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As I was browsing through the grocery store yesterday, it really struck me how many end caps and the selection in general was slanted toward foods and drinks that aren't very nutritious. The South in particular struggles with obesity and poor health, and by just eyeing the contents of the customers' shopping carts, it appeared that the most unhealthy looking people were buying the potato chips, Cokes, sweets, etc.
I went over to the produce section. While some healthy foods like raspberries were comparatively expensive, other fresh nutritious foods like apples ($2.29/lb for organic gala, $1.59/lb for conventional) and bananas ($0.49/lb) were reasonably cheap. I went over to the frozen vegetables section (I've always preferred frozen vegetables to canned) and found 10 oz of bagged cut broccoli for $.88. Other vegetabes were priced accordingly. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts were only a couple of dollars a pound. I saw cheap, nutritious food available, but few people were actually buying them.
My family has had its own struggles with proper nutrition. My grandparents and their peers always ate a lot of pork and other fried foods. Many of my great aunts and uncles died in their 50s and 60s of heart attacks and strokes. My mother is 55, 5'2, about 250 lbs and has numerous health problems that could be aided by losing some weight - she also has very poor nutrition.
So many of our medical ailments and expenses today are compounded by our obesity and much of this seems to go back to poor nutrition. Do you think more education with regard to nutrition and proper diet choices could reduce our medical expenses and promote better health?
Possibly but hard to say. Conversation overheard in grocery store last night: 10 yo daughter says to dad: "Hey, I'll get the (frozen) vegetables." Dad: "Now honey, you know that vegetables don't go with cheeseburgers." It's gonna take a lot of education, and yes this is the rural south.
I think our health is strongly related to our diet. I fell asleep standing in my living room while talking to my husband, I was the one talking, because I had a B-12 deficiency and a Vitamin D deficiency. That was a big wake up call for me. The B-12 deficiency wasn't diet related, but the Vitamin D deficiency was too. I knew I had other deficiencies we didn't even test for because my diet sucked. I wasn't eating junk food but I really didn't eat much at all.
I quit buying processed foods. Guess what I discovered? Fresh produce isn't expensive when you stop buying processed foods. Processed foods are expensive. Now I load my cart with whole foods----produce, meat, etc. The only processed food I buy is rice, pasta and other basics for making meals. My grocery bill is LOWER now. So fresh produce is NOT expensive. It's only expensive when you're trying to add it to an already unhealthy expensive cart filled with processed food.
Educating the public is only half the battle. Doctors aren't given much training in nutrition. That needs to change.
IMO We still have a lot of baggage from our depression era older generation regarding food, its aquisition, consumption, storage and what even constitutes a meal. Food was and probally still is an indicator of how well you are doing and how secure you are.
As much as people like to eat its seems shopping for food is something people don't like to do. I have always wondered why people have to buy such large amounts of food at a time. It makes people eat and waste food food out of boredom.
People I know who are suffering from food related illness will take their medicin and continue to eat as they please. I try to keep my mouth shut when I see a diabetic drinking low calorie soda.
IMO We still have a lot of baggage from our depression era older generation regarding food, its aquisition, consumption, storage and what even constitutes a meal. Food was and probally still is an indicator of how well you are doing and how secure you are.
As much as people like to eat its seems shopping for food is something people don't like to do. I have always wondered why people have to buy such large amounts of food at a time. It makes people eat and waste food food out of boredom.
People I know who are suffering from food related illness will take their medicin and continue to eat as they please. I try to keep my mouth shut when I see a diabetic drinking low calorie soda.
My family tends to purchase things like nonperishable canned goods, drinks, etc, at Sams and in bulk. However, we used to buy a whole week's worth of food of food in one sitting, and by the end of the week, the meat wouldn't be very fresh. We've since started shopping more often, and I personally only buy perishables for just the next two or three days. My grandparents were semi-hoarders of food. I agree that a lot of baggage comes from depression-era thinking that may not be applicable today.
Possibly but hard to say. Conversation overheard in grocery store last night: 10 yo daughter says to dad: "Hey, I'll get the (frozen) vegetables." Dad: "Now honey, you know that vegetables don't go with cheeseburgers." It's gonna take a lot of education, and yes this is the rural south.
Oh, I wish I hadn't read this, stepka.
This is bad.
