Today we touch on a topic near and dear to my heart. I was a food nerd before I became a dietitian, so it has always come naturally to me to look at the Nutrition Fact label. I read food ingredient lists for fun! Because of this, I’ve been aware for a long time that our food is prepared very differently today than it was a few generations ago. From farm to table, the modern agricultural supply chain has a lot of extra steps and inputs that are so recent we really don’t have a lot of long-term data on how they affect our health and nutrition. The data we have looks pretty grim.
Much of these industrialized food inputs involve putting additives, chemicals, refined and processed components, etc. Even when you eat something that seems pretty straightforward, it can be difficult to know whether or not the food you’re eating has been genetically modified. As a case in point, when I was growing up the most common type of watermelon bought in the grocery store by my parents was seeded watermelon. We entertained ourselves endlessly as we tried to eat the sweet fruit around the seeds and see who could spit them out the furthest. We laughed when our younger siblings swallowed one and we teased them that a watermelon would start growing in their tummy. Now? The grocery stores seem to exclusively stock seedless watermelons. It makes it more convenient to slice and serve them to my little ones- but has it occurred to you to ask the question: “If the farmers are growing seedless watermelons, where are their seeds for next year’s harvest coming from?” or "What genetic modifications were made to get to seedless watermelons?" Seedless watermelons are a single-generation product, something that could never originate in nature. Don't get me wrong... these watermelons are still packed with amazing and powerful nutritional benefits, but it begs the question, are our farming and agriculture practices aiming to promote health to the level they COULD be? Or can we do more...
Couple these science nerd challenges with a modern food marketing engine that is expert at presenting its products in the most flattering and enticing light. Our bodies and brains want and need nutrition, but they are also designed to be efficient... and so doing the work to find real nutrition is hard, because it doesn't feel all that efficient to have to research every food we eat. We want a quick, easy answer that helps us feel good about what we eat, and the food marketing industry knows it... and markets their food to appeal to that part of our brain, whether it's truthful or not.
I love my husband, and along with most husbands these days, he has struggled with his weight. He spent years as a computer engineer, slowly packing on the pounds with years of junk food and bad sleep. I was so proud of him when he was able to change jobs last year and eat much healthier and sleep more consistently. He was living the Open Eating life and was able to lose 30 lbs over the course of a year. Then his career took a turn for the better, but it put him back on the road. Since returning to his old patterns, he has put 20 lbs back on. He and I speak often about our food habits, we stay close by staying transparent. We often discuss just how much harder it is to eat well when you can’t always control your food inputs.
I know my husband wants to eat healthily, and what gives me further hope is that I can see how many other people want to eat healthily. But that of course means the food industry adapts their packaging to sell healthy. My husband shared a funny anecdote from a recent trip. He was stuck at the airport waiting on his plane to depart and decided to get a snack from the nearby kiosk. Like a good man, he walked past the chips, the candy, and even the chocolates. In the corner near the floor was a small display of “healthy” snacks. He selected a 4-ounce bag of cashews glazed in pomegranate and congratulated himself on a wise choice. When he called me and we started chatting about the snack, we looked at the nutrition facts and ingredients and realized that his little snack had 3x as many calories as the Snickers bar he had passed up and double the calories of the same amount of raw cashews. That said, it packed a whole lot less sugar, and way more fiber, healthy fats, and nutrients than the candy bar- and it’s NOT just about calories. It’s about the types of nutrients (or non-nutrients) you put into your body. So… props for choosing the cashews! The next step is keeping the portion sizes right for you.
In light of this experience, I’m going to hand over this blog to my husband for a while. We both think it would be interesting and instructive for him to share some of the challenges, tips, and tricks he is learning as he works to integrate Open Eating principles into life on the road. Now, you don’t have to just take my word for it… you can get it from real-life experiences from a non-dietitian to show the impact of Open Eating in practical ways and everyday life:)
Safe travels my love!