I remember as a kid, after a long day of playing outside, being
called in for dinner. I was of course, always starved, and the wonderful
smells when I entered, made my mouth water. My mom seemed to have a
kind of sixth sense when it came to preparing the meals we all loved.
There was, of course, something from all the food groups, e.g.; meat,
vegetables (broccoli still rules in our home), fruit (does anyone ever
remember pineapple slices on top of cottage cheese?), and bread,
fresh-baked even and of course, milk. My mom was, and still is, a great
cook.
I was born in 1960, and in my childhood years, most of the families I knew cooked from scratch. Today we see many 'instant' or processed foods in our grocery stores. They were available back when I was growing up, but they were usually more expensive and as it is today with most of us, our parents were all about saving money when they could.
Today, we are just as concerned about preparing wholesome and nutritious meals for ourselves and our families as people were then. As time goes on, it seems our lives and those of our families have become more hectic. We all seem to have less time to spend on things we love to do. And with all the technological advances over the years, e.g.; internet, iPods, cell phones, etc., there are more things to occupy our attention.
We see as we walk through our local grocery stores, "new and improved" instant and processed foods. We are bombarded with ads that tell us - just add water and you've got a "wholesome and nutritious" meal for your family in less than 30 minutes. Don't get me wrong, my wife and I have prepared these 'quick and nutritious' meals for our family from time to time.
The issue we all need to address is the ingredients they use to preserve these 'quick' foods (longer shelf life) or to make them taste better. And of course, we've all seen or heard about the ongoing debate about HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), hydrolyzed oils and a host of other ingredients (some you need a degree in science just to pronounce) we have been eating for years.
You can do research on the internet and find studies where they have linked diabetes with the increase of High Fructose Corn Syrup in foods we eat. In a book on exercise and nutrition I read a short time ago, they said that in the early 70's, each of us consumed about 6 pounds of High Fructose Corn Syrup per year and that amount had increased by as much as 7 to 8 times and more by the mid 90's.
You can find information on the net that suggests our bodies have a problem dealing with these chemically altered substances and don't know how to use them, so store them primarily around our middles which we all know fondly as, BELLY FAT. The information is also out there that these ingredients and preservatives interfere with our bodies' processes in dealing with sugars, hence the connection to the increase of diabetes.
I'm not targeting any one ingredient or preservative. I'm saying we all need to have a better understanding about the foods we eat and how the ingredients in them can affect the health of ourselves and our families. Our eating habits and the types of foods we eat are extremely important in the 'battle of the bulge' a lot of us are now dealing with. By becoming better informed, we can all lose belly fat, increase weight loss and live healthier.
I was born in 1960, and in my childhood years, most of the families I knew cooked from scratch. Today we see many 'instant' or processed foods in our grocery stores. They were available back when I was growing up, but they were usually more expensive and as it is today with most of us, our parents were all about saving money when they could.
Today, we are just as concerned about preparing wholesome and nutritious meals for ourselves and our families as people were then. As time goes on, it seems our lives and those of our families have become more hectic. We all seem to have less time to spend on things we love to do. And with all the technological advances over the years, e.g.; internet, iPods, cell phones, etc., there are more things to occupy our attention.
We see as we walk through our local grocery stores, "new and improved" instant and processed foods. We are bombarded with ads that tell us - just add water and you've got a "wholesome and nutritious" meal for your family in less than 30 minutes. Don't get me wrong, my wife and I have prepared these 'quick and nutritious' meals for our family from time to time.
The issue we all need to address is the ingredients they use to preserve these 'quick' foods (longer shelf life) or to make them taste better. And of course, we've all seen or heard about the ongoing debate about HFCS (high fructose corn syrup), hydrolyzed oils and a host of other ingredients (some you need a degree in science just to pronounce) we have been eating for years.
You can do research on the internet and find studies where they have linked diabetes with the increase of High Fructose Corn Syrup in foods we eat. In a book on exercise and nutrition I read a short time ago, they said that in the early 70's, each of us consumed about 6 pounds of High Fructose Corn Syrup per year and that amount had increased by as much as 7 to 8 times and more by the mid 90's.
You can find information on the net that suggests our bodies have a problem dealing with these chemically altered substances and don't know how to use them, so store them primarily around our middles which we all know fondly as, BELLY FAT. The information is also out there that these ingredients and preservatives interfere with our bodies' processes in dealing with sugars, hence the connection to the increase of diabetes.
I'm not targeting any one ingredient or preservative. I'm saying we all need to have a better understanding about the foods we eat and how the ingredients in them can affect the health of ourselves and our families. Our eating habits and the types of foods we eat are extremely important in the 'battle of the bulge' a lot of us are now dealing with. By becoming better informed, we can all lose belly fat, increase weight loss and live healthier.
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