Episode #6 The Food Landscape Does Not Have Our Back
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You are listening to wait a minute with Beth and Jessica episode six.
So. A few weeks, we have shared with you about metabolic health and intuitive eating. So it's perfectly fitting to now talk about, regardless of what your goals are related to your health or your body, that the landscape of food choices and types is not really in your favor in a way that is health promoting.
You do have to work harder to find healthier foods, foods that are not hyper palatable, simple foods. That we need most days of the week are harder to acquire and has become boring and oftentimes more expensive. This is a really important foundation because there are a bigger conversations about the economics and equities among various communities and racists, sustainability, and how that is all interconnected.
Today. We are really just scratching the cultural surface, but want to get the conversation started. There are many components involved when we talk about this landscape or environment. So Beth, where should we even start? Okay. One thing that comes up when you watch documentaries about health or environment is about meat and animal protein.
There's a lot of questions about what's actually better for you, but the answer is actually pretty complicated. So for example, when we have like feed. Most of our protein that we get in the grocery store and in restaurants and things like that is coming from those big feed lot type places. So we've got cows and pigs and things like that.
Living in places you see on the documentaries that are terrifying and, you know, I've seen them driving through Texas and I'm sure you've seen them driving through Colorado and things like that, but that's not how cows are supposed to live. And they're fed a grain. Diet. And in order to fatten them up to make the meat tastes a particular way and things like that.
And we had talked about in the metabolically healthy episode about how that grain, that they eat changes their fats and they're producing more arachidonic acid, which is, you know, not very healthy for us. And then, you know, it's just the quality of the protein is lower, but they do that because of. You know, the demand for meat is really high and that is a way to get their costs down.
They don't have to purchase like big swaths of land. They don't have to, you know, spend all this labor on grazing the cows and, you know, just doing all these things. And so then they're able in that way to get the cost down, but that's coming at a cost for us. And then same things with chickens are in those really poor conditions as well, even when it says cage-free oftentimes, that just means that.
Thankfully are not living in those tiny little cages anymore, but they're still all crammed up into this. Like, you know, basically a giant warehouse with these lights in there. So they know when it's supposed to be daylight and darkness. Cause that's how I know. So the things that are beneficial to our health are also costly, which means those industries that are in business to make a profit are generally not able to also keep those health benefits in mind.
Yeah. So in some ways I think there are some, but for the most part, it definitely costs way more to produce quality protein. But we are seeing a shift. We are seeing a shift. And so right now, as my husband likes to describe these things is that the people that can't afford it are starting to buy it, which is bringing the demand up, which will eventually bring the costs down.
So, you know, like pasture raised eggs. The ones that are very popular here and actually across the U S they've grown so much, depending on where you are. It's about 5 99 for 12 eggs. Five 50, I think is like the lowest that I typically see them. So, you know, you're talking about $5 for 12. Versus 99 cents to a dollar 50 for 12 eggs, which is a huge difference in a lot of families.
That's one of the things is just being able to kind of get those. And I also see the shift happening in other places. I know Costco, you know, you can buy things in larger quantities and are, you're starting to get more pasture-raised things there. And some of those higher quality proteins, and we have checked our Walmart here and they have.
Beef and things like that. Our trader Joe's has it, you know, again, I'm not sure if that's just cause of, you know, the general Austin area, even though, you know, we went to the one south Bruno pretty far south, like what the difference is. So it'd be interesting to go to, you know, Walmart, that's not so close to Boston to see you kind of how that translates across the U S so it's like, not just, what is the landscape in all of the United.
But then various communities, it changes. Yeah. And so, because we really want this to be, you know, not only for the health of our bodies, but it's like the health of our planet and raising animals in a sustainable way as well is helpful. Yeah. So I had really wanted to make sure I was really clear about this topic from the get-go following up from our metabolic health thing, because it did bring up the quality of meats.
And then I was like, Ooh, I really needed to preface that with, I know that is very challenging for most people to purchase these types of proteins. Right. And we are lucky in Austin. We have lots of great farmer's markets and resources, but definitely, you know, the price is reflecting a smaller amount available.
