More is Not Better The modern day supermarket is a dizzying array of colors and sounds. According to the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), the average grocery store contains around 45,000 unique items. Each year sees an average of 1,500 new grocery products added to the mix.
With 45,000 products to choose from and more being added all the time, it’s no surprise most Americans see grocery shopping as a major chore.
According to Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, about 90 percent of every food dollar spent in the United States buys processed food. Clearly, all of these new food products are hitting their mark.
Food Climate Matters
What do we get with all of this choice? In terms of health and wellness, not much. In terms of addressing the obesity epidemic that is plaguing this country, not much. In terms of minimizing our risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, chronic pain, arthritis…you guessed it. Not much.
If the vast offering of food in our markets does nothing for our health, not to mention our wallets, why do we spend 90% of our hard-earned food dollars on these products? A closer look at the current “food and nutrition climate” in this country is eye opening.
Crazy Claims?
The whole notion of food labels and food claims raises an interesting question. If it’s real food, why does it need a label in the first place? For years, I’ve been saying the following, but it’s worth repeating: you don’t need a label to tell you that apples, oatmeal, and broccoli are healthy choices.
This seems obvious, but with all of the distractions of the modern-day market, it’s easy to lose our way. With every new scientific discovery about the amazing disease-fighting properties of this vitamin or that, a new food is produced to capitalize on our obsession with nutrients.
You’ll see sugary cereals touted as good sources of folic acid, vitamin B12, or iron. These products are anything but healthy. You wouldn’t know it based on the labels though. Instead you’ll read about why you need this cereal to provide these nutrients.
Food Delivery
How did we get here? Noted food writer and journalism professor Michael Pollan raised this issue in an article first published in The New York Times in January of 2007. The article, titled Unhappy Meals, tackled a problem that Pollan and others refer to as “nutritionism.”
Pollan mentions that one difference between nutrition and nutritionism is how we view food. In nutrition, we view food as something that provides nourishment and pleasure. Food also may serve a social function, such as celebrating. In nutritionism, food is viewed as a way to deliver specific nutrients, vitamins, or minerals.
This focus on the nutrient content of food has led to the problems with food labels and claims. Reducing a whole food, such as a carrot or a green bean, down to a set of nutrients, can lead us astray.
From Orange Vegetables to Beta-Carotene and Back
Take beta-carotene. It gives carrots and sweet potatoes their bright orange color. Beta-carotene is a member of a group of plant nutrients called carotenes, or carotenoids. To date, close to 750 carotenes have been identified in nature.
Beta-carotene just happens to be the one that has received all the press. It was identified early on. Researchers noted that people who eat plenty of beta-carotene rich foods have less cancer.
But there’s a catch. Beta-carotene may have cancer-preventive actions, but it most certainly doesn’t act alone. You’ve heard the phrase, “No man is an island.” This is widely interpreted to mean that people do not thrive when isolated from others. If we're smart, we'll apply this concept to nutrients too.
Studies on isolated beta-carotene supplements and cancer were disappointing, to say the least. In many cases, beta-carotene supplements provided no benefit. In other situations, taking beta-carotene supplements actually caused harm. Beta-carotene supplements can increase cancer and heart disease risk in some people. The research is very clear on this.
Fortunately, the research continues to show what we knew all along. Eat as many of the bright orange, beta-carotene-loaded food as you want. This is a great way to reduce your risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. Just don’t rely on a beta-carotene supplement alone.
Make Food Island Your Home
The explanations for why beta-carotene supplements may cause more harm than good are numerous. Personal risk factors such as smoking and drinking affect beta-carotene’s behavior in the body. Genetics and other dietary factors play a role too. The metabolism and physiology of beta-carotene are tricky to pin down. They are far too complex to detail here. Just know that “No nutrient is an island.”
In summary, beta-carotene, along with thousands of other healthy nutrients found in whole plant food, reduce disease risk. Beta-carotene Island is something best avoided.
Barcode Ban
Beyond the carotenes are polyphenols, isoflavones, flavonoids, flavonols, and much, much more. The point isn’t to know or even think about individual nutrients. If you wake up thinking, “Gosh, I think I’ll have some lycopene for breakfast,” you’ve become a victim of nutritionism.
Put yourself on a barcode-free diet. Other than those little tiny stickers you sometimes see on fresh fruit and veggies, your basket should be free of barcodes. Instead of cruising the supermarket aisles in search of the latest new packaged food product, stick to the perimeter. This is the place where you’ll find real, whole food. Vegetables, fruit, bulk grains, and beans are all residents of the edges of your market. This is where you should be spending 90% of your food dollars if good health is your priority.
If you have to read a label to discern if a product is “healthy”, you’re looking in the wrong place. Don’t fall for the newest claim… “Super cereal, now fortified with X, Y, and Z.” In truth, the most super cereal is plain old-fashioned oatmeal, flavored with berries, bananas, walnuts, almonds or any other food without a label. Or a claim!
### Suzanne Dixon, MPH, MS, RD, is an internationally recognized expert in nutrition, chronic disease, cancer, health and wellness as well as the Executive Editor of Nutrition Intelligence Report, a free natural health and nutrition newsletter. For more information, past issues or to sign up for a free subscription, visit http://www.appleboost.com/.
