Sources:  U.S. News & World Report June 4, 2010

It’s easy to forget that the processed, packaged foods and fast food restaurants of today are actually a radical change in terms of the history of food production. The frozen food business didn’t begin until the mid-1920s when the General Seafoods Company set up shop and began selling crudely frozen fish fillets, and fast food restaurants didn’t get a foot hold until after World War II.

TV dinners didn’t even come around until the 1950s … before that it was a home-cooked meal or no meal at all.

The Generational Effects of a Processed Food Diet

It’s now well known that dietary changes can prompt epigenetic DNA changes that can be passed on to future generations. For instance, pregnant rats fed a fatty diet had daughters and granddaughters with a greater risk of breast cancer.

It could be that we’re just now starting to see these types of generational effects showing up in humans, caused by our grandparents’ and parents’ penchant for processed foods.

If that’s the case, then we have even more incentive to make drastic changes, and soon, because the disease trends we’re now seeing are only going to get worse as much of the processed foods consumed today are not even food-based!

So who knows what kind of genetic mutations and malfunctions we’re creating for our future generations when a MAJORITY of our diet consists of highly processed and artificial foods. As it stands, 90 percent of foods Americans purchase every year are processed foods!

It’s a frightening prospect, to say the least, especially when you consider that the White Castle’s and Big Mac’s of yesteryear were FAR healthier than the denatured, trans fat- and sugar-filled fare that’s being served today.

With nearly 7 out of 10 Americans being overweight, and 1 in 4 being affected with diabetes or pre-diabetes, the standard American diet, SAD, is clearly in dire need of a radical overhaul. Drugs won’t fix these dismal health statistics. Only a return to sane, healthy eating habits will.

Four Major Offenders in Processed Foods

Since their introduction, processed foods have really taken over American mealtimes because they’re relatively inexpensive, they taste good, and they make fixing dinner a snap. No longer do you need to fuss with actually cleaning or chopping a vegetable. Simply pop their prepared boxes of food in the microwave and you’re ready to go.

But remember that whatever you think you’re saving now, time or money-wise, by using processed foods, you’ll end up paying many times over later on when your health begins to fail -- and it likely will, if you’re on a fast food/processed food diet long enough.

So what, exactly, makes processed foods so bad? Processed foods often have little nutritional value and are chemically altered to increase the appeal to your taste buds, so they can override your body’s signals that would otherwise tell you it’s time to stop eating and try something else. They are also loaded with additives that are harmful in their own right.

Among them:

1. Fructose
   
   

   As most of you know about 35 years ago the technology to produce this sweetener became commercially available. This radically reduced the price of sugar and now it has become the number one source of calories in the US.

   The majority of processed foods contain high-fructose corn syrup or some variation thereof. Consuming fructose suppresses feelings of satiety in several ways, which eventually will have serious consequences for your weight and overall health.

   Fructose diminishes your feelings of fullness because it does not stimulate a rise in leptin, one of the most powerful hunger- and fat storage regulators in your body. Fructose also reduces the amount of leptin crossing your blood-brain barrier by raising triglycerides.

   Leptin resistance, in turn, is perhaps one of the most significant factors underlying human disease. For example, it plays a significant if not primary role in the development of heart disease, obesity, diabetes, osteoporosis, autoimmune diseases, reproductive disorders, and perhaps the rate of aging itself.

   Additionally, whereas glucose suppresses ghrelin (also known as “the hunger hormone,” which makes you want more food), fructose, again, does not.

   Fructose also increases your insulin levels, interfering with the communication between leptin and your hypothalamus, so your pleasure signals aren’t extinguished. Your brain keeps sensing that you’re starving, and prompts you to eat more.

   For the sake of your health, I strongly advise keeping your fructose consumption below 25 grams per day, but this is virtually impossible if you eat a lot of processed foods.

2. Genetically Modified Ingredients
   
   

   Some 75 percent of processed foods contain GM ingredients, which are being increasingly linked to serious health problems.

   Just last year the American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) reviewed the available research and issued a memorandum recommending that all doctors prescribe non-GMO diets to all patients because they are causally linked in animal feeding studies to:

   • Infertility
   • Immune system problems
   • Gastrointestinal problems
   • Organ damage
   • Dysfunctional regulation of cholesterol and insulin
   • Accelerated aging

   One of the first steps to avoiding GM ingredients is to cut back on processed foods in your diet.

