Real Food vs. Fake Food: Why You Should Care

Cheetohs, Poptarts, DevilDogs, and Lunchables…are they food or something quite different?

by Angelle Batten & Susan McCreadie

Two Moms, holistic health coach Angelle Batten, MEd, HHC, and pediatrician Susan McCreadie, MD, teamed up to create NourishMD.com to show parents how to feed their children REAL food every day and solve health problems holistically.   Recently they sat down to discuss food and kids with Fitsmi for Moms.

It can be upsetting to read the headlines out there on obesity -- 1 out of 5 pregnant women obese; growing rates of overweight and obese kids; growing rates of type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol in children who may face shorter life expectancies than their parents.  Are we truly in the middle of an "epidemic," a life-and-death situation?  And how did we get here so fast?

Yes, our children are in a health crisis.  It has been building over the last four or five decades as our food supply changed dramatically.  Food companies have incorporated more and more non-food ingredients like high fructose corn syrup (HCFS), artificial colorings and flavorings, and addictive chemicals like MSG that make us crave those products over and over again.  Also, families have really gotten out of the habit of sitting down and eating meals together.  Dinner has traditionally been a time when people relaxed and shared their day. Parents could model good eating habits and families would connect over a meal.  Over time, fast food has become the norm for many of us, and unfortunately fast food servings are extremely large and loaded with unhealthy ingredients.

The good news is that there are many people from all areas of life who recognize that we need to ‘back up the truck’. We need to head down a different road if we want to have a healthier society, which is the foundation of a great society.

Where do most diets go wrong and why do they have such poor rates of long-term success for most people?

Diets focus on deprivation.  That is just not sustainable.  People don’t want to be deprived.  Changing your diet at all will usually get you some results, but often they are not long-term.  Adding REAL foods helps us to not feel deprived and the REAL food begins to crowd out the unhealthy foods we are eating too much of.

What is “REAL food”?

REAL food is food in its most natural state:  animal protein from healthy, grass-fed animals; organic & local fruits and vegetables; legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains. 

How strict should parents be about what foods are eaten at home?  Is it better to be a purist or to be a compromiser?

An analogy that we use to help explain this concept is gassing up your car.  If you decided one day, for cost and/or convenience, to put water in your gas tank, obviously you wouldn’t get very far because most cars run on gasoline.  For people, REAL food is our fuel.  Unfortunately, many of us have gotten into the habit of putting the wrong fuel into our bodies – what we call “fake foods”.  These include animal products from factory-farmed animals, which are loaded with antibiotics, steroids, and hormones; heavily sprayed and genetically modified fruits and vegetables; processed grains in the form of white flour products like pasta, bagels and breads.  Last but not least, fake foods are loaded with additives like HFCS; artificial sweeteners, colors and flavors; MSG and other neurotoxins used to add flavor; preservatives – and more.

Fake foods are readily available and heavily advertised, but they are the wrong fuel for our bodies.  They clog up the system.  Not only does your body not get the nutrient-dense food it needs to thrive, but it has to process all the chemicals and added non-food ingredients.  Our bodies are amazing, but they get bogged down with neutralizing and/or clearing out all these toxins.

In short, while it’s impossible to eat REAL food 100% of the time, it’s very important to work toward eating REAL food 80% of the time and mainly REAL food at home.  Our children need limits, guidance, and modeling.  Just as you wouldn’t let your child smoke because it is a habit that will cause serious health problems over time, don’t condone donuts, soda pop, potato chips and other fake foods.   They are not harmful if eaten once in a while; but when eaten habitually they contribute to serious health problems down the road.

Do you ever worry that banning or limiting certain foods that will engender a backlash in terms of kids craving what is forbidden?

Yes and no.  Unfortunately right now you’re in the minority when you try to feed your child REAL food.  Kids get bombarded with fake foods that are tempting in many ways.  We don’t believe in saying no all the time to everything, although it would be better for our children’s bodies.  But we do believe that this is a parenting issue – you can’t just “go with the flow” of the powerful food industry or the eye-catching temptations in the grocery aisle.  Diet and lifestyle issues are responsible for more deaths than smoking according to many experts.  Just like other health and safety issues, parents need to take responsibility.

Educating our children is key.  For instance, we don’t let our children drink soda, but we explain to them why we have that rule and we follow it ourselves as parents.

What about kids who have normal BMIs but who have relatively the same diets (in terms of type of food, not necessarily amounts) as kids with weight problems?

We often think if someone is thin they are healthy.  Unfortunately that’s not always the case.

