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Do You Really Know What You’re Eating? The Truth Will Floor You!
by Shin Ohtake on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 • 26 Comments
You are what you eat. It’s something we all understand (intellectually) but don’t take it seriously enough. (And I was reminded of that myself, after watching a documentary called “Food Inc.” A great film…and I have to say, even for me, some of the information was quite disturbing. So much so, that I decided you need to know about it…so I wrote a little about it myself. I highly recommend you watch the film.) It’s much easier to look over the obvious and pretend that everything is fine. I mean everyone else is eating it… so it must be okay…right? Well, considering the epidemic rate of obesity and diabetes, I’d say that following what majority of others eat, is not such as wise idea. But in all fairness, the food industry makes it extremely difficult for you to eat well. I mean have you noticed that you can buy a burger for a buck but you can’t buy an apple for the same price? How does that make sense? In fact, if you went to your local grocery store and started comparing prices of processed foods to real foods like vegetables and fruits, 9 out 10 times the processed foods are cheaper. How can that be? It’s processed, doesn’t that mean, it should cost more? It takes more time and energy into making each product right? You would think that what comes out of the ground or grows on trees as mother nature intended would naturally be cheaper than anything that has to be processed. But logic takes a back step when greed and profit become the primarily motivator. What’s happened to our food industry is not only alarming but darn right scary. Find out more…
What used to be hundreds of small to medium size food companies have all gone out of business or have been bought up or merged into 4 huge food conglomerates. Each of these companies are so huge that they have the power to make decisions on what gets put onto the shelves of our all grocery chains in North America. And much like most large conglomerates, the bottom line is always profit…no matter what. And who gets the short end of the stick? That’s right, you and I, the consumers. I know it seems like you have many choices when you go into a grocery store, but you really don’t. It’s a facade. When there’s only 4 food major companies producing most of the products, what you see on the shelves are just different names and packages of the same thing. And that’s not all, it’s what they’re putting into the food that’s most disturbing. You may see bright fresh looking fruits and vegetables or freshly cut sides of beef or well packaged and displayed chicken breasts and endless processed foods with labels like 25% less fat, or 15% more fiber and all sorts of others things that fool you into thinking that you’re buying fresh, healthy foods…but don’t judge the book by it’s cover. It’s what’s inside that counts. From meat and poultry injected with antibiotics, growth hormones, to fruits and vegetables sprayed with carcinogenic pesticides, preservatives and other harmful chemicals to ready made, processed foods prepared by chemists in laboratories using artificial chemicals rather than natural foods. If you are what you eat…it’s no wonder that our nation is battling a health epidemic such as early onset diabetes, obesity and countless numbers of health problems that have all emerged in the last couple of decades.
Unfortunately, the situation we face today is really a product of our own poor choices. Poor choices that you and I made over the years by going to fast food chains for a quick cheap meal or going to your local convenience store to get your salt and sugar fix from soft drinks, candy bars and chips. It probably didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, but when just one fast food chain serves over a billion customers…cumulatively it makes a HUGE difference. In fact, you can thank your fast food industry giants like McDonald’s and Coca Cola (just to name a few) for the changing the entire food industry as we now it today.
It’s our insatiable appetite for fast foods, which ironically put so many of the smaller food companies out of business and allowed the bigger companies to get bigger and more powerful. The result is what you see today. The crazy thing is our appetite keeps getting bigger as well. We want more food, faster, for less money. And these large food companies make it happen by finding better faster more efficient ways to produce it. But like anything else, when mass, speed and efficiency is the goal, things always have to get cut out. And in almost all cases it’s quality and sometimes even safety. Lack of quality is not good for anything, but lack of safety is completely unacceptable when it comes to food. The USDA does have guide lines to ensure that we as consumers are protected, but these guidelines seem to favor the large food conglomerates rather than the consumers. Now, I’m not going to get too far into the political aspect of this issue here (although it’s hard not to, since it’s all intricately related), but let’s just say that sleeping with the enemy is common practice amongst former executives of these food conglomerates and the USDA. Let’s just say that many of the top execs have held similar positions on both sides of the fence. So who determines “quality” and ”safety” in our foods? Well, your guess is as good as mine….either way one thing is for sure?
