I am finding it increasingly difficult to walk down the aisles of the grocery store without feeling that I'm being poisoned.
I've been making a serious effort to eat healthier and lose a few pounds. I still believe it's possible to be big and beautiful, fat and fit, but I'd like to lighten the load a little, so to speak. I just want to be healthy and strong. So, I'm working with a dietitian and trying to cut way down on refined flours, refined sugars, fried foods, transfats and all the other no-no's.
It's not easy. Freakin' EVERYTHING has sugar in it. You know, I'm fine with sugar in chocolate, cookies and Lucky Charms. That's where it belongs. But I don't want sugar or, worse, high-fructose corn syrup, in my roasted chicken or garbanzo beans, OK? Recently I perused the cereal aisle at Safeway. Except for Shredded Wheat, sugar was the second ingredient on every single label -- even the ones whose fronts proclaimed "Lightly Sweetened" or "Just a touch of honey!"
Another unnecessary ingredient that's in EVERYTHING is whey. Breads, potato chips, sandwich meats, Fig Newtons. Whey is a cheap dairy byproduct that's added to foods to boost protein content and add a creamy flavor. That's fine, unless you're one of the millions of lactose-intolerant people in this country. Thank goodness for Fig Newmans.
Then there are all the other nasties -- hydrogenated oils, monosodium glutamate, nitrates, sulfites, artificial colors, artificial flavors, preservatives. Ugh. And that's just what's on the labels. Anything not certified organic probably contains herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones, irradiation or genetically modified organisms, but none of these are required on labels.
In an age when cancer, heart disease and diabetes are at all-time highs, why is it so hard to stop filling our grocery carts with all these poisons?
Sometimes I find the simple chore of feeding myself to be overwhelmingly difficult. Eating raises so many questions: Will this taste good? Will it satisfy me? Is it health-promoting? Can I afford it? Do I have time to prepare it? Time to clean up afterwards? Is the packaging recyclable or otherwise environmentally considerate? How were animals treated during its production? What about the farm workers? Is the producer socially and ethically responsible? (And lately: Will it get stuck in my braces?)
You just can't enjoy your meal if you think too much.
Tonight, needing fast, easy food, I hit the McDonald's drive-through. (Yeah, I know, I know. I read Fast Food Nation.) I tried one of the new Asian chicken salads. It was yummy. It came with Paul Newman's sesame-ginger dressing and had edamame on it. Green soybeans at McDonald's? McEdamame? Cool.
Probably GMO, but I don't want to know.
4 Comments:
Awareness is the first step :) Most people don't even think about what they put into their bodies on a daily basis. If you let it, your awareness of the contents of your food should alter the way it satisfies you: healthy food will just 'feel' better to eat; unhealthy food will 'feel' heavy and empty.
My suggestion (what I've done) is to pick up semi-random (I just grab whatever's on sale) whole, non-processed foods - bulks, vegetables, or minimally processed canned/boxed stuff. Anything that comes with more weight in packaging than contents is strictly prohibited. I've found that I have an odd love of baby carrots and fresh spinach this way; two foods I never would have picked up and tried otherwise.
I also advocate for the 'slow food' revolution and occasionaly spend an evening cooking; and find it to be immensely pleasurable and immensely good food - and I always make extras so I can quickly nuke-a-lunch for the next three days :)
I love to cook, but just don't have the time/energy these days ....
Justin, I hate to tell you this, but those baby carrots? They're not really baby carrots at all. They are what's left after big, woody old carrots have been shaved down to the core.
See? See how they delude us?
Years ago a health care worker mentioned shopping the perimeter of the store. That is where the "healthier" foods are. Good reference that I am still "aware" of today.
Awareness was an excellent point.
Happy thinking as you contemplate nutritional concepts.
baby carrots aren't rally baby carrots!? :) Well, yea, I knew that; but I never really thought of it as corporate deception. I did always wonder what they did with the excess though (hopefully carrot juice, not land-fills).
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