3. MSG
   
   

   Monosodium glutamate (MSG), a flavor enhancer, is added to thousands of processed and restaurant foods.

   MSG is one of the worst food additives on the market and is used in canned soups, crackers, meats, salad dressings, frozen dinners and  much more. It’s found in your local supermarket and restaurants, in your child’s school cafeteria and, amazingly, even in baby food and infant formula.

   MSG is so popular because it actually enhances the flavor of foods, making processed meats and frozen dinners taste fresher and smell better, salad dressings more tasty, and canned foods less tinny.

   However, it is also an excitotoxin, which means it overexcites your cells to the point of damage or death, causing brain damage to varying degrees -- and potentially even triggering or worsening learning disabilities, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Lou Gehrig’s disease and more.

4. Food Additives
   
   

   More than 3,000 food additives -- preservatives, flavorings, colors and other ingredients -- are added to foods in the United States. While each of these substances are legal to use, whether or not they are entirely safe for long-term consumption -- by themselves or in combination -- is a different story altogether.

   Many of them, such as sodium nitrate, BHA, BHT, aspartame, Blue 1, 2, and potassium bromate, have been linked to an increased risk of cancer. Others are estrogen-mimicking xenoestrogens that have been linked to a range of human health effects, including reduced sperm counts in men and increased risk of breast cancer in women.

   Studies have also shown that a variety of common food dyes, and the preservative sodium benzoate -- found in many soft drinks, fruit juices and salad dressings -- cause some children to become measurably more hyperactive and distractible.

   Meanwhile, E-numbered food dyes (such as tartrazine (E102), ponceau 4R (E124), sunset yellow (E110), carmoisine (E122), quinoline yellow (E104) and allura red AC (E129) do as much damage to children's brains as lead in gasoline, resulting in a significant reduction in IQ.

   Fortunately, when you avoid processed foods you’ll also automatically avoid virtually every one of these toxic food additives.

Returning to Your Whole Unprocessed Food Roots

I’ve said this for many years, and it’s worth repeating many times over because it’s one of the main solutions to many of the health problems plaguing modern-day humans  -- cook your food from scratch, at home!

Remember, someone, you, a relative, your spouse, or someone you employ, has to spend some time in the kitchen.

This is the “secret” to getting healthier, losing weight and really enjoying your food.

Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough have tackled this issue head-on in their book Real Food Has Curves, which is a great starting point to “relearn” the basics of how to enjoy and prepare real, healthy food.

Many people are under the mistaken impression that cooking from scratch is an extremely complicated affair that takes lots of time and costs more than they could possibly afford. More often than not, this is simply not true.

In a previous article, Colleen Huber offers a list of helpful guidelines on how to cook whole food from scratch, while keeping your day job, and British chef Jamie Oliver offers a variety of free recipes on his site, plus tips on what’s in season. You can even subscribe to his RSS feed so you don’t miss any of his newly added recipes.

Once you get the hang of it, you’ll find you can whip up a healthful meal from scratch in the same amount of time it would have taken you to drive down the street to pick up fast food. Of course, you’ll be way more satisfied when you eat your home-cooked meal, both physically and mentally, than if you ate a “value meal #5.”

Finally, learn how to recognize “real” food from the chemical-laden, artificially flavored concoctions that line most supermarket shelves. Whether you’re shopping at a supermarket or a farmer’s market, here are the signs of a high-quality, healthy food:

• It’s grown without pesticides and chemical fertilizers (organic foods fit this description, but so do some non-organic foods)
• It’s not genetically modified
• It contains no added growth hormones, antibiotics, or other drugs
• It does not contain artificial anything, nor any preservatives
• It is fresh (if you have to choose between wilted organic produce or fresh local conventional produce, the latter is the better option)
• It did not come from a factory farm
• It is grown with the laws of nature in mind (meaning animals are fed their native diets, not a mix of grains and animal byproducts, and have free-range access to the outdoors)
• It is grown in a sustainable way (using minimal amounts of water, protecting the soil from burnout, and turning animal wastes into natural fertilizers instead of environmental pollutants)

If you prepare your meals using primarily foods that meet these eight criteria, you will be making major strides (and delicious ones, at that!) for your family’s health.

- Dr. Mercola

Whoa! Do you have food cravings?

Do you know what to eat, how to eat and when to eat, yak, yak, yak? Have you read all the nutrition books, took all the classes, tried all the diets, listened to all the commericals and TV talk shows, on how to change your diet, your weight, your body size, your clothes?  Have you tried the law of attraction?

