It's that time of year. The holidays are upon us. We will gather with friends and family to enjoy each other’s company with good food and drinks. Just before or after the new year many of us will reflect back and make new year's resolutions for the upcoming year. The desire to lose weight and exercise or be more active is usually towards the top of the list. Gyms and health clubs get flooded with new and old members the first few months of the year. Our “gut” reaction is to cut back how much we eat, find a diet that seems to be appealing and be more active.
Unfortunately, the eat less exercise more advice has failed the vast majority of people for the past 40+ years. Look at the list below. Are any of these questions applicable to you?
1. Been on multiple diets.
2. Do you always feel hungry?
3. Do you crave sweets?
4. Are you on the weight loss weight gain roller coaster?
5. Are your energy levels low?
6. Do you have a metabolic disorder (Diabetes, Obesity)?
7. Exercise but don't lose weight
Did you answer yes to any of these questions? Do you think you control what you eat or is food controlling you? The food you eat can have a powerful effect on your body and brain. Subconsciously you are making decisions that sabotage your health and wellbeing. What you eat, the ingredients in the food and when you eat can create a positive or negative effect on how you feel, how you look, how you think and your overall health.
In today’s world food is always available. You can leave your house at any time and unless you live in a country setting you can find a place to buy food within a few minutes. That is true for any time of the day or night. For example, I have a gas station with a mini-mart that is less than a 5-minute walk from my house. I can get in my car and drive less than a mile in any direction and find any type of food I would want to eat.
Not only do we have the convenience of food availability, but we also have food available in quick and easy forms. Think about the frozen food isle in the supermarket. You can stuff your freezer or refrigerator with all kinds of goodies that can be popped into the microwave and poof a quick easy meal. Let’s not forget about the foods that come in a box or a bag that are made for our convenience. Some examples include: Mac and Cheese, Instant potatoes, the endless types of cereals and chips just to name a few. Oh, and let’s not forget about all the canned goodies.
How about all the “fast food” places that you can got to for a meal without even getting out of your car. Wow finding
food and having access to a quick meal is
so convenient. Trying to cram in 30 hours of activities in a 24-hour day who has time to cook 2-3 meals a day. This goes for a single person, a couple with or without kids. We all appreciate the food convenience to reduce the stress of meal prep from our day. The food industry has really made life easy for us when it comes to food availability. So, when my body sends me a signal that I am hungry the choices in and out of my house are endless.
But here is the flip side. The food industry is in the business to sell food NOT health! There are ingredients added into the food and processed out that act on your brain and gut signaling you to want to eat more. Some of the added ingredients and the processing also negatively affects your health.
Since the explosion of food availability through processed means there has also been an explosion of Diabetes, Obesity, Heart Disease, Cancers and a whole host of other health issues. This is true not only for adults but in recent years we are seeing children and even toddlers developing some of these medical conditions as well. (1) There are multiple factors how food availability through processed means may have contributed to poor health and weight gain. Some examples include, added ingredients for taste, portion size, how the food is prepared just to name a few. Below is a comparison between a 3 oz serving for sweet potatoes vs a 3 oz serving of frozen sweet potatoes with a list of the added ingredients.
Compare the ingredients added to a bag of frozen sweet potatoes to a sweet potatoe. Click here to see the frozen sweet potatoes.
Food database and calorie counter Source USDA 3 Oz Sweet Potatoe (click here for sweet potatoes nutrition).
If you answered yes to any of the questions listed above then you will benefit from learning:
o how to take make healthy food choices
o how to read nutrition labels
o how foods affect your metabolism
o how foods affect your hormones which will tell your brain you are hungry or full
o how foods can bolster your immune system or make you more susceptible to diseases
In upcoming articles, I will address the perils of processed foods and explore how the food industry has set us up for failure. You can also find articles at my blog for understanding how to use the mechanisms you have built into your bodies to control your weight and be healthy (click here). My goal is to empower you with the knowledge and tools to be in control of your health.
To learn how to take control and improve your and your loved one’s health and well-being contact us at 215-830-9997.
References
Lustig,Robert, The Toxic Truth About Sugar, Nature vol 429