"Edible food like substances"

Who would have thought that eating “real food” would be difficult or confusing, but it is.   This is because “edible food like substances” are often disguised as food.   For this blog, I decided to take a trip to the local grocery store to prove my point.   What I found was really interesting and illustrates why  eating “real food” can be so confusing.   First, so many “edible food like substances” were disguised with labels like “all natural”, “no artificial flavors added”, “low fat”, or just by adding the word “healthy” to the product or label.   And, I was one of the people that fell for these disguises….well not anymore.

The first thing I do when I’m shopping is to flip over the product and look at the label.   Everything that you need to know is on the ingredient list.   A food producer can put whatever they want on the front of a package to disguise “edible food like substances”, but not on the ingredient list. They have to actually list what goes into the “food” on the ingredient list.   My all-time favorite of Michael Pollan’s food rules is, avoid food products containing ingredients that a third-grader cannot pronounce, like calcium propionate, cellulose, ethoxylated diglycerides, ammonium sulfate, etc.   He also says to avoid food products that contain ingredients that you wouldn’t keep in the pantry, and I have never seen a pantry with ethoxylated diglycerides in it.   These ingredients are added to food to extend the shelf life and make food look fresh even when it isn’t fresh at all.   In order to extend the shelf life and make food look fresh, food manufacturers add in chemicals and remove other nutrients that are likely to turn rancid, like omega-3 fatty acids.  The more processed a food is, the longer the shelf life, and the less nutritious it typically is.   Research has also shown that these added chemicals affect the hormones in the small intestine.  Research is showing that these chemicals cause an over production of the hormones that trigger hunger and cause a delay in the release of the hormone that tells us when we are full.

So, why would they add these chemicals to our food?  I don’t know the entire answer, but I do know this has made food manufacturers a lot of money.  I also know that food shouldn’t last for months.   Food should rot.   This actually takes us to another Pollan tip that I think is very helpful….Eat only foods that will eventually rot or go bad.  Last, don’t be fooled by the “low fat” or “no fat” disguise.  Removing the fat from foods doesn’t make them non-fattening.  Most low or no-fat products remove the fat, but boost sugars and other “edible food like substances” or chemicals to make up for the lost flavor.    You are actually better off eating the “real food” in moderation than eating these “edible food like substances” loaded with sugar or salt.  As I mentioned in my last post, pay attention to how eating makes you feel.   Notice what foods make you feel energized or satisfied.   What foods make you feel overly full or sluggish?   Listen to your body.  You are what you eat. Or, I guess we should say…you are what you absorb, because your body must digest and absorb everything you put into it, even the ethoxylated diglycerides.   YUCK!!!! 

Let me know if there are other food topics you want me to focus on.   Future blogs for this month will include the topics of whole grains and my experience/learning about limiting dairy and meat.