Hostess, does not a healthy lunch make
Today, as I sit in the break room at work, watching those around me eat lunch as I eat, I notice several people pulling out a cinnamon bun, or a cupcake, or some other sugary sweet food.
I then take a brief view of the persons pulling said foods out of their lunch sacks/trays/bags. The vast majority of these people are overweight if not obese.
I think to myself, how can someone who is that overweight eat something that provides them absolutely no nutritional value? Something that will spike up their blood sugars and then leave them feeling hungier, and more lethargic than before they ate it?
I find it sad that people believe by eating sugar they will feel better. It is either the marketing of these companies that make these "edibles" so appealing, the lack of knowledge from those who eat these items, or just the whole giving into our "need" to feel good, and sugar, makes us feel good, for a few minutes...right?
Well, I cannot believe it is a pure lack of knowledge, I have to believe that people know what they're eating is not good for themselves, nor their wastelines. I have to believe that if it doesn't look remotely like something that might come out of the ground, there is something in the brain that would trigger one to believe this isn't somethning we should be eating.
Yet, I still find it remarkable how the human mind can play tricks on people, telling them, just eat me, just eat me...i'll make you feel better.
Perhaps it's the quick fix notion of "i want to feel better now" that has allowed such a vast majority of people to turn down the road of overweight and obesity. Perhaps it is the "i don't want to cook and use time" mentality that has turned us down the road of overweight and obesity. Or perhaps it is just like being a kid in a candy-store. When you want it, you want it now. Consumerism and disposability at its best.
We live in a rich nation, why not make our nutrition rich, not just the pockets of the food companies.
I then take a brief view of the persons pulling said foods out of their lunch sacks/trays/bags. The vast majority of these people are overweight if not obese.
I think to myself, how can someone who is that overweight eat something that provides them absolutely no nutritional value? Something that will spike up their blood sugars and then leave them feeling hungier, and more lethargic than before they ate it?
I find it sad that people believe by eating sugar they will feel better. It is either the marketing of these companies that make these "edibles" so appealing, the lack of knowledge from those who eat these items, or just the whole giving into our "need" to feel good, and sugar, makes us feel good, for a few minutes...right?
Well, I cannot believe it is a pure lack of knowledge, I have to believe that people know what they're eating is not good for themselves, nor their wastelines. I have to believe that if it doesn't look remotely like something that might come out of the ground, there is something in the brain that would trigger one to believe this isn't somethning we should be eating.
Yet, I still find it remarkable how the human mind can play tricks on people, telling them, just eat me, just eat me...i'll make you feel better.
Perhaps it's the quick fix notion of "i want to feel better now" that has allowed such a vast majority of people to turn down the road of overweight and obesity. Perhaps it is the "i don't want to cook and use time" mentality that has turned us down the road of overweight and obesity. Or perhaps it is just like being a kid in a candy-store. When you want it, you want it now. Consumerism and disposability at its best.
We live in a rich nation, why not make our nutrition rich, not just the pockets of the food companies.
posted by Dana M. Ellis, MPH, R.D. @ 3:30 PM
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