Why We Eat So Much
This is a question that stumps a lot of individuals, but it is a sound question to ask.
Why do we keep stuffing our faces? Is there a chemical imbalance? Is there a genetic component? Is it something with my metabolism?
Well, the answer can be a little technical, but there is a lot of neuroscience involved paired with the QUALITY of food consumed.
Let’s dive into the food part of it because that seems to be the easiest to tackle first.
Quality Versus Quantity
The age-old adage….is more better or are fewer products better with improved quality? Turns out, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) tends to think quantity is better.
It really boils down to supply and demand. Beyond that, it’s the bottom dollar. Don’t be fooled into thinking the FDA has our best interest in mind- because they most certainly DO NOT.
Even more shocking, there are 10 companies that control ALL the food sources globally.
The list is as follows; Coca-Cola, Nestle, Pepsico, General Mills, Kelloggs, Associated British Foods, Mondelez, Mars, Danone, and Unilever.
There we go. That sums it up. 10 companies that literally run our ENTIRE food source on a global level.
Conglomerate much?
Do you think those 10 companies in power would like to stay in power? Well, isn’t that business 101? Grow, acquire, repeat.
They have an UNGODLY amount of shares in the food industry and literally dictate how our food is made and purchased.
Think about it, the same thing happens with cars. There are only a handful of car manufacturers worldwide because there is a conglomeration of companies that have a majority of the stake in that line of business.
Do you recall how hard Tesla had to work to become mainstream? Musk had to front billions of his OWN money to make the company float and push through all the red tape and political blackballing of the US government and lobbyists.
It’s not a conspiracy. It’s the cold hard facts that people in power want to stay in power and they will do whatever it takes to maintain their cash flow. That also means little to no care for the lives they affect by doing their dirty work of being profitable.
For example, cattle are round up and feed corn and soy products to fatten them up and make the farmers more money. They do that because they are pressured by other farmers and grant money from the government to make more money otherwise they go out of business.
It is a crooked system that will run over anyone that isn’t looking or tries to do the right thing.
Everyone has a number, it’s just a matter of hitting that number and repeating the process.
In addition to the food quality, there are additives provided to help ensure the product tastes the freshest and lasts the longest.
That literally goes against how nature works, but we pay hand over fist to these big companies.
Foods need to be palatable, enjoyable, and fresh. Salt is a great preservative and allows food to last for days, if not years!
Think twinkies:)
Well, too much salt tastes bitter to our tongues, so we tend to avoid that. Big Food isn’t dumb, they know the science behind it and that is why they add sugar to make it palatable.
They add sugar that is hidden so it is not so easy to identify and see. They literally make artificial sweeteners to mask the salty taste, but those sweeteners don’t go down without a fight.
Those added sugars are one of the leading causes of metabolic syndrome, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, obesity, and the like.
There is an agenda to make more money. There is no agenda for the health and wellness of the population because those sweetened foods trigger a dopaminergic reaction in our brain.
Keep in mind that dopamine is responsible for instant gratification. It is our reward system and leaves us wanting more.
The information overload with our phones and social media hits the exact same receptor. It is all a game to see who can control more. It is done subconsciously right beneath our noses and we are none the wiser because they are very sneaky about how they get away with this concept.
It has been going on for years and will only continue to worsen if nothing is done to intervene.
We just need deep pockets to bicker and play the game so Big Food and Big Pharma don’t win.
I mean, this is totally off topic, but with all the BILLIONS of dollars throughout the YEARS of donations to scientific research we STILL don’t have a cure for cancer?!
Come on. In less than a year we identified, created, and distributed a vaccine for a fairly unknown virus.
Does that picture seem right to you?
It sure doesn’t to me. There is no money in curing cancer because chemotherapy drugs are in the thousands with no cap.
Just think about that.
I digress, but I want the population to have knowledge about what is going on and how it is severely impacting their livelihood and welfare.
Neuroscience 101
Let me start this section with 2 simple facts.
- There is no metabolic approach our body takes that requires exogenous (outside sugar) to function. We create the necessary glucose for metabolic processes based on gluconeogenesis.
- Salt is an essential element that is needed for all metabolic processes. Let’s stop demonizing the wrong substance.
What tends to happen when we eat highly processed, nutritionally empty foods is that we end up hungry and wanting more.
This is because many highly processed foods act as an emulsifier when ingested. Think laundry detergent.
Yup- you read that correctly. Highly processed foods are just like laundry detergents. When broken down in our stomach there is an oil component and a water component.
That is a result strictly of the added chemicals that help the food taste palatable AND act to preserve the shelf life.
Come on, Big Food is in the business to make money, not lose it. Remember, it is a BUSINESS, not a company that has OUR best interest in mind.
The bottom-dollar is the bottom dollar. Period.
Oh- another tidbit. Remember the whole shelf life thing? Well, salt is a preservative and is added to help keep the shelf life nice and long.
Before you jump in and say- “See?! That’s the issue. Too much salt in our diet and that’s why we become ill.”
That is a fallacy. Too much salt is not palatable and our tongues don’t like that taste of that. So how do the Big Food companies make it taste good then?
Add sugar to the mix. Just like with baking a cake, if it’s too salty- add some more sugar to cut the bitterness and viola!
Now you have diabetes!
Beyond that- there are structural and chemical pathways that also aid in the destruction of our gut microbiome and lead to obesity-driven chronic diseases.
Those emulsifiers we discussed previously do a great job of actively destroying our mucosal layer in our stomach and intestines.
There are millions of little neurons that line our stomach wall and intestinal tract. When we damage the mucosal layer, those neurons retract (actually hide) deeper into the tissue to protect themselves from structural damage.
Why is that important?
Those little neurons are responsible for us feeling full and satiated and letting our brain know that we just ate and got the nutrients we require to survive!
No big deal.
Now, if we are eating foods that retract those neurons we don’t know that we are full. On top of that, the added sugar to make the food palatable is now hitting our dopamine receptors and making us crave it even more.
We lost before we even began!
This is all by design! Money is money is money is money.
Big Food has brilliant scientists and engineers working for them to help this kind of thing succeed.
We are catching on, but it has taken years of unbiased science and data to PROVE these things are happening.
If we are to win this battle, because it is a battle between right and wrong, we need to stop giving our hard-earned wages to these companies.
Eating real food is not more costly. It will SAVE you money in the long run because you won’t have to worry about unnecessary prescription medications and hospitalizations because you have complications from your chronic diseases.
Not only that, we need to PRIORITIZE preparing our foods. Enough excuses that we must run our kids around nonstop or work all hours of the day.
You need to invest in yourself and don’t sell yourself or your family short!
We have one life to live and need to enjoy the journey while staying true to our roots as a species.
We love nature. We used to be one with nature. We were harmonious, but now we judge people with a swipe of a finger.
We used to look out for our tribe. Now we only care about ourselves and what benefits us.
We are better than this. It is ingrained in our DNA to be better than this and we continue to fight how we are biologically made.
You never feel bad eating a steak, right? How many times can you say that after you just kill an entire king-sized Snickers bar?
The proof is in the pudding. We need to listen to our bodies because it is CONSTANTLY talking to us, begging for help!
Be strong. Be brave.
