A recent trip to the local grocery store revealed the cleverness of food-industry marketing. From strange names for sugar to questionable claims on salt, I saw many processed and packaged foods disguised as healthy.
Most food-industry marketers know that we want to cut calories, fat, sugar, and sodium. This leads to the food-industry producing reduced versions of highly processed foods that have been stripped of vital nutrients, micro-nutrients, and nutrients we have yet to discover. Not to mention fiber that helps us to digest the foods that we eat.
For instance, an actual piece of fruit is full of nutrition. Packed with fiber, vitamins and natural antioxidants, fruit can help fight the cellular damage that leads to heart disease and cancer. However, once the fruit is processed, stripped of fiber, and the vitamin C has been cooked out of it, the nutritional value is null, void, nada.
Reduced or low sodium food products are another area where the food-industry tricks us into buying highly processed foods. Eating whole foods with 700 milligrams of sodium is much better than eating processed foods with the same amount of sodium. Whole foods contain complex carbohydrates, protein, fats, fiber and other critical nutrients to help lessen the effects of sodium.
A close friend once told me that there is no such thing as FREE in life. He said, "if I don't expect a lot for a little or something for nothing, I can never be misled." If the food industry removes or adds something to make natural foods more marketable and stay longer on the shelf, then the price we may ultimately pay is our health.
I have personally chosen not to expect a lot for a little from the food-industry cronies. I hope you will too.
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