Some children have normal weight but are still at risk from a poor diet.  They often exhibit allergies, asthma, ADD, ADHD, learning disabilities, eczema, fatigue, thyroid issues, depression, heart disease, cancer and more.  While diet is not exclusively responsible, our health is always influenced by the food we eat.  Eating REAL food tips the scale toward living a healthier life, regardless of weight.

What are the top three things that a Mom can do to improve her family's health according to your plan?

At NourishMD.com, our One Easy System helps you get REAL food on the table REAL fast.  The bottom line is if we don’t have a plan for how we are going to feed our children (and ourselves) REAL food everyday then we’re not going to be successful.  So Step One is Planning Made Simple.  Using our free form, Moms plan out 4 or 5 meals and snacks each week, which include Powerful Proteins, Friendly Fats and Colorful Carbohydrates.  Eating the right foods together at regular times helps to keep blood sugar stable, which is key to lessening inflammation and controlling weight.

Step Two is Shopping Made Simple.  Once filled out, you can use your plan to create your shopping list.  In the grocery store, you stick to the list so you aren’t as tempted to buy something just because it’s on sale or the packaging looks good.

Step Three is Prepping Made Simple, the key to success.  It’s the way chefs get lots of food to many people quickly.  After you shop, set aside time to prep food for the week.  Boil some eggs, cook some taco meat, wash and chop your veggies, make a batch of ranch dip, and put together some trail mix.  Have food ready to go so that it’s easy to pull together a meal or grab REAL food snacks on your way out the door.

A teen on Fitsmi who lost weight through calorie and grain restriction said, "To this day, I sometimes view food as something I should keep away from. I hope that eventually I can change this perception and appreciate the nutritional value of food, rather than feeling like it is working against me."  How does your approach help to combat the "food is my enemy" feeling that many dieters and ex-dieters have?

When you focus on eating REAL food, giving your body the right fuel, your body often comes into balance.  You start to notice when you are really hungry as opposed to feeling bored, lonely, or sad.  You appreciate the tastes and textures and smells of REAL food, especially when you are sharing it with family or friends during a sit-down meal.

If you’ve been living on fake foods, processed low-fat (and often high-sugar) foods, and foods devoid of nutrition, your body is sending you messages to eat more partially because it’s not getting the nutrients it needs.  When you start eating nutrient-dense whole foods – fat and all – your body gets the nutrients it needs and starts to relax.  It takes time – it’s a re-learning process.

Do you think we're a turning point in this country on weight issues, and if so, what do you see as dangerous or hopeful trends for the future?

I think the focus Michelle Obama and people like Jamie Oliver of The Food Revolution are bringing to this issue is creating an amazing opportunity for all of us.  Obesity has been a growing problem for our children for some time but we haven’t really made a concerted effort as a country until now.  Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign is focusing and organizing many people and organizations to create change.  We are very hopeful that people are returning to the basics when it comes to food – eating more fresh, local, and organic food – and learning how to cook and prepare these foods.

If your child or teen is addicted to a particular "fake food," i.e. sugar-glazed Dunkin donuts -- should you try and wean them from this treat and if so, how?

In a word, yes.  Donuts, sodapop, and French fries – are almost universally acknowledged to cause health problems when eaten on a regular basis.  In terms of “once in a while,” consider again whether you would allow your child to light up a cigarette “every now and then”.  Would one cigarette cause serious health problems?  Probably not.  But is smoking a cigarette or two worth the risk given the highly addictive nature of nicotine and the habit-forming stimulation?

You might say, wait a minute, a donut is not an addictive drug.  But, according to a study on rats showing eerie similarities between fast food and cocaine addiction, maybe it is.  At the very least, there is much evidence that fast foods are engineered specifically to override the body’s self-regulating mechanisms, so that you “can’t have just one.”  See David Kessler’s The End of Overeating, for example.

In approaching your kids’ eating habits, look at yourself first.  Often we are struggling with getting our own bad habits under control.  We don’t want to give up our own pop, coffee drinks, or donuts, so we don’t feel we can tell our kids no.  If that’s the case, work on yourself first.  Eat more REAL food yourself and deal with whatever issues are causing you to eat the wrong foods.  Take some time to consider, take advantage of the materials on websites like FitmsmiforMoms.com and NourishMD.com, and decide what your rules are when it comes to your child.  Then be consistent, and educate your kids so they understand your point of view is serious, not random.  When you have a big enough ‘Why,’ the ‘How’ doesn’t matter – you’ll do whatever it takes.

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Photos courtesy of oskay, Orin Zebest, and abkfenris

  Published July 13, 2010