Have you ever had someone say, 'don't think of a pink elephant'? Do you think of a pink elephant? Did you ever look into buying a new red car and then see that same model of car every where? Did you ever pick a baby name for your unborn child and then everyone started to name their children that name?

Did anyone ever explain to you about your brain's RAS, reticular activating system, big word that means filter, your brain filters all the 20 thousand thoughts you are receiving every moment to what your attention is focused on? If your brain is filtering weight, food, cravings, you will pick up on every smell, every TV ad, every magazine, every person who is eating that thing your trying to give up or stop yourself from eating.

What if you heard 'mind over matter is all that matters'? Really? Have you been dieting for years? Have you been thinking and trying to fight your cravings for too long?

Are you exhausted with will power? Do you beat yourself up because your will power hasn't given you the change you are looking for? How does beating yourself up help you make different choices? Did you ever hear a two year old say, well, yesterday I tried walking, fell down again, screw it, God hates me, I hate this body of mine, God must of made a defected model?

Have you ever asked what is wrong with me? Why can't I get this? If I just got this, everything would change? If I just try again tomorrow? Are you tired for hearing your own voice? Are you tired of telling everyone what you will do or change next time?

What if you just accepted that yes, one chip leads to another. Yes, they make money on you eating more, thinking about it more, planning for the next bite. Yes, there are chemicals in there to trigger your body to think and say I just will eat this, one more time and next time I will start fresh.

Does one cookie ever make you feel better? You know what food choices will give your body health. How many times do you need to keep looking for the insane circle of information or new research? When is enough, enough, throw in the towel, what if you do something different today, right now?

My secret weapon to food cravings is carrying around with me a bag of raw cashews. Did you know, raw cashews are soft and sweet, heavy feeling, and filled with all the nutrients and fat your body loves. We go to Trader Joe's in Rochester or Royal Oak every week or two and buy the whole isle of raw nuts.  Have you ever shopped at Trader Joe's?  The check out person always says, Whoa, having a party or something?  What are you making?  Ha!

I love the cashews the best, my husband loves the trail mix, we have bags of nuts in our business kitchen, business offices, desks, drawers, diaper bags, strollers, purses, cars, basically anywhere and everywhere.

Before any party, Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas dinner, birthday party, I fill up on cashews.  You just know every food choice is going to smell and look, and yes, of course, taste sooooo good.  So, if you show up with an empty stomach, you will make a different food choice than if you show up with a full stomach.  Have you ever intended oh, I will eat just a little of this or that or eat just fruits and vegetables and show up with all this eye candy and maybe the real candy and just go unconscious and start shoveling it in, or can't stop and have you ever heard other people say, I don't know why I am eating this, I am not even hungry, I am starting a diet tomorrow, why can't I stop eating this, well, we better just finish it off then no more, stop, think of a stop sign, stop, go wash your hands and brush your teeth ... 

If I smell BBQ, the restaurants drifting scent from walking around town it will make me think, wow, that smells good, and instantly you will feel like, I want some! So, before I allow myself to choose to eat any craving, I choose to down a bag of cashews, happens every time, I get that sweet, fatty, full feeling and the craving magically disappears and I feel like, no, thank you, I am good for now. Next time that craving comes up, or it is late at night and I have planned I will eat that food craving, I just make the choice to eat a whole bag of cashews first, most of the time I get full before the bag is empty but I think to myself if I really think my body needs that food craving it will still be there after this bag of cashews, and it never is. So, first cashews, and see what I feel after.

Seminars, meetings, sports events, driving in the car, out and about on family vacations or running errands I always got my bag of cashews with me, a handful here, a handful there, never craving, I invite you to try it, or whatever else you might choose to use.

I never feel like I am missing out, I know pizza tastes good, been there done that, I know what almost every food tastes like, of course it tastes good, how many people are addicted to apples?

Some people complain, oh, I just don't have the time, fast food is peeling a banana, lets keep it real, your excuses piss you off because you know you are lying to yourself and your sick of hearing yourself trying to convince everyone around you why you think you deserve that chocolate candy. Do they really even care?  Have you noticed they are just nodding?  And possibly shoveling it in too, how would it make them feel about themselves if you stopped?  Would it make them feel guilty that they are doing it and now alone?   Everyone loves company, right?  Would they want to hang out with you or hang with someone else who is throwing it back too?

You know deep down you are not fooling anyone not even yourself, so you quietly judge yourself which never works, you have been doing that for years, hows it working for ya?