I think that many health problems stem from poor choices in eating, and poor choices in physical activity level. A combination of the two. A sedentary couch-potato probably shouldn't be eating the same sized scoop of ice cream that an avid downhill skiier might eat. Not just because he might get fat, but because he's not making the most efficient use of the nutrients -and- because he will be fuller, faster, on the crap - and then have less room in his appetite for the stuff that's good for him. The skiier would probably burn through the Ben & Jerry's faster, and then have plenty of room for that heaping salad and minestrone soup, sopped up with an unbuttered heel of crusty fresh-made italian bread for supper. The couch potato will more likely scarf down a cheeseburger and call it a day.
The couch potato might even be eating -less food- overall than the skiier, but he's eating more nutritionally unhealthy food.
Why? Because he's a couch potato, not a skiier. So he gets the heart attack, while the skiier's biggest risk is breaking a leg on the slopes.
Somewhere in the middle, is probably the most healthful place to be. Physically active on a daily basis to burn plenty of energy, and eating healthier choices, more fresh foods, less processed, less fatty meats, more vegetables, fewer choices from the bakery or cookie aisle. No need to eliminate - but reducing the bad while increasing the good, including exercise, I think can contribute to an overall rise in health.
However, we used to buy a whole week's worth of food...and by the end of the week, the meat wouldn't be very fresh.
That's what the freezer is for.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AnonChick
The couch potato might even be eating -less food- overall than the skiier, but he's eating more nutritionally unhealthy food.
Why? Because he's a couch potato, not a skiier. So he gets the heart attack, while the skiier's biggest risk is breaking a leg on the slopes.
The most overweight town in the country happens to be in West Virginia. The residents still eat the same foods prior generations ate back when the men were working in the coal mines. The food was heavy in fats to give the men energy----lots of fried foods, gravies, etc. Those old family recipes were healthy back when people were physically active because they needed calories to burn. Like your skiers, the coal miners were also at greater risk of injury than heart attacks.
As I was browsing through the grocery store yesterday, it really struck me how many end caps and the selection in general was slanted toward foods and drinks that aren't very nutritious. The South in particular struggles with obesity and poor health, and by just eyeing the contents of the customers' shopping carts, it appeared that the most unhealthy looking people were buying the potato chips, Cokes, sweets, etc.
I went over to the produce section. While some healthy foods like raspberries were comparatively expensive, other fresh nutritious foods like apples ($2.29/lb for organic gala, $1.59/lb for conventional) and bananas ($0.49/lb) were reasonably cheap. I went over to the frozen vegetables section (I've always preferred frozen vegetables to canned) and found 10 oz of bagged cut broccoli for $.88. Other vegetabes were priced accordingly. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts were only a couple of dollars a pound. I saw cheap, nutritious food available, but few people were actually buying them.
My family has had its own struggles with proper nutrition. My grandparents and their peers always ate a lot of pork and other fried foods. Many of my great aunts and uncles died in their 50s and 60s of heart attacks and strokes. My mother is 55, 5'2, about 250 lbs and has numerous health problems that could be aided by losing some weight - she also has very poor nutrition.
So many of our medical ailments and expenses today are compounded by our obesity and much of this seems to go back to poor nutrition. Do you think more education with regard to nutrition and proper diet choices could reduce our medical expenses and promote better health?
of course processed and snack foods are not helping us fight obesity, but I am a strong believer most of the problem with childhood weight has more to do with lack of exercise. Do you have any idea how our relatives ate 75 years ago? They ate a heck of a lot more fat than we do, do you think they ate only skinless chicken breasts or turkey bacon for starters? Do you think they cooked with olive oil or held down the sweets? of course they didn't but kids walked everywhere. Mom didn't have an automatic washing machine and dryer. She made not have had a washer period. TV was something anyone had heard of, much less remote control and a lot of women didn't ever drive. If there was a family car, there was only one.
You mention your mom and your family: I can tell the opposite story. One grandma lived to be in her late 80s (and I will add, she was very heavy) the other died at 92. My dad lived to be in his 90s and my mom in law almost made the century mark. they all ate whatever they wanted, but processed foods were not as easy to come by as they are today.
This doesn't mean your good eating habits will not pay off. Good for you. We are in our 70s and I am very much aware of what is and isn't a healthy diet. I majored in foods and nutrition in college. I am just saying, though eating habits do contribute to a persons general heath, there are many other things that enter into the picture.
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It's gonna take a lot of education, and yes this is the rural south.
