Food is plentiful—at least in most
developed nations. And for the most part, it’s cheap and easy to
acquire. Yet we often are left feeling unsatisfied and wanting more. As
a society, we’ve developed some serious misconceptions about what it
means to “dine well.”
Why do we eat?
We
like to party—to eat for fun and celebration. Some of us eat when we’re
bored or stressed out. We might even admit to having a secret addiction
to certain kinds of food or drink. And then there’s the real reason to
eat—because we need to nourish our body.
Modern Dietary Pitfalls
Many
of the items we stock in our refrigerators and pantries—the things
we’ve been led to believe will nourish our bodies—aren’t really even
food. Just because something edible passes our lips doesn’t necessarily
qualify it as nourishment. Few ingredients in these highly processed
poser foods are close to recognizable, and most of the additives—such
as coloring, flavorings, and artificial sweeteners—are ultimately
toxic. Junk food is deficient and devoid of nutritional value; it’s
just empty calories that will leave you overfed and undernourished.
And
because your body needs the right nutrients to survive, it will keep
signaling you to eat. You will experience increased cravings, prompting
you to eat more and more.
Dr. Ray Strand, physician and author, has also tackled the topic of food cravings in his book
Healthy for Life. He describes a food scenario many have personally experienced:
Think
back to a large party or picnic you’ve recently attended. At one end of
the table, the hostess sets a moderately sized bowl of apples, bananas,
and oranges (no more than two or three of each). On the other end of
the table—in bowls the size of kiddie pools—she pours mounds of chips.
She can hardly force those few pieces of fruit on her guests, but
she’ll definitely have to refill the chips.
We’ve come to expect it. It’s fun to munch chips. The salty crunch factor offers just the right experience.
“Have
you ever tried to eat five bananas in a row?” Dr. Strand asks. “I love
them, but I can only get one down. On the other hand, have you tried to
eat just one potato chip?”
This situation
illustrates the difference between what happens when you eat real food
compared to junk food. Good foods satisfy. High-quality foods that are
nutritionally dense make us feel full so we don’t feel the need to
overeat. All the others keep us coming back for more. Food
manufacturers know it—they count on it. Huge warehouse-sized box stores
are a testament to it.
We naïvely fail to
question the rapid spread of giant food stores or their far-reaching
effects. We see people pushing carts the size of small cars down rows
and rows of processed foods. It’s little wonder we have to go to the
grocery store only once a month.
We have a
growing disconnect when it comes to providing nutrition for our bodies.
And if it isn’t nutrition we’re accomplishing, then what is it? We may
need to rethink both quantity and quality of food.
Marketing Genius
A healthy
dose of skepticism will serve us well when shopping for food. We’ll
find a number of claims that sell the “health-promoting” aspects of a
given product, even if the claims are unsubstantiated or if the product
inflicts just as many negative effects on our bodies.
For
instance, marketers love phrases such as “all natural.” But did you
know that there’s no FDA definition, no legislated standards for using
the term? Just about anything can claim to be “all natural.”
How about “less fat.”
Less fat than what? Whale blubber?
Foods
can have as much fat in them as the manufacturers want—they just have
to have less than at least one other version of the product they are
selling. One of my
