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Thursday 10 November 2011

We Are What We Eat (1)

The idea behind the phrase 'you are what you eat' is that in order to be healthy you need to eat a 'good' diet. The origins of that phrase itself was to reinforce what is self-evident - that the quality of the food we eat has an enormous bearing on our state of mind, and on our health.

Hitherto, I have not ventured into this arena. I am not a nutritionist. But like all of us, we should be aware of the quality of food and drink that we consume. And for most of us, we are not as fully aware, and certainly not as fully informed, as we should be. Much of what we eat and drink is not good for us, or our state of mind, or our health. Some is positively dangerous. And the situation is not improving, ideed, it is probably getting worse.

And the reasons are similar to the situation regarding dangerous Big Pharma drugs. Big Food, the massive food processing industries, are providing food which, for a variety of reasons, are not good for us. They are usually cheap; they usually come alongside considerable advertising. But the foods are processed in a way that boosts Big Food's profits, but is bad for our health.

And there is the same uncanny silence from the mainstream media towards 'Big Food' as there is to 'Big Pharma' - there would appear to be a cosy relationship between the Corporate Giants in the Food, Pharmaceutical and Media industries.

Aspartame and artificial sweeteners
Intensive farming and soil quality
Herbicides and pesticides
GM Food
The fluoridation of water supply

These all have an impact on our health, especially if they are eaten regularly, and in quantity.

And then there are foods that can actually assist us maintain our health - usually simple foods, and often readily available - so they do not generate profit - and therefore the attention they deserve.

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