Food corporations are in big trouble.
Last year the New York Times published an article that exposed the "extraordinary science of addictive junk food." The 11 largest food corporations in the USA intentionally create and market foods that hook consumers on foods that not only lack nutritional value, but are addictive in nature. Wouldn't you know it, but these foods also fuel the obesity epidemic, not to mention the slew of diet-related diseases that follow.
Like I said, this is an well-crafted, intentional act. There is literally an equation used in creating food products that makes them addictive yet nutrient-deficient:
Last year the New York Times published an article that exposed the "extraordinary science of addictive junk food." The 11 largest food corporations in the USA intentionally create and market foods that hook consumers on foods that not only lack nutritional value, but are addictive in nature. Wouldn't you know it, but these foods also fuel the obesity epidemic, not to mention the slew of diet-related diseases that follow.
Like I said, this is an well-crafted, intentional act. There is literally an equation used in creating food products that makes them addictive yet nutrient-deficient:
image created by Grant Cornett for the New York Times
We are hard-wired to experience an addict-like response to these laboratory-engineered foods created by genius food scientists and savvy business people. When we eat them the pleasure (dopamine) receptors in our brains get stimulated. The high we get from the dopamine release keeps us coming back for again and again for more. "Once you pop, you just can't stop."
It's enough to make a girl mad! Don't you feel duped? It makes me feel like "free will" is a myth and "truth in advertising" is a idea of the past.
So when I watched this animation last week narrated by Michael Pollan, author of Food Rules and Cooked, I got really excited. He poses a laughably simple adage to follow: "Eat anything you want, just cook it yourself." And that's why food corporations are in big trouble. We've got the power right in our own homes to revolutionize our health.
Here's the scoop: If instead of making our food choices based on what was available to us - knowing that everything we could ever possibly want is right outside our door - we started cooking for ourselves, we would avoid eating too much sugar, salt, and the big hitter, trans fat. What happens next is incredibly exciting! We lose weight, we have more energy, we sleep better, and food is 100 times more satisfying because we have invested ourselves in the production of it.
For the first time in the history of our species, cooking is an act of defiance. By allocating our food dollars to the purchase of whole foods - vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and clean proteins and fats - we are giving food corporations the finger. By choosing to cook for ourselves, we are telling those food corporations that we want better than those addictive food products that make us fat and sick. With each strike of our chef's knives we are claiming a better future for ourselves and our children. Who's with me?!! Pull on your apron and join me in revolutionizing your body, your life, and your community by preparing yourself a delicious home-cooked meal.
(And if cooking is scary to you, check out these 3 simple ways to simplify healthy cooking during the work week)
It's enough to make a girl mad! Don't you feel duped? It makes me feel like "free will" is a myth and "truth in advertising" is a idea of the past.
So when I watched this animation last week narrated by Michael Pollan, author of Food Rules and Cooked, I got really excited. He poses a laughably simple adage to follow: "Eat anything you want, just cook it yourself." And that's why food corporations are in big trouble. We've got the power right in our own homes to revolutionize our health.
Here's the scoop: If instead of making our food choices based on what was available to us - knowing that everything we could ever possibly want is right outside our door - we started cooking for ourselves, we would avoid eating too much sugar, salt, and the big hitter, trans fat. What happens next is incredibly exciting! We lose weight, we have more energy, we sleep better, and food is 100 times more satisfying because we have invested ourselves in the production of it.
For the first time in the history of our species, cooking is an act of defiance. By allocating our food dollars to the purchase of whole foods - vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and clean proteins and fats - we are giving food corporations the finger. By choosing to cook for ourselves, we are telling those food corporations that we want better than those addictive food products that make us fat and sick. With each strike of our chef's knives we are claiming a better future for ourselves and our children. Who's with me?!! Pull on your apron and join me in revolutionizing your body, your life, and your community by preparing yourself a delicious home-cooked meal.
(And if cooking is scary to you, check out these 3 simple ways to simplify healthy cooking during the work week)