When you can’t trust the ones that are supposed to protect you…what do you do?
The answer isn’t easy, but we can start by trying to the make right choices. Here’s a few simple but effective tips to begin with:
Start by eliminating processed foods. Almost all processed foods are based on corn. It’s corn processed in hundreds of different ways combined with a whole bunch of artificial chemicals. Corn is the cheapest source of food. In fact, prior to the fuel shortage, corn was cheaper sold than made. So it’s in every food companies best interest to use corn as the basic source of processed foods. This also includes frozen ready made foods like burger patties, chicken strips, microwaveable dinners etc. Processed foods will not only make you fat and unhealthy, but you’re also strengthening the vicious cycle that empowers the food giants.
This is a no brainer…avoid ALL fast foods. Fast foods are the source of ALL problems. You need to stop giving them the kind of monopoly power that they’ve acquired. And the best way to do that is by not eating it. I don’t need to get into what’s in your fast foods, do I? Fast foods hits all of your cravings: sweet, salty and fat with absolutely ZERO nutritional value. These cravings are a chemical addiction much like nicotine. You’re brain is hardwired to want more if you feed it! The only way to break the craving cycle is not to feed it! Remember, no matter what the ads and commercials say, there is no such thing as a nutritional fast food. And if you don’t believe me, just do a little digging into the source of your fast foods and you’ll immediately understand that it’s NOT possible to have nutritional fast foods.
A simple but good tip is to think and eat like a cave man. They only ate what was available to them from mother nature. Basically they ate real foods. Foods that were meant to be eaten. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, spices, meats, poultry and fish. Foods like bread, pasta and rice which are all based on grains were never consumed. In fact, grains only became a staple of human diet as population grew quickly and demand for affordable food became necessary. Since grains are cheap and plentiful, and can be stored and used during months when other types of food were sparse, it became a staple in our diet. However, that doesn’t make it good for you. If you still choose to consume grain products, make sure to stick with whole grains that haven’t been bleached or overly processed like wild brown rice and whole grain bread rather than white rice and white bread.
Eat organic meat, poultry and fish as much as possible. It may be a little expensive but it’s well worth it, knowing that you’re eating foods raised in natural environments free of antibiotics and hormones.
If you’re a beef consumer, makes sure to get grass fed beef. Most, if not all regular beef in the grocery stores are corn fed cows that are raised in an over crowded manure infested areas, where they have no place to move. They’re fed corn because, it makes cows fat faster…so fat in fact that they can’t even support their own weight to stand or walk. Since cows aren’t meant to eat corn, they also develop intestinal infections that have to be treated with antibiotics. Grass fed cows are free to roam the pasture and graze the natural food that they were supposed to eat, thereby producing healthy lean beef.
When you buy poultry, make sure that your buy free range chickens. This goes for poultry as well. Most chickens are kept in a dark coup with thousands of other chickens where they’re constantly fed from the time they arrive as a chick until their fully grown in as less than 48 days. The faster they can get bigger the better - which is why many are injected with growth hormones as well! Not to mention, most chickens are also given antibiotics because many get sick from the atrocious conditions they’re raised in.
When you purchase fish, try to eat wild caught fish as supposed to farmed fish. The problem with farmed fish is the condition they are raised in as well as. Most farmed raised fish are “trained” to eat corn as for food, even though they don’t normally eat corn. If you have to eat farmed fish make sure that you know where they came from. Depending on the country, their health and safety regulation can vary pretty drastically. Stick with wild caught fish and you’re ensured a healthy fish. (You can go to NRDC to find out the mercury content of fish, so you know which ones are safe to eat.)
Eat organic fruits and vegetables and support your local growers as much as possible. The biggest reason being pesticides and soil deprivation. The pesticides used on fruits and vegetables have been directly linked to cancer and other harmful effects. The soil they are being harvested in have been over harvested and completely stripped of any nutrients and minerals. Don’t let the big bold colors of the fruits and vegetables being displayed on the counters of your local grocery store fool you. Most have been sprayed with deadly pesticides, preservatives and have little nutritional content. If you have a local farmers market near you, try and get your fruits and vegetables through them. That way you can ask to make sure that they don’t use any pesticides or preservatives on their products before you buy. Plus they’ll only carry what’s in season, so you know that the soil hasn’t been over harvested.
