Flying, traveling, moving, going to new places – it's all very exciting. That's why, in the summer of 2016, just before I came to Boston for college, I was buzzing with anticipation. I love new experiences more than anything else in the world. It's time for a second chance, time to rebuild and find a different side to myself. But, a couple of weeks down the line in busy Boston, I was faced with a huge challenge. My health, happiness and overall well-being was compromised.
I learned that America was the king of all things processed. Sucrose, fructose, MSG, high-fructose corn syrup; the foods found anywhere in the U.S. are loaded with all of these dangerous chemicals. Although I was always aware that processed food is most definitely not the best thing to put in your body, I didn't realize to what extent. Nor did I realize that there was actually a processed-food-epidemic in this country. It's absolutely everywhere.
At this time in my life, I was feeling slow, tired and just overall crappy. What I learned is that, what you put in your body affects your external well being and how well you can actually function. I took to a few documentaries to shape my understanding of the crazy industry that is leading the world, the food industry.
Surprisingly, we don't need any of what goes into processed food. In fact, these awful chemicals are not just found in processed food! Apologies to all lovers of salmon, but it has been recently discovered that over 90 percent of salmon sold in supermarkets come from farms. According to MedicalXpress, this means that they are most likely filled with a chemical called "astaxanthin" (made from coal tar) in order to make the fish appear natural.
The point I'm trying to make is that we are living in a place where we cannot function as real human beings. We are hungry, in a rush and angry. We are no longer people, as we have now become machines. Food = function. It turns out that it doesn't matter what people put in their bodies as long as they're full, right? Wrong. The foods we all love to eat so much like cereal, chocolate, candy, soda - the list truly does go on - are not really food at all. With a total lack of nutrients, these foods make you hungry sooner than they make you full. An excess of calories with an absence in nutrition. That's why the food industry is just booming; they make you want more by adding in all these ridiculous chemicals.
We will never be fully satisfied.
"I'll just eat low fat and diet foods!" This isn't going to help. Low-fat is a hoax. OK, it's not a hoax but it's BS. When you get something low fat, that simply means that there is low fat. Obviously.
This does, however, mean that all the fat taken out of this product is replaced with sugar. You will not lose any weight choosing low fat products over the normal ones. A bag of sugar? That's low fat. There's some food for thought.
The Boston Medical Center claims that over 45 million Americans diet every single year. At the same time as these 45 million Americans are dieting, more than 2/3 of American adults are considered obese, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Diets are not working.
To conclude, it seems this epidemic is unescapable. Our world is dominated by chemicals and ingredients that we cannot pronounce. The question isn't "how can I escape?" It's what we do as a collective population in order to stop this from continuing. Personally, I haven't found my way just yet. Admittedly, chocolate and candy and cup noodles are still well a part of my diet. What I do know now is that it is not about dieting, it's time for a fully fleshed lifestyle change.