Right. Yeah. So you're paying for not just the way that it's raised, but it's also the smaller availability. Yes. I also purchase them in much smaller quantities. And so, you know, the amount of meat that we eat is a smaller amount because of the cost of it. And so then therefore I let the other things on the plate be the larger amounts.
So to having the larger amount be the protein. And so that's the other way that some people are able to afford it. And. I haven't checked in to see like how the affordability of ButcherBox and those types of deliveries. Yeah. But that raises a good point of just our culture of being meat and potato eaters, where it's like, oh, maybe I don't need an eight ounce steak.
I can just have, you know, two to four ounces of protein on my plate. And so that's a shift, um, that is not as culturally discussed, correct. Especially in Texas, we hear a lot, people were really afraid or that they think we're trying to turn them in 10 to vegetarians. Yes. Yes. You introduced a new word to me just today, which is obesogenic.
Did I say that right? And what does that mean? Yeah, so that is what many people in my world call our current food landscape is that they call it obesogenic, which means. It is promoting obesity just by the food that it is, which is high sugar, high calorie, low nutrients. And that chemicals that we talked about before that disrupt hormones, a lot of fried foods that create inflammation and oxidative stress or oxidize, the LDL to make it be that kind, that doesn't function properly that we talked about.
So really it's just our food out there. Are exposed to mostly is supporting the rise in obesity. So this brings up a conflicting idea, right. Because which often happens in the world that we're in. Um, so how has working to combat in obesogenic environment different from also being the food police or just when it comes to inclusivity of all foods and not labeling foods as good versus bad, or even being fat phobic?
Like how do we do. So that was an awesome question. Um, okay. So what I think about that is when our food landscape is really stacked against us to creating, not creating health for most of the population that is very different than the food police. Like it is much harder to come by. Getting a balanced meal.
That's not been heavily processed even at the store. Right. So, you know, just our ingredients and things like that. So, so to me, the food please is that whole. Very restrictive thinking of you can't have that. You can't have that. You can't have that. And when I think about the obesogenic environment, what I think about is, is like that is like the food supply that is practically given to us and is makes it very, very, very challenging to even get.
Beyond what we're having available, the availability of high sugar, high flour, highly processed foods is the primary thing that we can all easily gravitate towards because it's fast, it's easy, we're all working very busy. Whereas the food police is all a little bit more restrictive in that particular way.
And I think I would say that the food police, when I think about that, Does not take into account the fact that we know what people are stacked up against, right? Like they're like just go find some healthy food and eat that. And it's like, you're missing the whole picture of somebody day in and day out.
We've always, we've had desserts and, you know, Elaborate food's for quite some time. It's just the amount. It used to be a special thing, because it was so expensive to produce sugar and to produce chocolate and to have all of that, they were luxury and you just didn't have them very much. And now you're flooding the area.
And so then it's like getting back to what is that reasonable amount, which, you know, we talk about as what's the dose. Yeah. And so this is this, we got to get back to that, but it's so, so hard, right? Well, I'm just thinking of, you know, that critics, I, and if anyone's listening, you know, who is well versed in this?
It's like, yeah. Are we, you might say, oh, we're becoming fat phobic by trying to combat an obesogenic environment. But that's not true. No, because what really is, is like you're giving individuals compounds that affect their brain and expecting people to not have a desire for that. Like, please come on.
It's like, you know, when the tobacco industries to say that cigarettes. So addicting and so harmful for you. It's the same thing. We're just dealing with it, but it looks rather innocent because it's food and, you know, food is that I have it, but I don't think there's that. And then, you know, we add in the packaging and all the plastic we're exposed to, and now we've got a whole additional set of messaging things in our body that are creating problems and hormone regulation.
And. Well, that's a perfect segue into this next bullet point, which is I am a sucker for. And I think most people are, which is why it's a huge industry, which is marketing. Right. I have a degree I'm fascinated in how it all works and I can see how it's manipulating people's brains, especially when it comes to food.
You know, we see these images on TV. We see that colorful packaging that you mentioned and. Some of that packaging is offering healthful promises that, or may not be true and so on. And it's not just marketing. It's the food science that goes along with it. It's another class that I loved in college, through science in college, I did, it was, I had to take basically any class that was about food I took.
