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Why I am in a Food Fight (against Junk!)
Why do we not give cigarettes to kids? Because while they may like the feeling for a moment, we know it will end badly.
Why do we not let them drive a car? Because while they may like the feeling for a moment, we know it will end badly.
Why do we not give them drugs? Because while they may like the feeling for a moment, we know it will end badly.
Why do we not send them off to school full of toaster pastries (candy disguised as breakfast?) Because while they may like the feeling for a moment, we know it will end badly.
Oh, how I wish that last one were true. But somehow our culture has slipped, we have lowered our collective bar, to the point where we don’t even think it’s odd any more to:
- Give kindergarteners an afternoon snack of “juice boxes” (poorly named as most contain no juice), even though sugar-sweetened drinks suppress immunity and induce an adrenaline response at unusually high levels in children. Not what is needed in a class of 5 year olds!
- Serve “fast food” like burgers and fries in school cafeterias, even though consumption of these junk foods has been shown to lower test scores.
- Provide “energy drinks” for student athletes during halftime, even though these chemical-laden stimulants have been linked to serious complications and even death.
And when a parent tries to call foul on this bizarre behavior, he/she tends to be viewed as “extreme,” and to be hear they should “let kids be kids.” OK, pass them a cigar – they may like that, too.
Instead, what if we could find a way to tune out the words of the food marketers (whose job it is to increase consumption of their brands – not to increase your health) … and to instead make independent, informed choices for what to feed our families and ourselves?
What would our meals look like? What would our kids’ snacks look like? And what would be the impact on our collective health?
I believe we can reverse the trend in child obesity rates, which have quadrupled, from 5 to 20% in the last 30 years, along with hospitalizations of children due to obesity complications.
I believe we can reverse the highly related Type 2 Diabetes crisis (healthcare costs of $110 billion in 2011, projected to rise to nearly $157 billion by 2017).
And, call me crazy, but I think this can and must happen quickly, overnight, even. Let’s effect a culture shift that makes healthy choices the norm … the “default” behavior, and makes unhealthy choices uncomfortable.
If you are a parent, you can help be a driver of the shift. Bring beautiful, healthy snacks and meals when called upon by your school. Demonstrate that in-season fruit, water (maybe flavored with some fresh fruit?), and veggie snacks will be gobbled up as quickly as junk food, but with FAR better long-term results. And at home, cook, or at least assemble! If you start with whole ingredients like vegetables, grains, eggs, etc., and keep the focus more on vegetable sources, it is incredibly hard to make unhealthy meals. It’s the so-called “convenience” foods that come pre-packaged, pre-measured, pre-sliced that are most dangerous to your family’s health. Think: making your own chips vs. buying them in bags. You may have them from time to time, but the volume would be drastically reduced.
If you are an educator, make your classroom a “marketing central” for a healthy lifestyle. Kids who look at appetizing pictures of fruits and veggies all day tend to choose and eat more of these foods at meals! And for goodness sake, please ask parents to send only snacks that support health.
If you are a doctor or nurse, PLEASE don’t be afraid to suggest that families limit their foods to those made from fresh, whole ingredients. It’s not “fringy” or “crunchy” … it’s based in science and just makes sense. Years ago, a few words from a pediatrician helped call my attention to a dietary choice I was making (for “convenience”) that compromised my children’s health. He made a huge impact on our lives.
If you are an influencer of others – and this includes all celebrities, athletes, journalists, bloggers, etc. – please wield your influence wisely. Since you have to maintain high energy for your high-impact life, you probably already make awesome food and lifestyle choices. Be public – very, very public – with them.
And whoever you are, for yourself, as you go through your day, ask yourself whether each food choice you’re about to make supports or damages your health. If it is damaging, exercise this opportunity to hold yourself to a higher standard … to tell yourself a new story about your value, and what your body deserves by instead choosing foods that are healthy and life-affirming.
It really doesn’t take many good choices before they suddenly start to be the easy norm for you … and even those around you!
Strawberry Lies: What’s NOT in your food may surprise you!