Lastly, the more you can reduce buying from your local grocery chains the better. Find other sources of food, like local organic farmers. You don’t need to live in the country to get local farmed foods. I live in the city and I have a couple of organic farmers where I order my organic vegetables, free range chicken and eggs free of antibiotics and growth hormones, as well as organic grass fed beef. It’s a little pricier but well worth the piece of mind knowing that the food I’m eating is healthy and wholesome. (Here’s a list of organic farmers in the US and here’s list of organic farmers in Canada)
It’s important to keep in mind that you as a consumer vote every time you purchase food. What kind of foods you’d like to have in your local grocery store is determined by what you purchase. If you buy Coke, you’re only helping them keep their diabetic promoting drinks on the store shelves for more consumption. If you eat at McDonald’s it only promotes more unhealthy foods to be produced and keeps feeding fuel to these powerful giants. If the tabacco industry can be brought down by your choice NOT to smoke…certainly, we can get control back from the food industry giants. Everybody should have the right to affordable, healthy natural foods.
It’s your decision to make. Vote to be healthy.
What do you think about the current situation of our food industry?
Does this change the way you look at food?
I’d love to hear your thoughts, so please post your comments below.
About The Author
Shin Ohtake is a widely recognized strength coach and fitness & fat-loss expert. His unconventional, no-nonsense approach to getting fit has made him the go-to source for fitness enthusiasts and trainers alike. Shin is also the author of the world famous, MAX Workouts book, which has transformed and reshaped the bodies of thousands of people across the globe - without requiring hours in the gym. To learn more about how MAX Workouts can help you achieve your fitness goals, visit maxworkouts.com.
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26 Comments
Posted by lisa on 12/29 at 09:47 AM
have you read “the end of overeating” by david kessler? i’ve found it fascinating and it’s right along the lines of what you are talking about. if you haven’t read it already, you might enjoy it.
definitely want to see that documentary. thanks for the recommenation.
Posted by Linda E. Paxton on 12/29 at 09:50 AM
Hi Shin I have mental health issues and am prediabetic. I have changed my way of eating in the last month. I totally believe what and when you eat it all adds up to good nutrient. I have experienced good food choices. And I know for a fact what you eat and when for a pre diabetic the main goal is keeping my blood sugar level. Eating fresh fruits and vegetables and proper meat choices is where it is at. My doctors have said that I am well enough now to go back to work. That is my next hurdle. I believe in eating, sleeping and physical fitness. As a whole package. Once people address these issues as a prevention in good health we can reduce our cost in health care.
Linda Paxton:)
Posted by Patty on 12/29 at 10:00 AM
Check out Dr McDougall’s program for eating well. I follow a vegan lifestyle so no meat, dairy or eggs. That eliminates a whole lot of bad food. I don’t think that fresh foods are always more costly. For example, an average organic banana cost about 30 cents, way less than a doughnut or a candy bar. A person can use the excuse that they don’t have time to cook, but nuts, seeds and fresh fruits and vegetables are easy to consume and are very nutritious.
Posted by Mary Lannin on 12/29 at 10:06 AM
Great Article! Everything in moderation is key. Even the healthiest food can make you overweight and unhealthy if you are overeating and not exercising. I would emphasis eating healthy most of the time, small portions is the best, there is no such thing as perfection. I stay on track by not buying processed food in my home and buying organic when it is on sale. Farmers Markets are the the best, and it supports local farmers, it’s a win win!
Posted by Shirley on 12/29 at 10:35 AM
Hello There Shin,
I’m glad you rought up that lovely topic about food,“that we are what we eat,as my mom use to say ... Well I’m glad to say that she brought us u as vegetarians ! And I have no problem with worrying about the food I’m eating,butt when it comes down to being invited by friends or business collegues, then I start to panic! Anyway I live in Europe where eating habits definately counts !!!
Thanks for all of your interesting articles.Happy Holidays ...
