Why Junk Foods?

Why Junk Food?

In a highly revealing new book out this month, Michael Moss, long time reporter for the New York Times, tells of his four year investigation into the policies and marketing campaigns of the largest food processing companies during the last few decades.   In his book Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, Pulitzer Prize Winner Moss tells chilling stories about industry leaders who have no regard for the health effects of their products and about former executives and scientists who tried to reign in the worst of their products only to be rebuffed.    It is clear that only when the market affects the bottom line does the industry move. But even then, these companies design campaigns which get the most dollars for the least amount of actual change in their products or formulas, and often they find ways to use a health trend to their advantage to sell more junk food under a more appealing name.    A long article in the New York Times Magazine by Moss included a number of stories about lunch food for school kids, the soda industry, the yogurt industry, and more.    The bottom line is that advertising and packaging can be very misleading and the ubiquitous messages can actually wear down even the most ad resistant eater at times.    Most health experts agree that the extra salt, sugar, and fat added to our foods is what's ruining our health because these foods are addictive and the industry spends many millions a year to find out how to increase our cravings for them. These are responsible for much of our diabetes, heart disease, and obesity as well as many other chronic problems.    I have long pointed out to my nutrition clients and students that these three factors are ideal preservatives. They have been used throughout history to preserve foods. Traditionally, sugar and salt dry foods out so that they are not attractive to microbes and are less likely to spoil. Likewise fat conceals the food from microbes and tends to prevent spoilage by exposure to air.     In the past, these three were very expensive to obtain and use. They were rarely if ever used with foods which were going to be eaten before they would spoil or be contaminated. Solomon got rich from his salt mines. Much later, Europe got rich from the sugar cane grown by slaves in the Caribbean. Today, agribusiness farmers have become rich from chemical extraction of oils from seed crops.    Now salt, sugar, and fat are significantly overused because new forms have been invented, especially for sugar and fat, so that they are cheap and last virtually forever, mixed with various chemicals and preservatives in our foods.    But why use them at all? Because they taste good! We are programmed from millions of years of evolution to be attracted to sweet, salty, and fatty foods because in nature these occurred almost exclusively in highly nutritious foods. Honey, maple syrup, and milk were the only sources of sugar not attached to high fiber, slow digesting foods. Salt came only from mines. Fats were hard to extract. Only butter, olives and a few very rich seeds yielded oils which could be used for cooking or flavoring. Obtaining these concentrated salts, sugars, and fats, were time and labor intensive.    In the old days, salt, sugar, and fat flavors were a sign of a good food. They did not appear in isolation as the main ingredient in the food. Sugar usually meant a ripe fruit or a vegetable that was fully ripened and ready to eat. Salty meant a food which was rich in minerals, like a sea creature or sea vegetable or an herb. Fat meant a healthy nut or seed or wild caught animal.    We no longer get those healthy foods when we reach for a salty, sugary or fatty snack. We just get the empty calories, along with the unnatural highly processed sugars and fats, like high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated soy oil.    But why do the food processors continue to include so much of this stuff if they know it is bad for us and if they have other more modern ways to preserve foods, like refrigeration, drying, airless packaging, and more?.    It's about flavor and addiction. First, modern processed foods taste terrible all by themselves. "Like cardboard" is what most folks say when they try to eat low salt low sugar low fat foods which look like their junk food favorites. We have become habituated to highly flavored foods, but the flavor is not coming from whole, healthy, mature, natural foods. It's coming from salt, sugar, and fat, and some amazing chemicals which replicate for our taste palate the impression of the natural food. Strawberry or blueberry flavor for example.    Food product manufacturers make the cheapest product possible which the consumer will still want to consume. The basic ingredients most likely taste terrible without the added salt, sugar, or fat.    The second factor, addiction, is about our body's craving for nourishing food. We are getting the salt, sugar, and fat flavor which to our primitive brain sensors means nutrition but we don't get the nutrition. So we keep eating more of the stuff expecting to find the nourishment which just isn't there. Also, recent research has shown that these foods can have direct addictive affects on the brain's neurotransmitters, much like nicotine or other addictive substances. It is sad to realize that the food processors not only know this, they also build their campaigns around it, based on the marketing reality that it is easier to get a present customer to consume more than to attract a new customer.    But we can make choices which avoid these addictive and tasteless foods. It has been shown over and over again that when people avoid the excess salt and sugar and fat, they don't miss it at all, as long as their need for real food is being met.    People often wonder at the "will power" of folks who stick mostly with home made, minimally processed, and organic food. But there is no willpower involved. The food tastes wonderful and meets the body's needs, so there are no cravings for snacks or junk. The satisfaction of natural sweetness, natural saltiness, and natural fats comes from real foods which your brain and body can use and appreciate to build your health.    Randy Rolfe's Take Home Tips: As my colleague Alice Baland, author of Eat Up the Good Life and eating disorders specialist, said just this morning, "Just ignore the ads and attractive labels and ask yourself, when they tempt you, is this really going to contribute to the healthy lifestyle I want to live?"    And of course I want to recommend my own book, The True Secret to Weight Loss Is Energy. just out in 2012. It encapsulates over 40 years of my personal experience educating folks about how to attain and maintain health, healthy weight, and vibrant energy.

Help your child become naturally thin!