And so our culture is making food more flavorful with site. Tell us more about why that is, you know, Ms. Shaping our landscape. They have figured out long ago, I say long ago in the scheme of things, it hasn't been that long, but they have figured out with all this new food science technology, how to make things hyper palatable.
So like some of the best examples are Doritos like that cooler ranch Dorito is designed to. So many different flavor profiles and each bite that your tongue like explodes with flavor and your brain is trying to register it all that it can. So you just keep wanting more and more and more. So it was engineered for your brain to not tire of the flavor.
And so. Keep going for it. Um, McDonald's was engineered in a way to have I pronounced things all the time, like Kaisa and morphine's and gluten morphine's and things like that in the food. So you've got like a shiny, happy experience. Of having that food there. And then particularly as a kid and then you've got play land and the toys and all that.
And so then your brain is like, oh my God, that is fun and delicious and all of those things. And so really the way that food is engineered. They are creating a lot of this food so that we do become more dependent on it. And we have it more cause all that sugar hits the dopamine receptors had some serotonin receptors.
It really is that. And so your brain is like, oh, that felt good. Let's have that again. And again and again and again, and designed to keep you buying. Yeah. But like all other, you know, have, um, addictions in substances, alcohol drugs, blah, blah, blah. The first time. As always the rest time. And then after that, your brain is always like, well, I'm trying to get back to that original feeling and we can never really get back there.
Like we can have a few of those moments where we're like, oh wow, that was delicious. Right. But we're still seeking more of that. You think about it, they know that, which is why they keep giving us new flavors of. Correct. And we also get tired of things as humans apparently. And so then they think that we know we need to create more and more different kinds of stuff.
So when I go, I shop at a smaller grocery store on purpose because. The volume of choice on a chip aisle alone. I'm like, I just, I can't. So it's just too much. So anyways, so when you think about that, like aisle after aisle of canned goods and, you know, 17 different types of ranch dressings and stuff like that, like that's just mind boggling.
Right? So it's just all coming down to. Who can make it be the most palatable and the marketing is there. And then you had mentioned in your, that statement slash question about like the packaging also saying healthful promises. So remember, like we had to memorize all those claims health claims and there are different ones.
And so some of them are a hundred percent regulated and some of them are not, they're allowed to just say all natural or. You know, dah, dah, dah, dah. And if it's like a third less sugar, yeah. It's like a third less than whatever it was there. It's like, so if you had say exam, I don't think that there's a third, less sugar Oreos, but as an example, have you had Oreos and say it had 15 grams of sugar per serving, then all you have to do is try to get another Oreo.
That had a third less sugar, and then they could put that on there. I mean, that's all great, but some of it is like, you know, you do have to be truthful. Some of it is, you know, playful, Margaret's just marketing. And then a few things, like what used to be like on soy products about heart health or something like that had to meet.
It did have to say a certain thing and it did have to have a certain amount, but a lot of the stuff that we see in packaging. Just whatever they felt like making it up. There's a few things that are regulated, but not a lot. Oh, so it's, it's, it's intense. I'm just waiting because I, you know, since the pandemic, I do a lot of online shopping and like, luckily they haven't figured out how to advertise within my shopping cart type of stuff yet.
Like they know what I've bought before. And so there's that, but like, I'm not yet getting any, like things pushed in front of me the way that you do when you go in person and there's end caps. And like you said, the endless aisle of chips and things like that. And so. I'm sure it's coming, but right now I feel like online shopping.
Yeah. Oh. And then like, kind of back to like, why, how people get stuck in this. Right. I just finished listening to Trevor Noah's book has I'm late to the cultural game, but I just finished listening. I had his book. Section in there where, you know, he used to, he had this gig and school where he made his own pocket money.
And so instead of relying on the little bit that his mom gave him, so he was able to afford to buy McDonald's instead of eating her very traditional south African foods that she made. And so he. Like go to McDonald's and he just remembers like, being able to like, get that and how exciting it was. And then he's like, and then you're you get halfway through it and you realize, oh, this doesn't really taste that good, but you know, you eat it anyway.