You judge others who have what you think you don't have because you think pushing someone down mentally, gossip-verbally as a joke, which everyone knows is not a joke but your truth that you try to pull off as a joke to make yourself feel better instead of bending down and pulling someone up? How do you feel after you push someone down? How do you feel after you pull someone up?

How many times have you made food choice changes and someone around you says a comment that hurts you and makes you think over and over and over, enough, what if you make choices that you know in 2 hours or 2 days you will feel good about?

What if for every food choice you decide to make, you ask yourself first, how will I feel in 2 hours, 2 days, 2 months, is this something that is really worth it? If you are always focused on living to eat, instead of eating to live, how much time do you waste? What could you be doing instead for all this wasted time? What if there is more to life, and doing things that feel good and are good for you than this food craving?

If you are overweight, how much time would you have to give to yourself, your church, your children, your family, your animals, your life, if you were not focused on your overweight, your poor, declining health conditions, your high blood pressure, your diabetes/dia-obesity, your thyroid medication, your fibromyalgia, your doctors appointments/schedules/pills/potions/lotions/medications/drops/nasal sprays/respirators so you can breathe through the cloggins mucus/inhalers/pacemakers/insulin shots/epi shots/prescriptions/legal drugs/illegal drugs/or whatever else, your skin problems, your arthritis, your bloating, your edema/swelling, your frozen shoulder, your cellulite, your next meal, your next restaurant trip, your next party?

How many times did you go to a party or family function and consume yourself of what you are going to eat, what there is to eat, when you are going to eat, instead of looking someone in the eyeballs, and hearing what they are saying, engaging in that conversation?  How many children feel ignored?  How many children feel not important, not good enough to have their parents full attention because your mind is off on what and when you are eating next?

How many children model what they see, they think if this makes them happy then it will make me happy? How many happy children do you see out there? How many happy marriages do you see? How many happy adults do you see? How many happy teenagers do you see?  How many happy elders do you see?  How many happy religious people do you see?  How many happy teachers do you see?  How many happy parents do you see?  How many happy neighbors do you see?  Are they happy? Really?  Are they medicated? Are they wearing a fake mask, are they doing everything, feeling exhausted, feeling burnt out, and just wanting to numb out?

How many people do you think really want to live? How many people do you see who are acting like they are just waiting to die? How many people are seriously looking for a way out of this life? How many people think well if this is life, no thank you, it sucks, I will find a way to kill myself by digging my grave with my fork? How many people self-sabotage? How many people know what to do but don't?

How many people think it is their fault? People, the food has chemicals in it to make you want more, did you know that? Who overdoses on bananas, cherries, come on, this is really simple, stop fooling yourself, spices, salt, MSG is put in there so you never feel full and want more, so they make more money, it is really all about how much money can they make off your addiction to eating this product?

If you watch TV, you will be brainwashed into wanting that crap, you will want to eat, you will see a Red Lobster commerical and think yeah, I want to be smiling like that just relishing in pigging out and numbing this feeling of all the stress of living my life, I want to escape too, who will come along with me?

Really, look around a restaurant next time, how many people are really laughing their heads off, how many people are sitting in their living room thinking yes, more junk food, this is the best life ever, how does it get any better than this?

How many people feel so bloated and full they are just sleeping it off and waiting for some more space to be made so they can fill r up again, and as fast as possible? Git' R' Done!  How many times have people stuffed themselves so much it hurts, it is physically painful?  Why would anyone choose that?

What if you got lost in a hobby? What if you cleaned up your closets, your carpets in your vehicles, cleaned up your mess? Would you feel better tomorrow? Next time you drive pass a fast food joint, look at the people in the cars, do they look healthy, do they look happy, do they look like they love life and can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring?

Do you want to model yourself just like them, do you want your children to turn out just as happy as they are? What if you surround yourself around people who are loving life, are happy, are excited for what life will flow to them next? If a crackhead went into a crackhouse or an alcoholic went into a bar, how long would it take for them to start doing what the people around them are doing?  Why do this to yourself? When will enough be enough?

How many times do you see facebook status updates of how crappy their view of life is? How many people put 'fml', seriously, do something different, you make your choices, no one can make your life better than you! You have choice, what are you choosing right now? You don't like your results, change it?  No one can stop you but you. You are responsible?  Get up, dust yourself off and demand yourself to change! What are you creating right now? How many children are developing and creating the next invention or solution to this worlds demands, this economy, global issues, etc.   Who will take care of all the baby boomers?  These baby boomers are all in the same boat.  Who is responsible for you? 

