Although all of us must eat food to survive, very few of us think whether the food we eat is beneficial or harmful. The advent of advertising and profit motive has led to a kind of mass hypnotism regarding food. When selecting food to eat, we do not think; we often believe the advertisements and procure food items. The following discussion provides key concepts and information which will allow you to think for yourself.
Myth 1 : If it is being advertised, it must be good.
Reality : There has never been a commercial about food which has represented the food item under consideration as bad food. Each piece of programming we receive regarding food relates to its health-giving, life-giving properties. Even soft drinks and candies! As a result of a lifetime of listening, watching, and reading food commercials, we have a large store of attitudes toward food programmed into our minds, which are unrelated to the facts about those foods. Therefore, when we consume these food items, we believe that our nutrition and well-being are being cared for. Nothing could be further from the truth! The attitude while buying food should be the attitude of a soldier traversing a mine field. Make the right choices to remain healthy. Make mistakes and you die. In the case of a mine field, you die quickly. In the case of improper food, you die slowly.
Myth 2 : Fast food is fun food.
Reality : Fast food is tasty and easily available, but it is addictive because of the excessive amounts of fat, sugar and salt. These items, especially fat and sugar increase the concentration of certain chemicals in the brain which produce a sensation of well-being. If taken in excess these items also contribute to the premature onset of degenerative diseases. Therefore, as far as possible avoid fast-foods.
Myth 3 : Eating processed food is convenient and makes good sense.
Reality : Processed food is available everywhere. When processed food are consumed, along with the original food the chemicals that are added to it to make it tastier and last longer are also consumed. The longer the shelf life, the more the amount of preservatives and chemical additives it contains. This kind of food is convenient in the short term but imagine how convenient it would be to suffer from degenerative diseases in later years or die young? Therefore, do not buy or consume processed foods.
Myth 4 : Cooking helps digest food.
Reality : We have grown up in a culture where almost everything we eat is cooked. The common wisdom about cooking is that it increases digestibility and enhances flavour. The fact is that cooking causes most of the nutrients to be broken down, this destroying many of the beneficial qualities. However, there are some foods which must be cooked to be eaten, because they simply are too hard to be eaten without cooking. But this is only a small minority of the foods we eat. Therefore, if you can eat it raw, do so.
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