Do you know what you are eating?
Living in the U.S. is great. At any time of day you can get virtually any food you want. Go to the market and everything is prepared for you. Dressings, frozen foods, and snacks are all available. Feeling hungry for some ethnic food? A drive to your local Mexican, Asian, or other restaurant is within grasp.
We eat all of the time. But the most strinkingly amazing thing is.
Most of us don't know what we are eating. Let's take a short quiz shall we?
Example One (Ranch Dressing)
Without doing any googling. Ask yourself. What is Ranch Dressing made of?
Example Two (Cheetos):
Same question. What is in hot cheetos?
Example Three: (Twizzlers)
Ooh.. a favorite for many kids.
Example Four (Spaghetti):
You have probably eaten this all the time. Can you list what ingredients it is made of and how it is made?
Answers:
- Ranch Dressing (21 ingredients)
- Cheetos (~24 ingredients)
- Twizzlers (14 ingredients)
- Spaghetti
If you have been paying attention to the food debates, it is pretty confusing. One year saturated fats is bad, then it is carbs, then it is proteins. Anti-oxidants are good one year, then bad. Now if I'm not mistaken Omega 3s are in. But if you focus on these debates, you are missing a really important point.
Just for a brief moment. Put all of that aside. And perform this daily task for every item you eat. Just ask the question:
What am I eating?
Let's put it this way. If I poured window cleaner into a glass and asked you to drink it, would you? You would be like, "of course not!" Window cleaner is poison to me!
But what happens if I pour unknown chemical X into a glass and ask you to drink it? It might be poison or it might not.. would you still drink it? The same analogy applies to food.. you don't know if it is good for you unless you know what is in it.
Food can get really complicated, but don't despair. All journeys start with one step, and that first step is to just start asking questions on what you are eating. From that, this blog will help guide you through all the complexities of food and help you make informed choices.