And then you just do that over again. Like you crave it, you want it, you know, they make it seem like all that. And I think part of, they were kind of like all into like Western culture things and McDonald's was like, Oh, um, so, but he described it perfectly in that, like, it's so amazing. You just think it's the best thing you've ever had and did it, and then you get halfway through it and you're like, oh, this actually isn't so good.
But your brain forgets that. And then just once that again, Right. Those first few. So he described it really well. And I did a mediocre job of recounting that. So on the flip side are what we are referring to as simple foods, which is just basic real food. Little processing, but it's like, it can be hard to find food in certain areas, especially places like food deserts.
So I dunno, what have you recently learned about food deserts and being able to find simple food? Yeah, food deserts is not new. It's been around for quite some time. So for those of you that don't know a food desert is an area that does not have its own grocery store nearby. It typically will have lots of fast food locations, not so many other regular restaurants, like sit down restaurants and then most people are getting like their.
Quote-unquote grocery is from like a corner store because there is no reasonable distance grocery store. So that's kind of like what we would think considered a food desert. And there are, you know, people are bringing awareness to this and trying to bring light on it because it isn't low income, poor communities often in communities of color.
So it definitely, as a challenge there, that's what is so hard is, is that. People just assume, oh, well they don't have money. They don't want access to healthy food. They want junk food, but that's not really true. Um, so these kids often they do want it because they grew up with it and it's so exciting, but you know, they really do want access to healthier foods.
It's just. A far distance away. They may not be able to get to on public transportation. And it's much more expensive than this other stuff that is offered to them. I mean, the landscape of profit, right. And, you know, capitalism really is like, what makes it challenging to get some of these. To these communities, because these are businesses trying to make money.
And it's just this really kind of vicious. Yeah. Because I mean, if you think about it, I saw this on Instagram the other day and it was very true. It was, if I have $5 to feed my family, For a course, I'm going to choose the four frozen meals and not the bag of broccoli. Yeah. So the things that, you know, you're offering people for the price is they need to feed their family.
Right. So let's talk, talk about the restaurant industry. And this is a two part question. One, do you think eating out is tied to this inequity that we're seeing in certain areas? But also just in general, how does the restaurant industry contribute to the detriment of all of our choices? Yeah. So, like I mentioned in food deserts, one of the characteristics of that is, is that there's a very high number of fast food restaurants and a lower number of higher quality restaurants.
And then the other component as an, as you move. Out of those areas and into different areas of communities, then we've got restaurants, you know, your standard stuff that has these huge portion, sizes of pastas and really rich sauces and just fried food and what not. So it does, I think it as to, depending on the.
Surrounding area. I think that that inequity continues to, to shape restaurant choices, things like that. Like I think about rural areas and the types of foods that are there typically are fried foods, larger portion. Depending on the region, that sort of thing. And then just in suburbia in general, it's restaurant, restaurant, restaurant, restaurant, it's like you go from the city to suburbia to a rural landscape and how all the food changes, but what's consistent.
As you travel, all of those is fast food, right? It just is the number of them will wax and wane. And so that's really interesting because even a suburban area, there's tons of fast food because it's quick, it's convenient for like all the busy families that need to pull through drive through on their way home from work to feed their kids because they don't have the energy.
To cook, which is no different than in an urban area that they're working all day as well. And they need to feed their family quickly. And inexpensively. I have an unimproved question we may or may not need to talk about today, but it's like, Who is responsible, right? It's like on one hand, I believe like we are individually always responsible for what we put in our mouth, but as we're discussing the landscape, obviously it makes it that much more challenging for so many people.
And then like at what point do we hold, you know, restaurants accountable, but we've seen that some like, in some places, you know, they put the calorie accounts on it, or maybe they stopped serving trans fats or. You know, they're, they're taking some steps to maybe try to help people make better choices, but like what's the next, like what needs to change?
Who's going to change it. I really, I know everybody hates this so much, but I really think the government has to step in the essay, have their food guidelines, but they're heavily influenced by, you know, other outside factors to some degree, not a hundred percent. There are some really good scientists that, you know, do write these, you know, food guidelines.