Your strawberry-loving kids had Quaker Strawberries and Cream oatmeal for breakfast, with Hershey’s Strawberry milk. Strawberry Fruit Gushers for dessert for lunch, and Straw-Banana-Rama Double Crush Cup Yogurt for an after-school snack. At practice, they drank Kiwi-Strawberry Vitaminwater, and then had Strawberry Fruit Roll-Ups after dinner.
So how many strawberries did they eat, for goodness sake? EXACTLY NONE.
Confused? Read on, and follow the links to credible sources for ingredients, if you want to check for yourself (and you should)!
- Quaker Strawberries and Cream Instant Oatmeal contains no strawberries, no cream, and 12 times the sugar of Quaker Old Fashioned Oats.
- Hershey’s Strawberry syrup contains no strawberries; it is almost entirely corn syrup of various types. And, apparently, something pink.
- Betty Crocker “Strawberry Splash Fruit Gushers” say they’re made with real fruit, but the only thing close to fruit is pear concentrate (which is essentially sugar) plus some red dye for “strawberry” color.
- Dannon Danimals Straw-Banana-Rama Double Crush Cup Yogurt – Though there are monkeys on the front grabbing at fruit, they’re not going to find any here: there are no strawberries or bananas listed in the ingredient lists. There are some fruit and vegetable juices in the product as colors. The company defends this in a public statement: “Many kids prefer yogurt without fruit pieces, and we show fruit on the label so people can clearly identify the flavor they are buying.” Ummmm … right.
- Glacéau Vitaminwater, Kiwi-Strawberry flavor: There are no strawberries or kiwis in this water.
- Betty Crocker Fruit Roll-Ups, Strawberry: A lot of different corn syrups and oils. No strawberries.
I’m picking on strawberries, but this is by no means limited to them.
Crystal Light’s “Natural Lemonade” mix doesn’t even contain a single drop of lemon or lemonade (though it does include under 2% of “lemon juice solids, meaning solids extracted from lemons and then turned into a powder)! Please tell me what’s “Natural” about that?
Kraft sells a “guacamole dip” that contains less than 2% avocados.
Knorr “Pasta Sides” Chicken Broccoli Fettuccini has more corn syrup, hydrolyzed soy protein, and salt than there is Chicken or Broccoli.
WHAAAAAAATTTTT?
These food marketers are counting on your being too busy (and trusting) to worry with reading the label. They think that because they add fruit flavors or colors, you’ll be duped into buying their products and feeding them to your families. And unfortunately, for many of us, they’re right.
If a blouse were marked as “silk” but then you found out later that it was imitation silk, you’d return it. If you stopped for your morning “coffee” but then later learned it was made of a colored water that was flavored to taste like coffee (but didn’t have any of coffee’s physical or nutritional characteristics), you’d be up in arms. So why are we giving food marketers so much leeway with chemical colors and flavors that help THEM save money, but dupe us every day?
How to Fight Back
1. Read labels. Don’t assume that because you see it on the label, it’s in the box. Or that if it’s not on the label, it’s not in the box.
2. Avoid buying packaged foods. I know, it sounds extreme, but it’s actually easier than you think. Stay away from the middle of the store – shop the periphery, where most non-processed food lives. Buy strawberries rather than strawberry-flavored gook. Make a game of it for a week, just to see how you do – you may be surprised at how simple and tasty your meals become!
3. If you’re going to choose a packaged food, choose the simplest one the brand offers. As an example, next time you’re in the grocery store, compare the ingredients in Triscuits (whole wheat, oil, and salt) to the ingredients in any other Triscuit flavor (too long to list here, and includes MSG, ugh). Or compare regular Quaker Oatmeal to the “strawberries and cream” abomination mentioned above.
Here’s one more for the road: Snyder’s of Hanover Eat Smart Veggie Crisps claim to be “A bountiful blend of potato, spinach, and tomato chips.” However, they boast more potassium chloride than spinach. Doesn’t sound very bountiful to me.