Posted by george on 12/29 at 12:43 PM
I agree with what you say. Food is our fuel, we wouldn’t put dirty water in our cars so why do we put so much crap into our bodies. However, it is harder to eat properly and tough to get buy in from your immediate family. It is a goal that is worth chasing. I am in the food business and I have seen lots of the greedy ways people think so I caution you not to believe all you see. Some of the groups that certify organic and other things are out to make profits too so they often bend the rules or make things easy to attain to get more certification requests and drive profits. I mean I am sure they are still better than the other options but just be aware of that.
more and more I want to know where my food is coming from and what is in it. I used to eat a lot of bread and sometimes I felt good about buying wholewheat bread at the grocery stores, then I read the ingredients…. Calcium propenate and other chemicals, glucose etc…. Now I buy bread at local bakeries, they have healthy whole wheats without chemicals and glucose. This is an example of a small change you can make which in acculmulation will add up to much healthier eating.
Ps shin your program is great and although it is tough as nails its like the goal to eating better….not easy but a totally worthwhile pursuit.
Posted by canice fitzsimons on 12/29 at 12:47 PM
very interesting read!! i believed to my knowledge that iwas a relatively healthy eater,pretty much always conscious of what im eating! but this kinda has thrown a spanner in the works! I don’t eat fast food or anything and eat lots of fruit/veg and plenty of water, but this Corn fed chickens and cows thing. You would think walking into a supermarket and picking up chicken fillets or a fillet of beef that “your eating healthy”!! I guess you just have to pay more attention to what your buying!
Posted by Sophie on 12/29 at 03:49 PM
Thanks for the article.Iam sure we all know about eating organic food but it is soo good to be reminded periodically.Bcoz sometimes amidst our busy lives we do stop by at mcdonalds and the like sometimes.So thanks.
Posted by susan gagliano on 12/29 at 04:16 PM
Thanks Shin!
Posting all this wonderful information is a real blessing!
My comment….
well….
I’m a New Yorker who has been living in Italy since 1993.
I’ve seen a lot of changes!
Unfortunately, of the negative type.
More Italians are copying the American trend of paying less to eat worse. It’s all a scam!
Reading labels and learning to cook are a MUST!!!
Please continue your fine work in helping to educate
people to live better.
Thanks again,
Susan
Posted by rambabu on 12/29 at 04:34 PM
hi shin,thanks for this topic.i am seaman,i think iam eating good food but i have to eat what our cook prepare to us.and we will eat all foods like frozen.because we are on sea every time when we come to port then i am used to eat fresh fruts and fresh food.in my home there is no need to warry there is everything is fresh. anyway thanks for this food topic.
Posted by Jason Gilmore on 12/29 at 04:50 PM
Unfortunately a lot of the fresh produce that is offered to us in supermarkets is not only greed driven by supermarket companies but also the consumer who demands lower prices. Farmers are continually pressured to be more efficient in their farming methods to offer up cheaper produce, hence the intensive farming practices we see today in most of the meat industries. If all consumers were prepared to pay more for their groceries then maybe we could get back to traditional farming practices. I am a chicken farmer in Australia and we grow chickens for the meat market. We dont inject growth hormones, they are banned in Australia and have been for 40 years. Antibotics are only used if a flock comes down with an illness and is only prescribed if it is absolutely nessesary. I dont know what the common pratice is in USA so I cant comment on what happens there.
Just a couple of other comments from what happens in Australia. Our Farmers are constantly screwed on price from Supermarkets. The supermarkets seem to make plenty of money though and our farmers struggle. What about bottled water, here we pay more for a litre of water than a litre of petrol! How does that work???
I think we live in a mixed up world and Shin hit the nail on the head regarding GREED!!
Posted by michael on 12/29 at 04:51 PM
I live in England it is very expensive to buy organic anything here, especially when on a limited budget. However I totally agree with your sentiments and support you 100% keep up the good work.
Posted by Mark garland on 12/29 at 07:17 PM
kia ora Shin
Really apprciate the news letters,this one was very interesting.