The national epidemic of obesity is in the news daily. Even the once slender Europeans and Asians are putting on the fat. It’s not just about suffering from lower energy, weakened self-image, and possible ridicule. Studies link obesity to early development of the life-threatening degenerative conditions of modern living including diabetes, cardiovascular problems, respiratory problems, and cancer. Because of obese children, it is said this coming generation will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents. Yet polls indicate that as many as half the population is on diets. How can this be? My guest this week is Jean Antonello, a Registered Nurse, who has found the key to achieving and maintaining your natural healthy weight without dieting. In fact she will explain how dieting can be the cause of obesity rather than the solution. She is author of How to Become Naturally Thin by Eating More and two other notable books on this subject. This show could truly save someone’s life.

To hear Jean's great approach listen in Friday at 1 PM PT or 4 PM ET to:
http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/57351/help-your-child-be-naturally-thin

Jean Antonello has a Bachelors of Science in Nursing and is a Registered Nurse. She struggled with her own weight for 17 years, going on multiple popular diets, watching her weight come back with a vengeance once it was lost, and leading a dieting lifestyle which left her feeling out of control. After finding that numerous experts and publications could not explain the problem she and millions of others were facing with the yo-yo diet effect, Jean began her own studies. She discovered that the problem was not a psychological one or even the effect of eating too much and not moving enough. Instead it was a natural physiological effect which she could work with, instead of fighting against her body. Jean has helped families around the world and her groundbreaking books include How to Become Naturally Thin by Eating More, Naturally Thin Kids, inspired by working with her daughter, and Breaking Our of Food Jail, for those with eating disorders.. Find out how to never diet again!

Listen in Friday at 4 PM ET, or 1 PM PT, or any time after to:
http://www.voiceamerica.com/episode/57351/help-your-child-be-naturally-thin

Randy's Take Home Tip: Children choose a good mix of foods when the quality of the food available is high - that means whole, fresh, lots of color, lots of fiber, moisture, and varied. Let kids eat when they are hungry but make meals a social event so that they stay long enough that they will form good habits of chewing and enjoying their food so that snacking will be based on hunger, not cravings.

Don't underestimate the power of sleep!

Randy Rolfe, parenting expert, recommends attending to your children's basic needs first. It's the Second Secret in her book The Seven Secrets of successful Parents.

Although we assume that in modern America the basic needs of children are more than met except among the very poor, basic needs like nutrition, quiet, and sleep are often lacking. Here is a very instructive report about new studies linking sleep and many of the most prevalent metabolic issues facing our children today, including emotional issues like irritability and attention problems. But first a story.

When I was a child, my preschool teacher asked my mother why I seemed so content. Her answer was that I got 10 hours of sleep a night and played outside in nature most of the afternoon. To this day I have treasured my sleep as a time of renewal and never short-changed myself. My heart goes out to those who don't sleep. The day is just that much harder. And there is lots you can do without resorting to drugs!

But back to our kids. I made sure my children had good sleep habits and they too were contented, easy to raise children. So start with good sleep habits and your parenting will be easier for sure!

Here is the article:

Children Need More Sleep to Prevent Obesity, Diabetes
Submitted by Deborah Mitchell on 2011-01-24

Children who get more sleep are more likely to weigh less and avoid metabolic factors that predispose them to obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, according to a new study. If your children are getting less than 9 hours of sleep per night, they need more.
Catch-up sleep on weekends lowers obesity risk.
Parents can recognize when their children do not get enough sleep, because they may be cranky and less alert. Research shows that insufficient sleep among children can result in behavior problems, poorer performance on cognitive tests, and more injuries.
An earlier study from the University of California reported that a lack of adequate nighttime sleep among infants and preschool children was a significant risk factor for obesity later in childhood. Inadequate sleep is also known to weaken the immune system and make people more susceptible to infections.
A new study by investigators at the University of Chicago and published in Pediatrics shows an association between insufficient sleep and obesity and other metabolic problems. One major finding was that children ages 4 to 10 who got the least amount of sleep and who had the most irregular sleep schedules were greater than 4.4-fold more likely to be obese.
David Gozal, MD, of the University of Chicago, and his research team evaluated 308 healthy children over a one-week period. The children wore wrist actigraphs to record their sleep duration and patterns.
Researchers found that the children averaged about eight hours of sleep per night, regardless of day of the week or the child’s weight. The recommended amount is 9 to 10 hours.
Among other findings was that less sleep (about 6.5 hours) and irregular sleep patterns were associated with altered levels of insulin, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and C-reactive protein (an indication of inflammation and cardiovascular risk). The authors concluded that “the longer and more-stable sleep duration is, the less likely a child is to manifest metabolic dysfunction.”
On the upside, children who got extra sleep on the weekends lowered their risk of obesity to less than 2.2-fold. Overall, the study results indicated that children who consistently get 9 to 10 hours of sleep on both weekdays and weekends have the healthiest metabolic profile.
If you are a parent who would like to help your children get more sleep to ward off obesity, diabetes, and other health problems, you can find some help online. The National Sleep Foundation offers tips for kids, as does WebMD with Sleep Tips for Kids.
SOURCE:
Spruyt K et al. Pediatrics 2011; 127:e345-52

http://www.emaxhealth.com/1275/children-need-more-sleep-prevent-obesity-diabetes

So get your children to leave the smart phones downstairs, keep TVs and PCs out of the bedroom, and send them to bed in time to get 10 hours sleep before they must prepare for school. Also, keep digital clocks away from the child's head - the vibes are disturbing - and be patient as you work through resistance the first couple of nights. Improved mood - and better health - will be a welcome payoff for both of you!

Check out more about Basic Needs in Randy Rolfe's book the Seven Secrets of Successful Parents. Find her other books on her website at www.randyrolfe.com. Wellness products for improved sleep can be found at www.nikken.com/randyrolfe.