America's Dependence on Processed Food

I depend on fast food like any other college student. I grab my coffee from Starbucks in the morning, my burrito from Del Taco for lunch, and a chicken sandwich from Carl’s Jr for dinner. Since my dad works and my mom is sick, they both depend on me to make them food when I get home but, I buy them McDonald's instead because I don’t have time to cook. On weekends, my boyfriend visits me and we go out to eat. It’s an endless cycle that will go on for the rest of my life or until I die of a heart disease. As my dependence on processed food grows, so does our nation's. America’s dependence on processed food is what is causing our nation's slow death of addiction and illnesses. We know it can cause these complications but yet, we still indulge.

Without a doubt, processed food is made to be addicting. In the novel Salt, Sugar, Fat, How the Food Giants Hooked Us published on February 26, 2013, Michael Moss observes how “salt, sugar, and fat are the foundation of processed food, and the overriding question the companies have in determining the formulations of their products is how much they need of each to achieve the maximum allure. The more salt, sugar, and fat a product has, the better it tastes. Causing us to crave it more, thus, the start of an addiction. We all know the saying, “If it tastes good, it’s probably bad for you.” Well, everything that’s processed tastes good. It makes me question, what else are they putting into our foods that makes us crave it even more? But processed food isn’t the only food made to be addicting.

In fact, our “natural” foods are addicting as well. Take dairy for example. All of our lives we are told milk is good for us and makes our bones stronger. Since cheese is made out of dairy I thought it must not be that bad for me, right? Processed or not, cheese is addicting. (BCM) which stands for beta-casomorphins, is an opioid peptide (a peptide is a protein fragment) and it is found in cheese. In other words, some dairy contains opioid molecules. Cassian, which comes after the digestion of beta-casomorphins are found in dairy with moderate to high protein content and that is from an experiment called “Formation and Degradation of Beta-Casomorphins in dairy processing” conducted by Nguyen and colleagues on December 6, 2015.

Not only do dairy products give you that craving and addiction, many other foods do as well. Dopamine is a chemical associated with your pleasure and rewards center. When doing certain activities this chemical is released, whether it be from having intercourse, doing drugs, or in this case, eating your favorite foods. This chemical is released making us want it more and more.

Like heroin and cocaine, food addiction is a very common if not most common addiction in the United States. Chris Elkins, an M.A. for the website Drugrehab.com, wrote, “Food addiction, similar to drug addiction” published on March 22, 2018. In the article, he states that, “Food and drug addiction are remarkably similar. Like people suffering from other forms of addiction, food addicts are likely to suffer from co-occurring mental health disorders, attention-deficit, hyperactivity disorder and binge eating.” Addiction to food causes psychological as well as physical effects on one’s body.

Not to mention, the illnesses and diseases that come from eating processed foods. The most common illnesses associated with eating these foods include type 1 and type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and cancer. We indulge in processed foods even though we are fully aware of the consequences of eating and drinking them. Why do we do it? Is it the taste? The price? The convenience? According to the article “Overweight and obesity,” written by the Center for Disease Control, published on November 29, 2017, more than one third (36.5%) or 160 million Americans are obese.

Now, what makes processed food a silent killer? Chemicals known to be added to processed foods include: High fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, sodium nitrites, sodium nitrates, and many many more. Melanie Warner, the author of Pandora’s Lunchbox: How processed food took over the American meal, published on February 26, 2013, observes how much we actually depended on the added salt, sugar, fats, and chemicals. According to Warner, “As a population, we ingest double the amount of added sugars, three and a half times more sodium, and infinity greater quantities of corn and soybean ingredients.

Not only is it killing us physically, but mentally as well. Processed food is linked to overeating, overeating is linked to weight gain, and weight gain is linked to depression anxiety and addiction. “Depression and Obesity,” an article written by Dennis Thompson Jr, published on July 15, 2011, states that “Studies had shown that obese people are about 25 percent more likely to experience a mood disorder like depression compared with those who are not.”

Obviously, processed food can cause death. “Unhealthy deaths linked to more than 400,000 cardiovascular deaths” published on March 9, 2017, by the American Heart Association, states that there are 400,000 cardiovascular deaths and growing yearly. We spend 2.2 trillion dollars a year on health care (five times more than our defense budget) for individuals that will not change their diet and will be back in the hospital for their third triple bypass the following year. As a nation, we are digging our own graves. Every soda you drink, every chip that you eat, is another shovel into the ground. The question is, How are we going to change?

Changing our lifestyle and diet is the only way. Although there are many diets to choose from, for example, Atkins, ketogenic, raw food all will help reduce your risk for complications. The most effective diet proven to work time and time again is a plant-based diet or Veganism. Many people think “yes, it is healthy, but it lacks nutrients” when in fact Vegans get all the nutrients they need from their food. Dr. Esselstyn and Doctor Caldwell (Both contributors to the film Forks Over Knives, directed by Lee Fulkerson, released on May 6, 2011, did extensive research and trials on how the plant-based diet is a life-saving diet. On a clinical trial that lasted 20 years, starting with 22 patients, 11 who stayed with the program but never went back to collect data, 2 that dropped, and the remaining 9 that stuck with the diet 20 years later and are practicing Veganism until this very day. Most of the patients were knocking on heaven's door before their conversion to veganism. And now all were all able to reverse and/or reduce their risk for Heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Since we know this is the solution to our problem the nest questions is. Are we willing to make that change?

Ultimately, since America's dependence on processed foods is causing our nation's slow death of addiction and illnesses, we as the consumer have the choice to change, but do we have the will?

Since I have been eating processed food for over 23 years, it has made my IBS or irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn's disease unbearable, sometimes so unbearable I cannot get out of bed to come to class. The only way I am going to get better is if I change my lifestyle completely.