But the thing is, is no one cares, right? Because all they see is what's in their face, but the us is a capitalistic country. So money wins. And so there's a magic. The amount of lobbying dollars that would go into having restrictions against these things. Even if we could do what a lot of other countries do, Europe and south America, and these other places changed the things that are allowed in these foods that are not allowed in other countries that we allow in the United States, we would be able to make health improvements, even if like, for example, In other countries has cane sugar in, it does not have high fructose corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup functions very differently than cane sugar does McDonald's is allowed to use like this, like hydrogen, some kind of chemical blend in the meat that basically, I don't know what exactly it does to it.
But, you know, it's that what Jamie Oliver did to try to get kids to be grossed out by chicken nuggets and gave, showed them that pink slime stuff eat in any way. But anyways, they don't allow that. And other countries put in that kind of stuff and our food. If we could get that out, you would actually help quite a bit.
And then if we could more regulation on what's actually offered to us. I don't know. I just. Part of the thing is, is at this point it feels almost like hopeless. And the only way out in some way is basically is to get enough people voting with their dollars or dollar. So bill is right. Your husband is right about.
Well, it ain't the people who do have the resources to start with their votes by only buying the thing. So helping, continuing to lift up the other communities. And now like here in town, we've got, um, the sustainable food center that puts on a lot of our. Farmer's markets, but one of, so one of the things that they do for food stamps is that your food stamp dollars go double.
So you have double the purchasing power of those foods at their markets and town, which are all over. And then the other thing that they do is they have like the healthy cooking classes. So they have an individual from the community. Teach their peers, how to cook in these more healthful ways. And they give them all boxes and things like that.
And so it's just that constant exposure of these foods to others and things like that I think is really helpful. But also, you know, part of it is, is like people living in survival mode. It's hard. Right. I was just thinking, I was like, we really are all in survival mode, especially in pandemic time, but yeah.
But if you're day in, day out, like in survival mode, you don't really have time to think about these things until your health has reached a point where you have to address it. And even then people don't write. We're going to come back to that in a minute, but thanks for attempting to solve our world's problems.
One question
it's to the point of this podcast is it is a huge landscape with a lot of players and a lot of problems. And so it's, you know, there's a lot to be solved. So jumping to something a little bit more light, which is snack. One thing we try to teach our clients is about snack culture and how our environment really pushes knacking is something that we are supposed to do to be healthier, to survive.
And is this true? I don't think so. I mean, could gravy snack culture is like driving it's only because I'm coming at it from the side of a parent right. Of a child that would much rather write. Snacks over real food and our daily battle about that is high. And so when I offer X, Y, and Z, which is typically, you know, a fresh fruit or vegetable or something along those lines, and she's like, no, I don't want that.
I'm like, then you're not hungry. Right. And so, yeah. But, you know, if you were to give her like a cliff bar, she's like, hell yeah, I'll take that. Right. I mean, she didn't say it like that, but, um, that's what she wants. And so the snack culture is really high. And I think if sometimes if we could just give ourselves some more space in between meals of like assessing, am I really hungry?
Or am I just tired of, and sitting at this desk for six hours and I need some oxygen. Right? I mean, I teach that. Snacking is emotional eating. And so it's not that it's wrong or that it's bad. It's just, we need to be more mindful about it. And then also a lot of people are snacking, but they're like skipping breakfast or their lunch was a cup of coffee, you know?
And so it's like, we need to go back to learning how to nourish our bodies fully to the best of our ability. You know, before we're just like obsessed with snacking. I, um, had posted on Instagram, these frozen meals that I had tried a week ago. They were actually really good. They were by primal foods and they were all, it was super clean or tasty that it wasn't weird.
And it seemed like a reasonable amount. It really ended up being like just an over 200 calories, which is just not enough for lunch. And so on the couple of days that I had those, I had to have a snack cause there was no way I was going to make it to dinner after only eating 200 calories for launch, even though my launch was quote unquote, well balanced with 20 grams of protein and however much fiber was in there from the little chopped up veggies, it still was just like a low amounts.
