crave again. Someone described this process as being similar to putting on a tight pair of shoes just so you can feel the relief of taking them off. Doesn’t make much sense does it?
I recently heard a quote that stuck with me in regards to our American diets. It said, “We are not eating food anymore. We are eating food like products. People in our society are overfed and yet starving to death.” We eat lots of food without lots of nutrition.
We were created to eat meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains - not all of the artificial stuff that we find in our food and drinks today. Do some research on things like aspartame, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, refined sugars and flours or high-fructose corn syrup and you may be left feeling confused as to how the FDA can by law continue to approve them. We all have heard the dangers of MSG and the effects it can have on our bodies so we typically try to avoid it. But did you know that over 40 common ingredients in other foods we eat contain MSG? There are so many unnatural things in our food supply today that it would take a science degree or hours upon hours of research time on the internet to find out exactly what we are putting into our bodies.
Many of the things we find in our foods today have a direct negative affect on our weight and the way that our body processes food as well. Take a look at this link (http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/top-10-food-additives-to-avoid) to see some of the things in our food and how they are linked to thinks like obesity, diabetes, behavior problems in children and even cancer.
But enough of all the scary stuff - I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of this before. I know I have. But the funny thing is, I still eat all of this garbage on a daily basis. I am the queen of the FiberOne bar, the 100 calorie snack pack, and Diet Coke.
I have been thinking a lot lately about just experimenting for a time to see how I’d feel and what would happen if I tried to cut out most of the unnatural stuff in my diet. What if I just stuck to things that I could pronounce and I knew where they came from? I’m not saying I’m going to grow my own vegetables and raise my own chickens and livestock just yet…I’m not sure city ordinances would appreciate pigs running around my tiny front yard. But what if I made my own chicken nuggets instead of buying them from McDonalds where the recipe looks as follows:
“Chicken, water, salt, sodium phosphates. Battered and breaded with bleached wheat flour, water, wheat flour, modified food starch, salt, spices, wheat gluten, paprika, dextrose (sugar), yeast, garlic powder, rosemary, partially hydrogenated soybean oil and cottonseed oil with mono- and diglycerides, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, baking soda, ammonium bicarbonate, monocalcium phosphate), natural flavor (plant source) with extractives of paprika. Fried in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid). Dimethylpolysiloxane is added as an antifoaming agent.”
Would I feel better if I only drank water and 100% juices instead of Diet Coke and Crystal Light? Would I have more energy if instead of the 100 calorie pack of Oreos, I grabbed a 100 calorie apple? Would I lose weight if I actually gave up all of the fat-free options?
My guess is it COULDN’T be worse, right? I mean I fell asleep mid-word while writing my blog the other day and I weigh over 300 pounds.
I’m seriously considering giving it a shot. It would add expense to the grocery budget I‘m sure and it would take a lot of purging and preparation on my part (and by purging, I mean getting rid of stuff in my cupboards NOT the bulimia kind). :-) I think my body would revolt at first because I have been putting so much garbage in it for so long, but if once I was “cleansed” from everything I felt better, it would all be worth it.
Our bodies have cravings based on pretty much two things: it craves things it needs or it craves things it’s addicted to. So let’s say your body needs more of some sort of nutrient and it sends you a hunger signal. You’re on a diet and watching calories so you grab a meal replacement bar, a sugar-free Jell-o cup, and a diet soda. Seems like a decent selection, right? It leaves you feeling somewhat satisfied and only has about 200 calories. But an hour later, you are right back in the same boat that you were to begin with because you still haven’t gotten the nutrients that your body is craving. And to top it off, some of the artificial ingredients in the snack that you just consumed are highly addictive, causing you to crave more as well. So we repeat the cycle. Crave, eat, get a temporary fix and then crave again. Someone described this process as being similar to putting on a tight pair of shoes just so you can feel the relief of taking them off. Doesn’t make much sense does it?
I recently heard a quote that stuck with me in regards to our American diets. It said, “We are not eating food anymore. We are eating food like products. People in our society are overfed and yet starving to death.” We eat lots of food without lots of nutrition.
We were created to eat meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and grains - not all of the artificial stuff that we find in our food and drinks today. Do some research on things like aspartame, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, refined sugars and flours or high-fructose corn syrup and you may be left feeling confused as to how the FDA can by law continue to approve them. We all have heard the dangers of MSG and the effects it can have on our bodies so we typically try to avoid it. But did you know that over 40 common ingredients in other foods we eat contain MSG? There are so many unnatural things in our food supply today that it would take a science degree or hours upon hours of research time on the internet to find out exactly what we are putting into our bodies.
Many of the things we find in our foods today have a direct negative affect on our weight and the way that our body processes food as well. Take a look at this link (http://foodmatters.tv/articles-1/top-10-food-additives-to-avoid) to see some of the things in our food and how they are linked to thinks like obesity, diabetes, behavior problems in children and even cancer.
But enough of all the scary stuff - I’m sure you’ve heard a lot of this before. I know I have. But the funny thing is, I still eat all of this garbage on a daily basis. I am the queen of the FiberOne bar, the 100 calorie snack pack, and Diet Coke.
I have been thinking a lot lately about just experimenting for a time to see how I’d feel and what would happen if I tried to cut out most of the unnatural stuff in my diet. What if I just stuck to things that I could pronounce and I knew where they came from? I’m not saying I’m going to grow my own vegetables and raise my own chickens and livestock just yet…I’m not sure city ordinances would appreciate pigs running around my tiny front yard. But what if I made my own chicken nuggets instead of buying them from McDonalds where the recipe looks as follows:
“Chicken, water, salt, sodium phosphates. Battered and breaded with bleached wheat flour, water, wheat flour, modified food starch, salt, spices, wheat gluten, paprika, dextrose (sugar), yeast, garlic powder, rosemary, partially hydrogenated soybean oil and cottonseed oil with mono- and diglycerides, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, baking soda, ammonium bicarbonate, monocalcium phosphate), natural flavor (plant source) with extractives of paprika. Fried in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid). Dimethylpolysiloxane is added as an antifoaming agent.”
Would I feel better if I only drank water and 100% juices instead of Diet Coke and Crystal Light? Would I have more energy if instead of the 100 calorie pack of Oreos, I grabbed a 100 calorie apple? Would I lose weight if I actually gave up all of the fat-free options?
My guess is it COULDN’T be worse, right? I mean I fell asleep mid-word while writing my blog the other day and I weigh over 300 pounds.
I’m seriously considering giving it a shot. It would add expense to the grocery budget I‘m sure and it would take a lot of purging and preparation on my part (and by purging, I mean getting rid of stuff in my cupboards NOT the bulimia kind). :-) I think my body would revolt at first because I have been putting so much garbage in it for so long, but if once I was “cleansed” from everything I felt better, it would all be worth it.
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