Transcript Practicing smart consumer choices by avoiding harmful

WE ARE WHAT WE EAT
Practicing smart consumer choices by avoiding harmful substances
within our diet.
Some Startling Statistics:
• More than 3,000 food additives -- preservatives, flavorings, colors and
other ingredients -- are added to U.S. foods.
• A list of ingredients that are banned across the globe but still allowed for
U.S. foods: food dyes, the fat substitute Olestra, brominated vegetable oil,
potassium bromate , Azodicarbonamide, BHA, BHT, rBGH, rBST, and
arsenic.
• Chronic childhood illnesses that can be attributed to environmental and
food toxins goes as follows:
• Childhood asthma has increased over 200%
• Childhood obesity is up by 400%
• 30% of children have 2 or more cardiac risk factors
For the first time in centuries, children are now
expected to have shorter lifespans than their parents
Some Startling Statistics:
• Certain forms of cancer are directly attributed to food and
environmental contaminants
• Neurodegenerative diseases: for example Alzheimer's Disease
has more than doubled since 1980. Science predicts that
Alzheimer's Disease will quadruple by 2050
• The USA is the number 1 nation in the world on healthcare
research and expenditure, but only ranks #33 out of the top
40 healthiest nations.
• Americans spend about ninety percent of their food budget
on processed foods which contain additives that can
potentially be harmful to our health.
Pulitzer Prize Winner Michael Moss Speaks:
Investigator Journalist Michael Moss discusses the secrets
and dangers of processed foods made by the manufacturer
to the American consumer:
PROCESSED FOOD DANGERS
WHAT ARE FOOD ADDITIVES?
Foods that have been treated, stripped, altered, or refined in some
way after being harvested or butchered that make foods “processed”
DIRECT VS INDIRECT FOOD ADDITIVES:
DIRECT
INDIRECT
• Added directed to food for
processing for added nutrient, shelf
life, assist the manufacturing
process, texture and color for appeal
• Adhesives and Coatings
• Benzoates-Preservatives
• Aspartame-Artificial Sweetener
• Titanium Dioxide-Coloring
• Propylene Glycol-Texture
• Monosodium Glutamate(MSG)Flavor Enhancer
• Paper and PaperBoard Components
• Plastics
• Numerous Metals
• Rubbers
• Materials that may come in contact
with food when it is packaged and
manufactured.
9 Different Ways that
Additives are making us
unhealthy.
1. High In Sugar and High Fructose Corn Syrup
2. “Hyper Rewarding” and Leads to Overconsumption
3. Artificial Ingredients
4. ADDICTIVE
5. High In Refined Carbohydrates
6. Low In Nutrients
7. Low in Fiber
8. Less energy and Time to Digest
9. High in Trans Fats and Processed Vegetable Oil
Are Processed Foods Addictive?
• The answer is : YES
• High glycemic processed foods causes a reaction in the nucleus
accumbens- the area of the brain crucial for reward and pleasure
response.
• Same area that is effected by heroin and doses of cocaine
• Study done at Boston Children’s Hospital- High GI vs No GI diets- Similar
reaction in the nucleus accumbens took place.
• High GI Index foods that are refined cause a response in the pleasure
center of the brain that illicit an addictive response, even in children!
• “If fatty foods and snacks and drinks sweetened with sugar and high
fructose corn syrup are proven to be addictive, food companies may
face the most drawn out consumer safety battle since the anti smoking
movement a generation ago”-Dr. Lennerz
Common Processed Foods To Avoid:
Links to Disease:
• HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP-people
metabolize high fructose corn syrup
in a way that raises the risk of
obesity and type 2 diabetes more
than sugar made from sugar cane.
• SODIUM BENZOATE-The 2007 Lancet
study that linked additives with
increased hyperactivity included the
preservative sodium benzoate.
(ADHD)
• ASPARTAME-A study published in
2005 suggested that aspartame
could cause leukemia and lymphoma
in rats. There have been reports of
aspartame causing seizures,
headaches, mood disturbances, and
reduced mental performance.
• TRANS FATS-Trans fats have been
found to lower people's HDL (good)
cholesterol and raise LDL (bad)
cholesterol.
• SODIUM NITRITE- Linked to gastric
cancers and other GI diseases. (More
prevalent in 1930s before modern
refrigeration)
Prevention
Making smart consumer decisions by making smart food purchases
and taking a proactive approach to your health.
Being Proactive About Your Health:
• Receive annual checkups and screenings
• Watch you caloric intake and follow your macronutrition
• Budget your grocery expenditure each month
• Plan your meals ahead of time around your busy schedule
• Practice cardiovascular health by exercising 3 or more days a week of both
intense aerobic/anaerobic output.
• Create realistic and attainable goals for your health.
• Maintain your healthy lifestyle by having a reward system in place.
Resources:
• http://www.nationofchange.org/processed-foods-similarly-addictive-illicitdrugs-another-study-finds-1380292222
• http://www.epyk.com/192/7-most-unhealthy-processed-foods-you-need-toavoid/
• http://www.cspinet.org/reports/chemcuisine.htm
• http://www.fda.gov/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/FoodAdditivesIngredi
ents/
• http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/food-additives-on-the-rise-as-fdascrutiny-wanes/2014/08/17/828e9bf8-1cb2-11e4-ab7b696c295ddfd1_story.html
Making Smart Food Choices:
• CHECK NUTRITION LABELS!
• Avoid products high in sodium and preservatives for shelf life
• Purchase products low or non existent in partially hydrogenated oils ( trans
fats)
• Check all food and beverages for sugar content and high fructose corn syrup.
ESPECIALLY DRESSINGS AND TOPPINGS.
• Avoid Fast Food ( I would suggest all together)
• Purchase whole grain products, heart healthy fats that will lower LDL levels, and
purchasing organically grown fruits and fibrous vegetables.
• Purchase meats that are not cured or processed, but naturally grass fed poultry,
beef, or fish without antibiotics/ preservatives added.
THANK YOU