I do snack, but I try to have like most of my food in, at like a mealtime, because we need snacks on top of those are the things that are mostly the most processed and highly palatable. The thing is, is like, it's also like we're constantly putting food in our stomach. We're not getting. this thing called the peristaltic wave in between meals.
And that wave is super important to make sure, to like clear things out, clear out pathogens. Da da da da da So it's like this cleaning wave that happens from top to bottom to make sure everything's fine, but that wave doesn't happen unless there's been nothing in your stomach, food wise for like at least three to five hours, depending on how fast or slow your system is.
And so this is some of the reason why some people end up with like gut stuff is because their body always. has food in it and can't do these other functions, right? It's like, you don't need to intermittent fast for 23 hours. You can just give yourself a few hours between meals and get some really great benefits from that as well.
Yeah. So I think snacks have become really exciting. They're in tiny packaging, they pack a lot of sugar and salt and other things in small packages. I know, I mean, snacks are so good. And I think one of the things, I honestly don't know if you just said this, one of the things that we like to do is encourage, like, if there is something snacky that you love, like chips, you can include that with your meal, right?
So like you could have a. In a well-balanced meal and then include something snacky that you love with it so that you don't have to always look forward to your snacks as being like the only time you can have these highly palatable foods. I agree. Okay. So this next environmental factor is one that hits home because I used to call myself a foodie and I'm told I did totally succumb to this idea of foodie life.
Um, so please share with the people, how foodie life perpetuates. Fish health supportive environment. Yeah. There is a variety of things. I think that happens here in foodie culture. Well, one particularly if you live in a city that has a lot of restaurants, you know, that are new and exciting, um, there's that, so people are going out and eating more than their body can handle often more frequently, um, than they would in areas.
You know, there weren't as many of those type of restaurant options. The other thing is, you know, food blogs. I don't think they're bad. I've gotten some really great ideas from food blogs. I think that, you know, what, they, some of them, what they do is amazing. But what I feel like it does is like that we need to be eating more elaborate things, and like, we need a recipe every night to make dinner.
And that really becomes overwhelming for people to create. Ormance in their kitchen every night that then they're just like, oh, I just don't have the energy to come up with all these new recipes or to cook these recipes even. Um, because as you know, even as a chef, the first time you read through a recipe, it's always going to take you double the amount of time that it says it does, because when you're like, oh wait, what was that next step?
Um, so I think people just then are like, oh, screw it. And then we'll get something quick and not as health forward. So, so yeah, so I think shaken. With a food blog recipe is great, but let's reserve those for the day or nights that we have some slower moments. We aren't feeling the pressure. And then, you know, some of the other foodie cultures contend to have a lot of like food, packaging, plastic, and things like that.
Like food trucks have lost our phone and packaging that, you know, contributes to those obesogenic factors of. Endocrine disruptors and things like that. So to cover that, I'm sure. Yeah. So, I mean, I'll kind of go back to your first point and out of that, you know, with the recipes every night, I think that people think, oh, I should love cooking.
And if I don't enjoy cooking, then. I don't need to be cooking my meals. Um, and so people are like, well, if it's not my hobby, then do I need to be cooking for myself? And it's like, boom. Like, you know, when people tell me, like, I just don't, I don't like it. I'm like, I don't like doing laundry. I don't like doing a lot of.
But feeding yourself is kind of this really primal, basic way to take care of yourself. And no, it doesn't need to be a recipe that takes you two hours to make it doesn't need to be a restaurant quality meal, like a five-star restaurant quality meal. It can just be really simple, basic food. And you know, it doesn't have to be steamed chicken and broccoli either.
You can enjoy flavors and sauces and spices and herbs and all kinds of things that are going to make it delicious. But there's just like a lot of gray area. You don't have to be a foodie or a. To cook dinner for yourself. And I don't know, that's kind of like the harsh reality that I share with my clients is sure.
We can find resources that make your life easier. You don't have to cook every meal at home, but I think that foodie culture just enhances the idea that you're supposed to be really good at it and love it when you don't. Right. I agree. Okay. So, Beth, would you like to share a couple of closing thoughts on this landscape and how it.