I live in New Zealand where free range foods are easily avaiable and we take that for granted here.
our meat is all natural here and the taste is so diffrent form the US,when i visted that was the first thing I noticed the beef was so bland and had no taste so we are lucky
so thanks again for the update it has made me relize how lucky I am
Regards
Posted by francis petree on 12/29 at 08:41 PM
your batting 100%. we eat nothing but organic veggies and free range meat and poultry. we have both lossed about 50lbs and feel a whole lot better. we also cut out all processed food and drinks
Posted by mila on 12/30 at 07:41 AM
Thanks for the great information Shin, i know for a fact ill be searching for local organic grocers in my area, its about time we stop these greedy corporations. Living in Australia buying organic is not cheap but at the end of the day my health is more important, and think how much ill be saving on medical expenses in the long run by eating foods with real nutritional value.
cheers Mila 
Posted by Vanessa on 12/30 at 08:51 AM
Hi Shin
Thanks for the newsletters ! I live in the city Johannesburg in South Africa and organic food is difficult to find - life is busy and traffic hectic so we often turn to fastfood. At the moment on leave on our farm enjoying the fresh air! Need to really start thinking about those nutrients we need as I also have 2 boys aged 13 and 9 .
Thanks again and chat soon
Posted by Jean on 12/30 at 04:12 PM
Hi Shin, Great article, my husband and myself are into trying to keep fit by running and workout, have just started to take very seriously what we eat by building a fortnightly menu plan based around good natural food so your words are confirmation we are on the right track, here in NZ i feel it is easier to buy natural foods and that in general processed are more costly! so we are blessed in where we live…...keep the information coming I look forward to the read….Happy New Years for 2010
Posted by Steve Bellamy on 12/31 at 06:06 AM
Thanks for the info, Fortunately ive never been a fast food junkie, and love fresh fruit and veg. Funnily enough i probably eat too much fresh fruit like bannas and oranges and the sugar contenet/ carbs can be a problem.
Anyway lovin the training and inspiring others
Regards Steve
Posted by Right On! on 12/31 at 03:12 PM
Thank you for writing this article. I can’t believe that more people aren’t aware of this and effectively forming some sort of uhhh, what are they called… boycotts. It’s really riduculous. I thought I was eating healthy when I ate my fresh fruits! I have been learning about this recently though, and I looked into it at my local grocery store and the organic apples are only 50c more a 3lb bag.
Posted by Melinda on 12/31 at 04:35 PM
Hey Shin,I want to thank you for taking good care of us. I know for the fact it takes time and energy to do research in these areas.Thank you for reminding me this concept.I have a question to ask you! What do you think about restaurant we eat at,for example Chinese or Korean food etc!.Your friend in Honolulu.Happy New Year to you and your wife.
Posted by Karen on 12/31 at 10:41 PM
Thanks for reminding of things I know are true.
Mostly I appreciate the link to organic farmers.
Posted by surinder singh Sangha on 01/03 at 12:27 AM
your artcail is very good.I used eat health and junk food,since i read your artcail.I wil start eating health food and thank you for the advice
Posted by Mike on 01/06 at 12:47 PM
My wife and I do our best to eat organic and naturally grown foods. We go to our local health food store and are able to purchase all kinds of ingrediants to make tasty meals. We also hit up the local farmers’ markets as well as grow our own veggies in the back yard (what a surplus of tomatoes!). I was surprised to compare our grocery bill with what it used to be before we went completely organic. It wasn’t that much more expensive especially when you cook your own food and don’t eat out. One last thought, pay a little bit more now for healthy food or pay the hospital thousands to tell you to eat healthier.
Posted by Janet on 01/06 at 04:29 PM
Thanks for another great article Shin. I love all that you do. I was wondering how you felt about quinoa, bulgar and barley? I think these are some great grains that are very good for you. Also wondering about sweeteners. Do you think honey is good or bad? What about Stevia?
Posted by david on 01/08 at 05:43 PM
how do you know what beef is grass fed?
Posted by Birgit Heesemann-Nielsen on 12/29 at 09:15 AM
We are vegetarians actually, and we are glad about it because of everything that is injected plus the various species jumping deseases.
Luckily we have an ecologic farm nearby and buy everything we can there, and we spread the word to support them. It is fine to eat what is available every season and nothing else. When I was a child there was no other choice.
But…we still eat processed food in form of chocolate. Hard to get rid of that habit, Scandinavian chocolate is so tasty!