Ever wonder why processed food is considered not "good" for us? Have you ever tried unlocking your house door with your car key? I'm sure you haven't because you know you would not get the results you were looking for. Well, the same holds true for eating processed food. When processed food enters the body; the body has no idea what to do with it. So it will turn this "food" into something it can use which usually turns out to be more harmful to the body. One example would be nitrates and nitrites which are used to preserve meats. Although these additives cause vomiting, headaches, and asthma in some people they are still widely used. A specific additive, sodium nitrite, used in hotdogs, salami, pepperoni, and bacon is converted into nitrous acid during digestion. But this nitrous acid in animal studies has shown to cause high rates of cancer. So what are you really eating?
Our Western diet is called the Standard American Diet (SAD). And it is pretty sad that our grocery stores contain so many "foods" that could be considered a health hazard. Take for instance Trans Fat, the Board of Health here in New York City banned this artery clogging substance for use by restaurants, but it remains on the shelves of our grocery stores in the form of baked goods (cakes, cookies, crackers), microwave popcorn, margarine and the list does not stop there. Heart disease anyone?
These convenient foods we ingest also deter our bodys natural ability to shed extra pounds. Remember the lock and key analogy? Well when we eat foods that are grown or farmed naturally, i.e. fruits, vegetables, range (grass) fed animals; our bodies instinctively know what to do in order to sustain itself. Our bodies work in concert with real foods along with sufficient exercise and proper portions allowing maintenance of a healthy body weight as well as reducing your risk for diseases caused by these covert preservatives and harmful fats.
Mindful eating would help so many of the millions of Americans who are currently suffering from chronic diseases that may have been prevented by sufficiently decreasing the amount of processed foods consumed each year. Think health people, eat for your future.
God Bless. See you next Sunday
Tausha
Health and Activity
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That really makes me upset because it's not nessary to have many of these foreign substances in our food! Instead of manufactures thinking about our well beings all they are interested in is how long the food can last on the shelf and the cheapest way to produce more. If I eat organic meat then I won't have to worry about sodium nitrite? Well that's sad too that now we have to pay extra money to eat food the way it should be grown. I think the US Board of Health needs to make some major changings.
ReplyDeleteWell, I am glad I sparked your interest. There is something to be said about "organic" food as well but I will talk about that later. In order to try to avoid all of the additives and preservatives you should buy from your local farmers market. The food they sell comes from local areas and doesn't need a shelf life as long as something coming from California. And the people who are supposed to be looking out for us (government) all have some type of financial stake in all of this processed food so they end up turning the other cheek. You should check out the movie - Food Inc. and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!
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