All of our health. Yeah. So I would have to say something that I have long said that it does come up sometime in our conversations, um, that people may find extreme is that our modern food supply is the news survival of the fittest. So I just really feel like. Our ability to try to overcome some of this marketing and food supply is so challenging that sometimes, you know, it's like, is this what's going to do us in?
I don't know. So that's sort of like, that's like a, uh, a thing I think about sometimes, and it is very extreme. And, um, I also know that. The short-sightedness of that statement is, is that there are people that aren't even given a chance to find the food because of accessibility in both costs and availability and through food deserts across the country.
So, yes, that is that statement, but it's not just food deserts. There are a lot of people are experiencing. Food scarcity within our own population. And we are aware of that as well. Yeah. So there is that right. And so really all I can say is to tell people, to keep voting with your purchasing power, as much as you can, sometimes it may take a little bit more effort.
Sometimes you may not be able to buy as much as you normally would, but whenever it makes sense, do that since we are in a capitalistic world. Yes. Vote with your fork and just do your best. And then when you can't use it through purchasing power, use your voice to demand more for your community and for our population on how to get healthier foods to more people, just give people a fighting chance to get back to vitality.
Yes, the food environment is stacking against us at a alarming. Yeah. So if you know some good resources for people, if they want to learn more about some of these things, Marion Nessel has a good book about food politics. She has some good info in there. Fat sugar, salt is a very good read and talking about how, you know, these.
Create hyper palatable foods. And then another book about processed food addictions. So treating these what's long, been considered overeating, binge eating, or is that saying is it's really processed food addiction that the addiction to these types of foods is actually no different than any other substance abuse addiction.
I mean, so if we looked at it that way, then we might be more sympathetic to why people struggle so much. With making these changes in their diet. It's not that easy to just be like, I can't eat it back, you know, that they won't eat a bag of salad. So, which I, you know, totally agree with because of how it lights up our brain and all these different ways.
Yeah. It's unfair to compare a bag of salad to a bag of Doritos. There's no, there's no comparison. Right? So it's like, yes, that landscape is just making that more and more a challenge. Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing those resources. Now we're going to move on to our weekly segment. So each week we keep our eyes peeled for things in the media or in real life that come from diet culture or perpetuated in some way.
These are often the subtle ways it seeps in, which is why we're shining a light on them and sharing them with you.
I have something, I shared it with you, but this was like a couple of weeks ago. So I was making a collage for something work related and I pulled up my collage app and there was like this ad to upgrade the app so that I could basically face tune my face or like, you know, there were. You can totally change the shape of your face.
And like, yes, that is something, you know, there are filters and Instagram and other social media apps, but this collage app, I feel like as an app that children use, and it just seems weird to me as do the filters and all of these social media things. I think some of the filters can be fun, but some of them are just blatantly teaching that our faces it's not okay.
Your face is not okay. You need to reshape it. I don't know. I just, to me that really. It's maybe not necessarily diet culture, but it's right here. That's parallel with it. Right. Because if you're out of your face has to be face tuned, which oftentimes you shaping in a different way then. Okay. Then it takes the next level.
Well, what else can I do to myself? Um, to make these changes, right. Which then seeps into any to change the way it ain't going to change my exercise. So yeah, it does. It always starts somewhere. And that is, uh, a good point on, especially with young people where it starts. Yeah. I sent it in a text to Beth and I was like, what is this?
Because I just wasn't expecting it there. I feel like on Instagram or other social media, Yeah, this is obvious and I get it, but it just really kind of like popped into unexpected place where like, maybe as a parent, you would not see it there. You wouldn't understand the impact that it might have on your child if they were exploring that.
And so I just feel like it's important for us to understand how those types of features are messing with all of our neighbors. You know, sometimes I look at those filters and they're fun and I'm like, oh, this is what I would look like. If I clumped up my lips and got some boats, I'm not doing it, you know, but it's just like, it's, it's weird how it messes with your mind.
Got it. That's a good one. Well, I sure hope we gave you something new to think about today and helps you take one more step on your path to freeing yourself from diet culture. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast and follow us on Instagram. Path underscore nutrition. See you next week. Bye .