What are you contributing to this planet? Some people say oh, I eat junk because of emotional eating, that is a piss poor pathetic excuse, let it go, it is stopping you from a life. If you are always complaining and moaning on what is wrong, what you focus on, grows!

What is right about your life? What is right about your family your not acknowleding? Will this choice work for you? Can you live with this choice? What part of your life is working right for you? What are you getting out of giving into food cravings? Does it make you able to have some personal time, an excuse for a break, a rest, a few moments of feeling anything but what you are feeling, time to escape, time to stop the mind chatter, time to have people leave you alone, time to be with yourself, or even time to be around and with others?

What is having food cravings doing for you? What are you getting out of it? How are you using food as an excuse to not do something?  What are you using food cravings for as an excuse to be not doing? What would your life look like without any time wasted on what your eating next?  Where are you investing your time?  Are you investing in your food craving problem or are you investing in something else? 

What would your life look like if you felt great about yourself, your body, who would you become, what would you do? What would you contribute to?  One in 3 people are on anti-depressants in the USA, how much fun and happiness would you experience if you gave up food cravings? Will you be willing to change?

Will you be willing to contribute to change? Are you really ready to go thru another year of new years resolutions, unattended gym memberships, diets, plans, food menus, food programs, Jenny Craig, Medical Meal Food Planners, Weight Watchers, etc. next year, and next year, and for another five years? Are you watching food or watching life?  Or ARE you willing to shift and change?

What would it take for you to see this differently? What if you focused on your talents, gifts and abilities? What if you got off yourself?  What if you stopped investing your time and energy on your problems and what is wrong, etc.  What if you said I have no food cravings?  What if you invested your time in energy on what is right about you, what you do well, how you contribute to others and help others?

There was this woman who was overweight and she realized that she was eating donuts for everyone in her office who wouldn't go there and indulge,  what? How?  She noticed that everytime she craved a donut, she simply asked herself, is this thought/craving mine, or someone elses?  She realized she was picking up on everyone elses cravings that she worked around and with?  Once she was aware she was doing this, she began to drop the cravings and therefore dropped the weight also.  So, I invite you to be aware of your thoughts, cravings, feelings, and ask yourself, who does that thought/craving belong to?  Is this craving mine or someone elses?  Are you willing to be aware you are picking up on someone elses cravings and thinking it is yours? Think about it, have you ever walked into a room and knew someone was fighting, was in an arguement or just had an arguement or just felt the heavy tension in the room? How did you feel after that?

Have you ever been around someone and when you left you felt totally drained and felt like you just needed a nap? What if you are picking up on other people's stress and not realizing the energy is not even yours? Have you ever been in a really good mood and go somewhere and then feel sad or feel any emotion that really didn't make any sense to you or your life situation at that time? Like, what do I have to feel bad about? I was just happy, now I am sad?  What if you asked yourself, is this mine or someone elses? 

Do you walk around feeling bad for everyone? Do you hear people tell stories and say in response, oh, I feel so bad for him, I feel so sad for him, feeling bad and sad is not helping them, that is not loving them, that is not caring, or helping anyone, you can not feel sad and bad enough for anything or anyone to change.  What if you helped them look at the situation differently and see what was right about it they may not be seeing?  What if you helped them see they can choose to change their limited point of view?  Like a diamond having different sides or facets, we have different points of view of the diamond, some may see a prism of a rainbow color, some may see just clear sparkling light, etc.  It is just an interesting point of view. 

Sometimes, people say they emotionally eat because they feel so sad, well you can also choose a different choice, you can look and see what you are grateful for? You cannot feel grateful and be in judgement at the same time.  If you are grateful you are focusing on the positive, what is good, what is right about this, what you appreciate, how this is working out for you, etc.  You could say, thank you God, I got two eyeballs, two hands, two legs, hair, a mouth, ears to hear, I got house plumbing, did you know half of the planet doesn't have plumbing, wow! Whoa!  Wow, you get to flush!

Flush out the negative thoughts in your mind, focus on the what you are grateful for? When you feel good, you, do good. When you feel good, you will make better choices in food cravings, life, living, etc.

Wow, you have parents, children, sunshine, air to breathe, teeth to chew with, water to drink, wow .... I invite you to be aware of what you focus on, because it does grow.  What is possible to grow in your life?