Is There Such a Thing As Healthy Junk Food?

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Article Title:

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Is There Such a Thing As Healthy Junk Food?

Article Description:

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Can junk food be healthy? The food industry certainly wants you

to think so! That's why they're creating an increasing number

of foods with health claims. From vitamin-spiked Diet Coke, to

whole-grain Pop Tarts, from misleading labels on Tyson chicken,

to Mc's salads laden with high-fat salad dressing,

marketing claims abound.

Additional Article Information:

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533 Words; formatted to 65 Characters per Line

Distribution Date and Time: 2008-04-23 10:24:00

Written By: Mark Hyman, M.D.

Copyright: 2008

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Is There Such a Thing As Healthy Junk Food?

Copyright © 2008 Mark Hyman, M.D.

The UltraSimple Diet

http://www.ultrasimplediet.com

Can junk food be healthy?

The food industry certainly wants you to think so!

That’s why they’re creating an increasing number of foods with

health claims.

From vitamin-spiked Diet Coke, to whole-grain Pop Tarts, from

misleading labels on Tyson chicken, to Mc’s salads laden

with high-fat salad dressing, marketing claims abound.

But are these foods actually good for us?

In Pollan’s new book “In Defense of Food,” he argues

against “nutritionism,” or removing nutrients from whole foods

and putting them into processed food or taking them as

supplements for their health benefits.

Don’t let these ploys fool you.

Be suspicious of any food that comes in a package, box, or a can.

Most of these products just aren’t real food.

Let me tell you about one of my patients.

He’s a food scientist who invents new foods in the lab by mixing

chemicals. I call them “enfoods.”

But working with these chemicals all the time was making my

patient sick. We tried hard to lessen his exposure to them.

One day, he brought me an industry journal called “Food Business

News.” I found it shocking.

The publication was filled with marketing ploys to help the

industry give their poor-quality foods the appearance of being

healthy.

One ad was for Food Ingredient Solutions, a company that makes

food dyes to color junk food with natural pigments.

Another was for Tyson Foods, which cleverly labels their chicken

as “produced without antibiotics that impact antibiotic

resistance in humans.” That means they did use antibiotics --

just not ones that cause problems in humans.

Another article focused on a company called Fitch Ratings, which

said that innovation in the food industry will continue in areas

of “perceived” health and wellness, convenience, and ethnic

products.

That’s right.

It’s only “perceived” health and wellness -- not actual health

and wellness.

That means that you just need to make people believe they are

eating or drinking something healthy. Whether it is actually

healthy doesn’t matter.

And there were also advertisements for whole-grain Lean Pockets,

which are the same old processed pocket sandwiches with some

flecks of fiber added to make you think you’re eating healthy

food.

I also saw an ad for something called Vegi Pure, a

cholesterol-lowering product that adds plant phytosterols to junk

food.

As you can see, the food industry is doing all it can to convince

you to choose its junk foods disguised as healthy foods.

Instead, take a cue from Pollan. He says, “Eat food

[meaning real, whole food]. Not too much. Mostly plants.”

So what should you eat?

Choose food that comes from a farm, not a lab - and then you

won’t have to think about what all these claims mean.

You’ll be eating healthy food, naturally. Here is some more

information about what to eat:

* Whole, real food such as vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts,

seeds, whole grains, lean animal protein like small wild fish and

poultry, and whole omega-3 eggs.

* Small amounts of grass-fed, antibiotic- and hormone-free beef

or lamb.

So don’t believe food scientists’ attempts to make you believe

you need special ingredients to stay in good health - Choose

whole, real food instead!

Now that’s food for thought.

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Mark Hyman, M.D. is a pioneer in functional medicine, practicing

physician and best-selling author. For a sneak preview of his

book " The UltraSimple Diet " got to: http://www.ultrasimplediet.com