Taking Charge of Our Health.

janlindquist
2 days ago
5 min read

As we age and continue eating the SAD [standard American diet], we set ourselves up for a metabolic meltdown. Taking ownership around our actual health today, and then implementing some supportive measures in choosing what foods we eat, will give us the very best opportunity to live well throughout our lifetime. Let's look at some powerful ways to eat that will support lifelong health.

"Healthy" Can Be Deceiving.

When we head to the grocery store, we're expecting to easily find heart-healthy, good for us foods that we can eat and not worry about harming our health outcomes.

Unfortunately, the labeling system is NOT designed to inform as much as entice us to buy, buy, buy!

Common labeling practices include; exaggerating benefits, using vague or wording that assures us toward purchasing, like natural or using healthy-sounding names, placing a misleading certification such as the American Heart Association [AHA]. The AHA offers heart-check marks for certain products that we assume will benefit our heart health but often these marks are purchased certification that the brand pays for annually. The consumer has been duped because we are led to believe that this is an independent endorsement to help us determine what products we should be purchasing to improve our health.

Quaker Oats states that eating Apples & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal delivers a "bowlful of nourishment" and that they are heart-healthy too as well. The requirements for this labelling requires that if a product contains at least 1/2 the amount of

whole grains, then it can make a heart-healthy claim regardless of what else it includes.

The FDA's outdated rules don't limit sugar in foods that make 'heart-disease claims".

Pretty much any food that's at least half whole grains is allowed to make this claim - as long as it's low in saturated fat, isn't high in sodium, and bears this sentence in the ad's fine print:

'Diets rich in whole foods and other plant foods and low in saturated fat and cholesterol may help reduce the risk of heart disease.'

What Does This Actually Mean?

It actually doesn't mater that 1 serving [2 packets] of Quaker Apples & Cinnamon Instant Oats contains 4 teaspoons of added sugar - Ugh!

This is a Problem.

Quaker is just one of hundreds of companies that have profited through less than stellar advertising. What about the health claims of the multi-million dollar business of energy bars?

Because we llive in a grab & go culture and many of us have been deceived into believing that eating an energy bar will provide everything we need to fuel us through our day instead of providing a big glucose surge that disrupts our energy, clarity, and cravings.

How do they capture this huge market? By using deceptive advertising and famous athletes to promote their goods.

"It takes energy to take on the world" says the Clif Bar ad which features superstar Venus Williams and many others. "We bake in delicious, wholesome ingredients."

I'm sure they do - whatever that really means?

Here's the real story -each 2 1/2 oz. Chocolate Chip Bar has 250 calories and 16 grams [4 teaspoons] of added sugar. I'd call that a candy bar!

Apparently that's the definition of healthy?

From energy bars that are more like cookies, breakfast cereals that promote a big glucose surge, to flavored yogurt, and package pasta and rice sides, we are being washed with buzz words, labeling and promises that are just not true.

It Shouldn't Be This Hard!

Maing healthy choices in the grocery store has become more and more difficult. As new products continue to hit the shelves, it's increasingly challenging to navigate the many health claims found on food packaging and on the labels. The buzz words on the outside of the package and vague and misleading descriptions can lead to confusion when trying to purchase good food.

Here are some catchy words to convince you to buy:

Gluten-free
Vegan
No sugar
High Fiber
Lactose-free

It's the consumer's responsibility to eat a healthy balanced diet, not the governments job to legislate for it.

Many politicians, think tanks, and food industry executives have expressed this view since the mid-2000"s especially in response to lawsuits atempting to hold food companies liable for obesity. This is an unfortunative stance that can keep us misled.

Remember that you're in control of what you put into your mouth and that's NOT the purpose of where we source our food. Big Food is here for big profits and when we begin with this foundational truth, we can have a fighting chance to actually navigate this landmine of deception and highly addictive foods in favor of actual nourishment that still can be found at our local grocery store if we are informed

Do This.

Read the Box. And begin at the back because front labels are designed to atract buyers by highlighting health-related claims, which may not be accurate.
Consider the ingredient list. Ingredients are listed by quantity, from highest to lowest amount. Look at the first 3 ingredients as they make up the largest portion of the product. Refined grains, sugars, hydrogenated oils should not be found here.
Check out serving size. To make the product more appealing, the serving sizes are much smaller than people eat. Do you drink a half of a can of soda, a quarter of a cookie, or half of a small chocolate bar is a realistic serving? This marketing strategy can lead us to believe that the product contains less sugar and calories than it actually does.
Focus more on whole foods. These are foods in their recognizable form and they don't require an ingredient list.

Buyer Beware - Common terms to navigate.

Light - light products are processed to reduce either calories or fat. Some are actually just watered down. Make sure that nothing else has been added instead - like sugar.
Multigrain - this sounds healthy, but it only means that this product contains more than one type of grain. Most likely from refined grains.
Natural - this doesn't necessarily mean that the product resembles anything natural. The manufacturer worked with a natural source, like apples, or rice, etc. at one point in the process.
Organic - this label says very little abouth whether the product is healthy. Organic sugar is still sugar.
No added Sugar - some products like 100% fruit juice are naturally high in sugar. The fact that they don't have added sugar doesn't mean they are low in sugar and they might be a poor choice for you.
Low Calorie - these products contain no more than 40 calories per serving for individual foods or no more that 120 calories per 100 grams for meals and main dishes. But low calorie can be highly processed with high levels of sodium and sugar and is the portion size realistic?
Low Fat - this can mean that the fat has been reduced by adding more sugar.
Low Carb - the recent low carb diet craze has birthed a mountain of products with this claim. Be careful as most are highly processed junk foods.
Made with Whole Grains - probably contains limited whole grains. Make sure whole grains are listed in the first three ingredients.
Fortified or Enriched - some nutrients have been added like vitamin D in milk. Just because it's fortified doesn't make it healthy.
Gluten-free - is not a health label and unless you have a gluten intolerance, this isn't anything that makes this product better.
Fruit-Flavored - processed foods use this label to trick us into believing tht the product contains fruit but it actually contains chemicals designed to taste like fruit.

I believe we all desire a life free of chronic illness and disease and this requires us to do our part. Let's become informed consumers and learn how to make better choices - one purchase at a time. Improving our health for the long haul needs a long-view perspective for success.

So for today...

What's one thing you can do to move your needle toward supporting your best health?

I hope you will begin with something you can easily repeat over and over until it becomes a habit.

That's real sustainable movement forward.

Thanks for reading,

Jan