These days it seems like we’re surrounded by contradictory information. “Don’t eat butter, it’s bad for you.” “No, don’t eat margarine! IT’s bad for you!” “NO! ONLY EAT EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL!!!” What am I supposed to eat then??
It’s like as soon as we learn something health-related about food, something new comes along to contradict the thing we just learned. Who’s right? Who’s wrong? What gives?
Like most things, there’s usually a grain of truth to something, but then it gets taken to extreme absurdity.
Let’s take butter, for example. Is butter bad for you? No. Would it be bad for you to eat only butter, and nothing else? Absolutely, but who’s doing that?
The truth hides in the middle.
A little butter isn’t going to hurt you. Eating it a stick at a time? Probably not the best idea.
Now it is true that in my personal health journey from 240 pounds down to 168 pounds, I made a lot of changes to my eating and exercise choices. But when I tell people that most of that difference resulted from cutting out processed foods, it starts to sound like a Conspiracy Theory.
Look, it’s not that “Big Food” is trying to kill us. There’s no evil plan where all of the food manufacturers got together and said, “Mwha-ha-ha-ha! If we add these specific ingredients to our products, it will make our customers sick and fat so our friends, Big Pharma, can profit from them! [Maniacal Laughter ensues]”
The reality is more like, “hmm, these less-expensive ingredients and fillers make the product cheaper while still tasting good so I can sell more product and make more money!” (If you don’t know what “fillers” are, check out grated cheese: https://www.golomblegal.com/blog/2016/march/what-is-the-real-problem-with-having-wood-pulp-i/ )
And the problem there is that those less-expensive ingredients and fillers also have less or zero nutritive value to them: they’re empty calories.
You see, those “artificial flavors and fragrances” are chemicals that mimic the chemicals naturally present in our foods that give that food its taste and smell. But that’s all it is: the chemical that causes the flavor or scent. The rest of the food that has the nutritive value isn’t there, only the flavor molecules.
That’s what we mean when we say, “empty calories.”
There’s nothing there your body can use for fuel. Your body runs on glucose, not chemical flavor molecules (or wood pulp for that matter).
What’s the problem with empty calories? You think you’re eating food, but you’re not. You’re eating a food-like substance, which fills your stomach and makes you feel “full.”
But when your body breaks down that substance into molecular form that it can use to repair your body and make new tissues, there’s nothing there for it to actually use. There’s no building material amid the filler. It’s just junk. So, your body removes the moisture content and passes the rest on to the colon for elimination.
Now your body is exhausted. It’s performed an entire digestive cycle, and it hasn’t gotten what it needs. Resources are becoming depleted. What does it do?
“Release the Ghrelin!” decrees the brain.
Ghrelin, of course, is the “hunger hormone.” Once released, you start to feel hungry again.
If you’re like I was, munching away on empty calories all day long because you’re hungry all day long, you might now be starting to understand why that is.
Yes, you are going to continue to feel hunger until your body is satisfied, nutritionally. You need to give your body what it wants. And it doesn’t want those empty calories.
What does your body want? I’ll be happy to tell you, but first I need to ask you a few questions. Click the link below to register for a free Comprehensive Eating Guide.
Answer a few questions on the form, and when you’re done, I’ll email you a personalized guide telling you how and what you want to eat to meet your specific health goals.
It’s free! Click now 😊 https://www.eclecticwellbeing.com/myeatingguidequestionaire
Why would you want a personalized eating guide? It’s your roadmap to success! The guide takes all the guesswork out of eating. You will know that what you’re eating is what your body wants and needs, AND in the proper portion sizes for you!
Once you start giving your body what it’s looking for, wonderful things start to happen. You start to realize that those decades you’ve spent trying to get your health under control are over. You’ve done it!
Take control of your life, now.
Click to get your Free Comprehensive Eating Guide and start seeing that scale swing in your favor.
https://www.eclecticwellbeing.com/myeatingguidequestionaire
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