I'm not going to say that I never eat processed food. That would be a lie. I'm also not going to say its because I enjoy processed food because that too would be a lie.
In the last quarter of 2013 I stopped looking after myself. I know why. I've acknowledged the reasons for my behaviour, come to terms with it and moved on - but that's for another post.
Why do we eat it? And why do we eat so much of it? Could it possibly be because it is everywhere we turn and pretty much impossible to avoid?
Arguably, since the increase of this large scale availability, developed countries have seen rates of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity rise.
My belief is that the two are linked but you're free to think otherwise.
So what are we eating, and what is it doing to us?
In the last couple of weeks I have seen two news stories which I found interesting - I won't say they shocked me because after the horse meat scandal, seriously, how much worse can it get?
For whatever reason, one of these stories which I believe to be pretty gruesome seems to have slipped by under the radar. Perhaps all the weather and flood news stole it's thunder. (You're welcome)
One of these news stories is about cancer and the way in which modern life is going to continue to cause a huge increase in cancers over the next few years. I'll leave it to you to read the article if you wish and I won't drag on. Thanks to the daily mail I'm sure everyone is past the point of caring because 'everything gives you cancer'. Seriously though, it's an interesting read. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-26031748
Some of the most disturbing ones that I read included ham pizza that didn't contain any pork, it was actually poultry died pink. And most absurdidly was a weight loss tea (terrible idea anyway) which contained neither tea nor herbs. It was powdered glucose (yup a weight loss tea made from sugar) which was lased with an obesity drug which hasn't been legal in the UK for some time.
That last one seems so scary to me. You can just buy tea in the store and be using a drug which was banned due to the side effects. And drink it everyday.
I don't know what the solutions are here. I mean, I know there are hundreds of people besides myself spreading the motto 'Just Eat Real Food' but it's unrealistic to think that everyone will convert to this way of life after spending years of enjoying the increasing convenience.
The government has proposed a sugar drink tax - on that note I spent ages searching for an article the BBC news published last year which angered me so much but it doesn't appear to exists.
Maybe they realised how stupid it was and took it down, who knows.
Researchers are claiming that they don't understand why people are getting so fat and having increasing health problems when the household calorie intake is falling.
How anyone is funding this research is beyond me, I was literally enraged reading that. There is enough evidence out there now to persuade any medical professional that calories are not equal. Your body will not react in the same way to a calorie from a sugar free drink as it will to a calorie from an apple.
I guess you can tell how I feel about this stupid campaign by change for life 😒.
Oh and whilst your buying your diet drinks don't forget to pick up a Krispy Kreme!
Anyway I digress. What are the alternatives? Would you oppose a junk food tax? Do you think people are within the rights to eat whatever they want even when some people can't control it and we pick up the health bill through our taxes? I'd be interested in knowing because it's an issue I can't quite make my mind up about...
