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Big Food and the Market Demand for Healthier Ingredients

Last night my 12 and 14-year old children informed me that although they no longer believe in the Easter Bunny, they still believe in the Easter Mommy and were fully expecting Easter baskets overflowing with sugary candy which are usually filled with chemicals and unfood ingredients. Knowing that the remaining years where they will be enthusiastically game for a full-on Easter egg hunt are few, I foraged to the local grocery story at 11pm to see if I could source any kind of tasty treats that I would find, at least, partially acceptable for human consumption.

Most junk food, and even products marketing themselves as “natural” and “organic” are normally just overprocessed unfoods that have dressed up their ingredient lists with some things that are not quite as deplorable as high fructose corn syrup, red dye #40, and a laundry list of preservatives, emulsifiers, and coloring agents designed to address the aesthetics of food and engineered to intentionally create addictions to sugar even in foods that are not sweet just for the sake of marketing. Ordinarily, I would have ventured to a health food market with a much better variety of healthier candy choices, but with an hour to spare before the clock struck Easter, my options were limited.

I am used to dissecting food labels and my shopping trips are notorious for being lengthy if I am sourcing something that is not a staple on my usual list, so I expected this trip, in particular, might pose a challenge. What I found, however, is that there has been a notable shift towards healthier ingredients in the last few years that is being driven by consumer demand. There are a number of healthier candy brands that have emerged and are making their way onto even conventional supermarket shelves, but what I discovered in my twilight expedition to the local Meijer store was that even Big Food manufacturers are beginning to respond to consumer demands for healthier options.

I am, by no means, a proponent of Big Food makers like Mars, Kraft, Proctor and Gamble, Kellogg’s, Nestle, CocaCola, Johnson and Johnson, and the like. As George Orwell predicted in his dystopian writings, absolute power does, in fact, corrupt absolutely. The number of food brands that are controlled by a select few parent companies should cause alarm for the future of our food supply, and I will always support smaller companies that are passionate about the roots of their healthy ingredients as a means to promote health, vitality, and longevity amongst their patrons. As we learned with telecom and other industries in the last century, monopolies are not good for humanity at large. Once an organization exceeds a certain size, it essentially turns into a machine that is disconnected from serving the people of which it may have originally started out to enhance the lives. There is an inherent disconnect, however, when an organization grows beyond its ability to operate at a level that recognizes individuals. Profit, in and of itself is not the problem. Profit and perpetual growth of profit as the end goal rather than providing a product or service designed to improve people’s lives and experiences ultimately ends up being the purpose of corporate entities that have grown beyond the capacity to be of service to its consumers rather than its shareholders.

Big Food Monopoly
Graphic from the Children’s Health Defense Fund

Here’s the silver lining, however. While I was shopping, I discovered a bag of Organic Hershey chocolate bars. I was skeptical. I assumed the ingredient list would be filled with the same emulsifiers and chemical agents found in other conventional Standard American Diet (SAD) candy brands. But here is what I found….

Ingredient list for Organic Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate: Organic Chocolate, Organic Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter, Organic Vanilla Extract, and Organic Milk.

While there is some additional information that might be offered about the type of chocolate being used and the origins of the sugar and milk, by contrast to most candy brands, this list is not terrible. I almost never eat any form of processed sugar and opt for homemade treats where I can control the ingredients and opt for local raw honey, dates, monk fruit, or stevia to sweeten our recipes. My reason for noting the Hershey’s Organic option here is simply that the corporation is responding to market demands. We have reached a tipping point where enough consumers have done their own independent research and are no long willing to settle for subpar ingredients that contribute to chronic inflammation and toxic overload in the body. Eating Hershey bars of any variety is not going to pave the way to health, but, perhaps, the fact that so many Big Food manufacturers are now offering gluten free, grain free, organic, chemical free, emulsifier free, artificial color free, simpler ingredient lists, even if their motivation is purely profit-driven, is a sign that consumers at large are driving market demand for integrity in food manufacturing.

“Food manufacturing” really should not even be part of our culinary vocabulary as real food is grown, not manufactured, however, such is the world in which we live, and the pendulum at least seems to be returning to a direction of health and integrity even if the steps to get there are small. Most of my Easter candy purchases were with smaller brands that have found natural and safe alternatives to processed sugar and do not have direct ties to Monsanto, which is another conversation entirely, but I am encouraged that Big Food is responding to consumers’ investment in products that align with health.

