Food Fight! Who Wins?

When I saw this picture, I just laughed out loud. I thought how a few years ago I might have been cheering on the 'donut' contender.  It made me realize how much my life, and eating habits, have changed over the last few years.

We are all in a food fight, of sorts, as we are all in a battle for good health.  Who are our opponents?  The most obvious culprits are, of course, salt, refined sugars, high fructose corn syrup, and transfats.  But the battleground in this war is much broader and the odds are unfortunately stacked against us.

In this Corner......

Advertising Low fat!  All Natural!  Heart Healthy!  I once unquestioningly believed advertising claims. They wouldn't be allowed to say it if it wasn't true right?  Right and wrong.  A product can honestly advertise it is endorsed by the American Heart Association as a heart healthy food, but still be chock full of sugar, leading to diabetes and obesity.  The art of food advertising is oftentimes the art of misleading information.

Additives I have to admit, chemistry was my least favorite subject in high school.  I barely passed and was glad to get it behind me.  Now I feel as if I'm still trying to decipher the periodic table every time I go to the supermarket.  What are all these mysterious ingredients doing in food? In short, it is an issue of quantity over quality.  To keep mass produced food products available and affordable, commercial food companies have deemed it necessary to include chemical additives that extend the shelf life of their packaged edibles.  These chemical ingredients are designed to disguise the problems of our modern food industry, i.e., the long stretch of time between harvest and consumption, the bland taste of some food products, and the rigors of high volume factory production methods. 

Food Confusion  To reduce our fat intake, we were once urged to use margarine instead of butter.  Then the dangers of transfats were unearthed.  Artificial sweeteners were heralded as a safe answer to weight loss.  Studies now show a link to various cancers.  I won't even get into the egg/cholesterol controversy.  You see where I'm going.  As consumers we rely on science, the government, and the media to provide us the information we need.  However, the world of nutrition has become incredibly complex;  the FDA is woefully underfunded and understaffed, and, as some experts believe, not entirely objective in it's evaluations; and there are a plethora of diet books and opposing theories that try to grab our attention. How do we know who or what is right?

And In This Corner......

Fruits, Vegetables, and Whole Grains  Whew!  That one was easy.  

Our bodies function best on one ingredient foods that do not require a label and are not produced in a factory.  Eating high quality, nutritious food is simple.  They are readily available and can easily be incorporated into our daily lives.  Here are some tips to fit more of them into your diet:

1. Keep a bowl of fruit on the counter or in the refrigerator for an easy snack-on-the-go.
2. Increase the vegetables in soups, salads, pastas, sandwiches, pizzas, casseroles or other recipes.
3. Shred, grate or puree vegetables and mix (or 'hide' if there are children or fussy family members involved) into meatloaf, mashed potatoes, pasta sauce or rice dishes.
4. Try a new vegetable in traditional recipes.
5. Instead of bread or tortillas, make your next wrap using leafy greens and stuff with your favorite chopped vegetables. 

We are bombarded with new products, information, advertising and research every day.  But the voices touting the nutritional value of fresh, whole foods are also growing louder.  So who, ultimately, will win the food fight?  

You decide.

 For more tips on healthy living, go to:  http://www.personaljourneywellness.com/

Photo reproduced from Sky Magazine.