I posed the above question as to what is the Number One cause of the obesity epidemic in the United States. Although there are many potential answers to this question, here is mine: Processed Foods. If you check out the graph of the rise of obesity in our country over time, this growth parallels the growth of the use of processed foods by our population.
By simple definition, processed foods refer to foods that have undergone some form of alteration from their original state. This can include:
- Adding ingredients: Such as salt, sugar, preservatives, flavors, or colorings.
- Removing ingredients: Like fat, fiber, or vitamins.
- Altering their structure: Through processes like milling, freezing, canning, or cooking.
- Packaging: In convenient or shelf-stable formats
Prime examples of processed foods include the frozen foods in the supermarkets that offer simple, microwavable dinners/lunches, chips, bakery goods and at the fast food restaurants, chicken nuggets, fries, etc.
Many decades ago, in the “Leave It To Beaver” TV show era, although many families ate “meat and potatoes” every night, there were very little processed food alternatives. Now, with dual working parent families, no one has the time to prepare fresh meals, hence the reliance on quick, easy to make processed foods.
Extensive use of processed foods has certainly been linked to obesity and hence, the much higher risk of developing all of the weight-related co-morbidities including cancer, diabetes, heart disease etc.
Please take a step back and evaluate your/your family’s use of processed foods and make every attempt possible to get rid of these from your diets.
And for any of you Boomers out there with some extra time on your hands, take this test: Watch this video and test yourself as to how many theme songs from 1960’s shows you can remember. This was fun for me…I got 100%…how about you?
