But It's HEALTH FOOD...

Pep Talk

Is it REALLY health food???  Just because it says "natural" or "organic" doesn't mean it's really all that good for you.  Let's take a closer look at these misnomers and see if we should be calling these things "health food" or "health junk."

Natural
The term natural is ambiguous.  Just about any food can claim to be natural.  Natural means "derived from nature."  But where is the line drawn?  When is something derived from nature no longer natural?  Is high fructose corn syrup natural?  Many would say, no, it's made in a lab.  However, it's derived from corn.  And corn grows; corn is natural.

My point is that there is no clear definition of what fits into the "natural" category.  All it takes is tricky logic and a foggy lens to make things fit into this category.  Take, for example, Coca-Cola.  How many soda trees do you see growing in the forest?

Image from consumeraffairs.com

However, here it is on the label.  The ingredients list says that Coca-Cola contains "Natural Flavors."  What does this mean?  I've never tasted anything that grows on a tree that tastes anything like cola.  You need to treat the term "natural" with the same skepticism as you would with any other food marketing term, like "delicious taste" or "home-style goodness."



Organic
Now, organic is better than natural, because that means the food has to meet certain standards in its growth and handling.  Let's put aside the debate for now about how well our government maintains those standards.  Let's just pretend we live in Narnia and all food provisions are strictly upheld.  If that is the case, then all growers and manufacturers must adhere to requirements in order to stamp the "organic" label on their food.

You know there's a catch, and here it is: almost ANY food can be organic.  Even junk food.  Just because you are eating organic cookies does not mean they are healthy.  Sure, they are made with better ingredients that probably weren't manufactured in a lab somewhere, but they still contain high calories, fat, sugar, and all the things that interfere with a healthy lifestyle.  Organic is not synonymous with healthy; it just guarantees a better set of ingredients are going into your food.

But It's Better Than a Snickers!
Let's play a game.  Here are two nutritional labels.  One is for candy.  The other is for a healthy energy bar.  Which is which?

LABEL 1

LABEL 2

Okay, think you've figured it out?  Here's the answer: Label 1 is a Payday candy bar (image from chocolate-candy-intelligence.com).  Label 2 is a "healthy" fruit-and-nut Larabar (Cashew Cookie flavor; image from larabar.com).  But as you can see, from a nutritional standpoint, the difference is negligible.  Sure, you could argue that one has better ingredients than the other.  But when looking at the amount of calories, fat, and sugar you are introducing to your body, it's pretty much a wash.

The Lesson for Today
I'm not telling you all this to "poo poo" over your favorite foods.  This is a wake-up call that we as consumers must be 100% diligent in selecting the foods we eat.  Many food companies will try to trick you with marketing fluff to believe that their ACTUAL Fluff is part of a balanced, "natural" diet.  The only real defense we have is to learn to understand three things:

1. Nutrition Information Labels - these are the data grids on all foods that indicate the number of calories, fat, protein, sugar, etc. in the food.
2. Ingredients List - this is the other piece of the puzzle.  A food might look good on the Nutritional Information, but the reason why the sugar is so low is because it has 50 different chemical ingredients to substitute for sugar.  Try to pick foods that have an ingredients list of three lines or less, and only ingredient names that you can pronounce.  Monosodium glutamate and polysorbate 50 sound more like super-glue ingredients than food. 
3. Serving Size - this is the sneaky, sneaky part of the food label that manufacturers hope you overlook, especially in smaller, "single-serving" packages.  For example, a small bottle of soda at the checkout line might list 120 calories per serving.  However, that bottle actually carries 2.5 servings.  So in reality, if you drink the whole bottle (and who won't?), your calorie consumption would be 300 -- more than double the calories you thought you were drinking.  That's a small meal.

Make it your new habit to check food labels regularly.  Before a food goes into your cart, flip it over and look at the label.  Compare it to other similar items and pick the one that best fits your healthy lifestyle.  Sure, it takes a little bit of time in the beginning, but once you find foods that you like that have excellent, quality ingredients, you will only have to do this once in a while when you're thinking of trying brand new foods.

 

Challenge Workout

Perform the following exercises as quickly as possible, taking breaks as needed:

• 20 Pushups
• 50 Squats
• 15 Pushups
• 40 Squats
• 10 Pushups
• 30 Squats
• 5 Pushups
• 20 Squats