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“Approaching Processed Foods – 101”

Silly me…. I commonly forget that not everyone truly knows what the difference between the two are. Just because this is my world, not everyone else is necessarily living it like I am. But it is my job as a Health Coach to continue educating as many people as possible. From what’s actually in natural flavors (and how they aren’t so natural after all) to what a processed food truly does look like.

Some processed foods may look harmless. There is, unfortunately, a lot of misleading information out there. Visuals always work best so here are some food items that at first glance, you may think are perfectly fine. Especially something that is labeled as “organic”. We automatically think, well if it’s organic, it MUST be healthy. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but this just isn’t the case. For example, check out this cereal below. This cereal is organic. Should be healthy, right?

Did you know that the higher up an item is on the ingredient list equates to the highest concentration of that ingredient? So, this cereal – while is organic – the first ingredient is corn. While corn does have some good nutritional qualities such as high in fiber and high in anti-oxidants, my concern leans toward upcoming items on the list. I wanted to pay closer attention to the 3rd ingredient which is cane sugar. Cane sugar is pretty high up on the ingredient list but keep reading please! As you go down the list, you will see honey (another form of sugar), molasses (another form of sugar), invert cane syrup (another form of sugar). If you did your math correctly sugar is listed 4 times – more than 25% of the ingredients are a form of sugar. In total, there are 11 grams of sugar in one serving. Yikes! This is when I bring you back to one of my first Free Coaching Friday videos on sugar. Starting your day with this type of sugar can put you directly on the blood sugar roller coaster. Think insulin resistance, diabetes, obesity factors, etc.

A few other observations. If you look at the image of the cereal on the box – you will see more wheat flakes than corn flakes, yet the ingredient list has the opposite listed. Corn is the 1st ingredient and wheat is the 2nd ingredient. And when I look in the box – there is definitely more corn flakes than wheat. This may seem over the top but is it? We need to pay closer attention to what is being “marketed” to us.

While I have not eaten dried cereal in an exceptionally long time, I did notice that the serving sizes changed – as in doubled. I wouldn’t say I am a dinosaur and it’s been that long since I have had cereal, but I do recall a serving size of cereal being ¾ cup not 1 ½ cups. We are being programmed to eat more in quantity, and don’t even realize it. Makes you wonder why the obesity rate in our country keeps climbing. The CDC just released a current report showing our 2019 numbers. We are looking at between 20% – 35% of people being obese in our nation (dependent on state residing). And it’s not our fault!

But with that knowledge, you can take control of your health and do something about it. Is it a lot of work? Yes – absolutely! Is it worth it??? You better freaking believe it!

You just need to do your research, stay educated, read those food labels, gravitate towards more whole foods, tune in to hunger and fullness and you can do this!

I BELIEVE in you!

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Sources:

https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/prevalence-maps.html

 

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