Our Relationship with Food Is Broken

The United States, despite being the most overweight nation in the world, is also undernourished. Canada is not so far behind. Part of the problem in North America is our relationship with food.

Most North Americans have left behind the traditional ways of eating of their ancestors and opted for over processed, manufactured, chemically altered, genetically modified products that have little in common with food. In fact, most of the items in the supermarkets should not be classified as foods (I am talking about the cans and packages meant to be eaten, not the tin foil and cleaning supplies).

Obesity is defined as a BMI (body mass index, relationship of height and weight) of over 30. Overweight is defined as a BMI of 25-29.9.

These are the statistics:

  • 23.1% of Canadians aged 18 or older were obese in 2004 (CCHS)
  • 33% of US men and 35% of women were obese in 2005-6 (NHANES)
  • Another recent NHANES survey found that 16.3% of children and adolescents aged 2–19 years were obese in 2006.

Obesity and overweight raise the risks of high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, strokes, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis and some cancers.

The excess medical costs dues to overweight and obesity is estimated at $51.5-78.5 billion (depending on the study MEPS data National Health Accounts (NHA) data). It is estimated that 9.1% of US medical costs in 1998 were on obesity related illness. And the obesity rates are rising quickly.

In Canada-childhood obesity tripled from 1998 to 2001

Bottom Line

  • Food shopping: cruise the outside aisles of the supermarket—look for the fresh stuff that does not come from a factory and have a list of 10 ingredients.
  • Avoid chemicals added to food—things our bodies don’t know how to digest and utilize. If you can’t pronounce it, you likely can’t digest it. (the exceptions to this are the chemical names of the vitamins; they’re sometimes hard to pronounce but they’re good for you).
  • Avoid over processed foods. The nutrients have been stripped out and the chemical structure may be changed from processing.
  • Beware of empty calories—foods that have lots of flavour, salt, fat, and no nutritional value.
  • Know that the flavours of packaged and fast food restaurants have been manipulated so you don’t get tired of the taste and will be more likely to finish the oversized portion.
  • Once you are overweight there are 2 hormones that get unbalanced—leptin (regulates weight, metabolism and reproduction) and ghrelin (regulates hunger and fat use).

To Do List

  • Do- Eat mindfully. That is, think about what you are doing and enjoy it
  • Don’t- Eat on the go
  • Do- Eat at least 5-10 serving of fresh fruits and vegetables EVERY DAY.
  • Do- Drink plenty of fluids: they help digestion. They also fill your stomach. Try a flavorful herbal tea for a treat and use honey or agave for a sweetener if you need one.
  • Don’t- Heed your mother’s advice to eat everything on your plate. Stop when you are full.
  • Do- Share restaurant meals or take half home for the next day.
  • Don’t- Use the chemical artificial sweeteners. Aspartame interferes with blood sugar control and sucralose releases chlorine in your tissues. They both make it difficult to control your blood sugar.

Factette:

Aspartame was approved despite a string of industry sponsored and controversial studies. Read the shocking history in Devra Davis’s book The Secret History of the War on Cancer and on this site.

Sucralose (Splenda) came into being when 2 young chemists were trying to produce a chlorinated insecticide and found out by mistake that is was sweet!. Each molecule contains 3 atoms of chlorine. From 11% to as much as 40% of sucralose may be absorbed into your tissues. Also, look on your packets of this sweetener: you may be surprise to see dextrose and maltodextrin as ingredients. In fact, only 1 mg of the packet is sucralose and sugars make up the major portion (4 mg) of the packet. They will affect your blood sugar just like regular sugar.