Have you been talking to your friend who is vegetarian or vegan and they told you that they eat unhealthy because they just can’t eat the fatty foods that meat-eaters eat?

That can certainly be part of it. But another, perhaps more important reason, is that they are simply eating the wrong kinds of foods.

For example, they are buying juice as a healthy alternative – even though juice is not really a health food. It is very often loaded with sugars, artificial additives, and preservatives. In fact, the more natural a juice is, the worse it may be for you to drink.

The reason why the non-vegan food choices are so much worse for health than the vegan food choices, is because of two things – the processing that the food takes to prepare them (in the case of fried foods) and the ingredients that are added.

Processing and Additives – The words “processed food” should sound scary for anyone who is trying to stay healthy. Many take processed foods and assume that they are automatically better for health than the uncooked original. However, that is not always the case.

Processed foods usually have many of the ingredients that we associate with a traditional “healthy” meal – meat, dairy, bread, pasta, etc. But those aren’t necessary, nor healthy.

Take a peek at an unflavored juice drink. With perhaps just a touch of lemon juice, almost no real fruit, and no added sugar, the difference in flavor can be dramatic. With the same amount of ingredients, you can make a simple lemonade with nothing but a juicer and a water bottle – no substitutes or toppings, and best of all, it tastes good!

The reality is that if you are not a child or really know what’s involved in eating a truly “healthy” meal, you probably don’t need or want the junk in that kind of meal.

The processed foods are often treated with synthetic chemicals, flavoring, or an artificial preservative so that they don’t smell bad, or they can sit on store shelves without spoiling for weeks. The problem is, these foods are also treated with child-resistant materials that can be damaging to child health in the long term.

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Additives – For the most part, the only ingredients that would be used to traditionalize a piece of fruit or vegetable in a healthy way would be “natural flavors”, “vitamin”, “mineral”, and the like. Unfortunately for our human understanding, those words on the package really mean only so much.

A great example is beta-carotene. Our bodies don’t know what “carotene” means, a medical term, and beta-carotene is only one among many hundreds of natural compounds that have this capacity. Yet the food industry has used this on its packaging to make it more convince that the foods they are selling are healthy.

There are a series of questions we need to ask ourselves before buying a product based on its packaging.

1) Is this product really healthy?

2) Is this the healthiest choice available?

3) More of a holistic approach should be considered.

1) Is this a food that supports optimal health?

2) Does this product contain the most number of ingredients that will support optimal health?

3) Can I even pronounce the list of ingredients on this product?

4) Is this a food that folds in your hand?

For every step in the negative list above, take a step back. Step back and ask yourself the following questions.

1) Is this a healthy food I can eat?

2) Can I afford this healthy food? (saccharin, aspartame)

3) Will this healthy food nourish my body?(yes, but mostly I would rather have polyunsaturated vegetable oils and water..)

4) Will this healthy food protect my family from chronic and killer diseases?(no)

When I came across the phrase “You are what you eat”, I quoted it in my mind’s eye. My eyes darted from room to room, but mostly to the desserts. I imagined myself sitting at a table with a plate of Little Debbie’s and Little Debbie’s crushed up in my lap. I know it probably wouldn’t have happened, but for the sake of the conversation, I said it then and I’m still sitting at the table and munching on those little Debbie’s.

In the years since, I have taken some steps to mostly replace these killer foods with foods that are more in line with “you are what you eat”. However, there are some bad foods that slip under the radar. One of these foods is high fructose corn syrup. With rising rates of obesity and cancer, we should definitely avoid this decadent poison.

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