Reading food labels is not rocket science, by any stretch of the imagination. Certainly it is a practiced skill, but once you learn how to do it, making decisions between virtually identical items, one that can be considered real food and another that is highly processed unfood becomes second nature that does not require one simply go without. Making better choices is, well, a choice. Society can continue to settle for complacency and the chronic diseases that accompany it, or we can be proactive, respect our personal autonomy and health freedom, and continue to shape the future of real food versus unfood by investing our dollars in real food that nourishes rather than chemical laden unfoods that tip the balance from health to disease.

There is only one state of disease in the human body, imbalance. Creating that balance is really quite simple. Make a commitment to yourself and your family to consume only real food. Eating healthy does not require deprivation, elimination, or fad-style food combinations. Start with eating real food and health will follow.

Happy Easter from the Easter Mommy!

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LYMPH

The lymphatic system is among the most overlooked systems of the body. It’s role in removing cellular waste and regulating the immune system is imperative to building a healthy, balanced body. Stagnant lymphatic fluid leads to build up of toxins and weakened immunity.

PELVIC FLOOR HEALTH

Pelvic floor health extends far beyond sex, pregnancy, and bladder control. The pelvic floor is the seat of health for so many bodily functions for both women and men. In many Eastern medical traditions, the pelvic floor is the “root” of our energy flow. Leaving the pelvic floor out of any holistic health regimen is akin to expecting a tree to flourish with damaged roots.

SELF CARE

In our busy world filled with family and work responsibilities, many of us find ourselves to be the lowest priority on our lengthy to-do lists. When we recognize that putting our own needs at the top of the list improves our availability to show up and genuinely help others, the dynamics of our world begin to shift. The rewards extend beyond just how we feel and manifest in all aspects of our relationships, work life, and finances.

CONSCIOUS MOVEMENT

The caloric model of weight management is dead. Exercising in the wrong way can often add to hormone imbalances that perpetuate unhealthy weight and chronic disease. Learn to exercise smarter, not harder, and exercise your mind in a deliberate way at the same time.

DIGESTION

Digestion is the cornerstone of good health. You aren’t what you eat, you are what you digest. If your digestive system is in a state of imbalance, which is true for most Americans, you will not be able to sustain health in other systems of the body. The gut is considered the second brain and its health is imperative to the production of hormones and neurotransmitters. Learn to love your gut and balance your body and mind.

DETOX

Any efforts to add elements that nourish our bodies and minds can be futile as long as we are exposed to toxins that continue to cripple our bodies ability to assimilate healthy food, clean water, mindful exercise, and healthy relationships. Removing those forces that impair our bodies is critical to allowing nourishing factors to rebuild and maintain health.

DENTAL HEALTH

Although insurance companies have deemed the oral cavity to be something completely separate from the rest of the body, the beginning of the digestive tract is one of the most important locations in the body to creating optimal health. Poor diets that create dental caries, toxic materials that poison the body and block energetic flow, and procedures that allow decaying tissue to remain in the body heavily contribute to imbalance and chronic disease. Employing biologic and holistic dental strategies can be the missing link for many people’s quest for wellness.

HORMONE BALANCE

Hormones are the messengers that help our bodies’ systems run smoothly and communicate with one another. When hormone production or balance is off due to many lifestyle factors, stress, trauma, nutrition, and relationship factors, the result is often disease. Understanding how this magnificent symphony works can be the key to creating beautiful music in your body.

SEX

Healthy sexuality is a largely overlooked aspect to maintaining optimal health, so much so that it, perhaps, should be at the top of the feel-good list. The hormones, endorphins, and neurotransmitters manufactured with sexual expression inside of healthy, connected relationships is not a bonus feature of our biology but an imperative that extends beyond just reproduction. Cultivating sexual health reaps benefits that extend well beyond the bedroom.

BREATHE

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SLEEP

Good sleep hygiene and alignment with the natural circadian rhythms of day and night is imperative to achieving good health. Getting enough quality sleep during the hours of the night that works best with our bodies’ natural chemistry sets the stage for our bodies to maintain homeostasis. Likewise, the emerging field of sleep medicine has shed light on the impact mouth breathing, snoring, and sleep apnea have in maintaining healthy balance of hormones and neurotransmitters in the body. Breathing well and sleeping well are game changers when it comes to feeling good.

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NUTRITION

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