Eating Out Healthfully: New Research from RAND Corporation
Based on a recent study of the top 400 Chain Restaurants (by sales) published in the Cambridge University Press, it looks like eating out healthfully (at least at the most popular chain restaurants surveyed) is still a challenge. But even where it’s hard to find a great choice, there are still some choices that are better than others.
Key findings
- Appetizers had more calories, fat and sodium than all other item types.
- Children’s menu specialty beverages had more fat, saturated fat and carbohydrates than comparable regular menu beverages.
- As few as 3% of entrees were within limits for sodium, fat and saturated fat.
- Main entrées had significantly more calories, fat and saturated fat in family-style restaurants than in fast-food restaurants.
- Restaurants that made nutrition information easily accessible on websites had significantly lower energy, fat and sodium contents across menu offerings than those providing information only upon request.
Better Bets
So, the message is to skip the restaurant if it doesn’t provide nutrition information. Skip the appetizer. DEFINITELY skip the kids drinks. And if you’re in a family-style restaurant, choose a veggie salad or share a main entree with others.
Better yet, skip chain restaurants altogether, and patronize a restaurant that offers clean, fresh, healthy food for your family – usually local establishments with owners truly invested in the health of the community they serve.
Or, cook at home, where you have full control of the ingredients. For less than the cost of a restaurant meal, you can buy pre-prepped veggies that can be quickly steamed or sautéed then tossed over quinoa or other grains … give a new herb or spice a try once a week or so to keep things interesting and add a boost of health! If you’re looking for healthy, simple recipe ideas, check out list of Vibrant Health Recipes or (if you’re really out of time) our list of Super-Quick Meals and Snacks.
Study Cited: Helen W Wu and Roland Sturm (2013). What’s on the menu? A review of the energy and nutritional content of US chain restaurant menus. Public Health Nutrition, 16, pp 87-96. doi:10.1017/S136898001200122X. http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S136898001200122X
The surprising health benefits of green tomatoes!
With early warmth this year, a friend mentioned that she had already been able to get tomatoes started in Florida! Her concern was that a frost may force her to pick them before they’re ready (typically a problem in fall, but here we are) and she wondered whether the nutrient value would suffer.
On the contrary – green tomatoes are remarkably healthy, and even beat red tomatoes on a few measures! One large green tomato (about 1 cup), provides:
- 42 calories
- 2 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber
- 29 mg of vitamin C, half the daily requirement for men and nearly 60 percent for women (vs. 23 for red tomatoes)
- 16 mg calcium (vs. 6 in red)
- 623 mcg of beta-carotene (helps your body produce vitamin A)
- 58 mcg of vitamin A, giving you close to one-tenth of your recommended daily intake
- 10% of your daily requirement for the B vitamins thiamin, vitamin B-6 and pantothenic acid, and just under 10% of the riboflavin and niacin you need
- One-fifth of your recommended daily intake for vitamin K
- 5 to 10% of your recommended daily intake for iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium and manganese
- An important alkaloid called tomatine, which may fight breast, colon, stomach and liver cancer cells, according to research published in the “Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry” in 2009
Check out my Summer Recipes list on myList for some ideas on what to do with green tomatoes (there are much better ways than the traditional “fried” version). And for added benefit, pair green tomatoes with iron-rich foods like fish, spinach, or supplements, since the vitamin C helps your body absorb the iron more efficiently.
You want to eat it … you just don’t know HOW.
The 100 Foods Dr. Oz Wants in Your Shopping Cart
I don’t agree with everything on this list (Frozen waffles?!), but do agree with most of it. What I’d really like is a grocery store that stocks only these and similar items – I really hate seeing what is in most peoples’ carts in traditional grocery stores! Check out the full story at: The 100 Foods Dr. Oz Wants in Your Shopping Cart | The Dr. Oz Show.
Healthy Kitchen Tools
We’ve curated a list of the healthy kitchen tools that we’ve found make it easier and more fun to make healthy foods. Why not inspire yourself by treating yourself?