It’s simply unfair.
Over one third of U.S. adults are obese [1], and listen – the cards are stacked against you.
It’s extremely hard, these days, to decipher what is healthy and what is unhealthy; what nutrients you need, and heck, what nutrients are! One day, saturated fats cause cancer, and the next day they are the cure all. Should I eat eggs or not? What the heck is cholesterol? But one thing is for certain, FOOD is good for you. Food-like products…well, they really aren’t. And I’m certain you already know this.
Take a look at the images below.
Which choice do you feel would be best for your body? In other words, which could your body use to help make new muscle or help heal ailing joints? Notice, I didn’t ask you which one you WANT, nor did I ask which one makes you hungry…that’s a topic for another post down the line, and believe me, the science behind that is amazing!
So, back to the topic at hand… According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Obesity results form a combination of causes and contributing factors, including individual factors such as behavior and genetics. Behaviors can include dietary patterns, physical activity, inactivity, medication use, and other exposures. Additional contributing factors in our society include the food and physical activity environment, education and skills, and food marketing and promotion.” [2] See! They are admitting that what and how you eat are directly being affected by your environment. So, what’s the big deal?
Well, what are you constantly reminded of? How many fast food joints surround your local grocery store? How often do you see an advertisement from local farmers’ markets? And be warned, unless you prepared your food from scratch – and by that I mean you started with real, whole food that you cleaned and cut and cooked your self – you forfeited your decision making abilities about your well being to whomever you bought it from. Do you think they had your best interests at heart? Do you think they care about you? Or perhaps, more plausibly, do their core values center around making money? After all, they are a business, right?
According to a 2016 article on NPR, “American kids see, on average, three to five ads for fast food per day. And about 50 percent of all ads directed at children are for food.” [3] Adds for fast food aren’t just on TV, either. They are littering our landscape with billboard ads and popping up all over our internet feeds. And it must be working, because BIG food industries (especially fast food companies) are spending BIG money on it! According to Fast Food FACTS (Food Advertising to Children and Teens Score) 2013, a total of $4.6 BILLION was spent on all advertising by fast food restaurants in 2012 (and 8% increase over 2009). McDonald’s spent 2.7 times as much to advertise its products as all fruit, vegetable, bottled water, and milk advertisers combined. [4] When was the last time you saw a commercial about broccoli or kale?
The truth is, the food industry knows that you know what’s good and not good for you. They know (if given the opportunity, exposure and choice) between their food products and actual, real food – you’d pick the food. So they spend all this money to convince you otherwise. They have brainwashed you into feeling “lost” without your Grande Caffe Vanilla Light Frappaccino Blended Coffee in one hand and that Grilled Breakfast Burrito Fiesta Potato in the other – all while trying to navigate bumper to bumper traffic with thousands of other hungry zombies on the way into work. And, let’s face it – they are doing an excellent job.
Heading Healthy is a movement dedicated to the awareness, education and guidance of just how out of touch we are with ourselves. Big food, big pharma, the medical industry, even some educational establishments all have one thing in common – investors. Their goal is to make money for their shareholders, and you see what they are willing to spend to make sure that happens. Who do you have backing you up in your corner? That, my friend…is us. We want to share the information with you, so that you can finally make informed decisions. We’re not going to try and convince you of feeling one way or another, either. We are simply going to submit the facts to you so that you can come to your own conclusions.
So, the next time you’re heading through the drive through, be aware. Are you making a conscious decision that has yourSELF in your best interests…or, are you falling victim to a corporate monster marketing scheme that’s designed to make you hand over a few more bucks? Take a hard look at that dollar (or card) as you reach over that counter (or out your car window). Before you put it into the pocket of some shareholder, consider investing it back into yourself. You’ll be a lot happier you did.
