There is currently a video going viral which shows in reverse, how a 32 year-old man got to the point of having a heart attack.

Most likely you have seen about 4 or 5 of your Facebook friends share it this week; you’ll probably recognize it by this picture to the left along with the caption:

This video may change the way you think about healthy eating.

While it apparently is not yet on YouTube, you can watch the one minute and 41 second video here.

It shows all the lifestyle choices that led to his condition; like choosing not to get out and exercise, as well as regularly eating fast food and processed food.

Ultimately, this man’s unhealthy/inactive lifestyle began with his parents when he was just a baby; as the “twist ending” reveals. Therefore, this video is targeting parents.

I feel it was very well done.

Something I really appreciate about the video is that it ends with an offer to actually help anyone who is interested in learning how to make healthier choices, by directing them to the strong4life.com.

The website helps educuate viewers on how to make healthy decisions and changes in life. I respect that.

Sure, we all know fast food is a poor choice, but what should we eat instead? The website addresses that.

I think there might be a public misconception about families like mine, who shun fast food and eat a plant-based diet instead: that we are secretly going hungry or are even unhealthy.

Well, I can assure you we are not hungry, nor passing out because of weakness, nor in the hospital due to lack of nutrients, including protein.

Instead of focusing on dairy, we focus on nuts and seeds. Avocados make a great plant-based cheese substitute for many meals.

Nor are we lacking protein because of the beans and dark leafy vegetables we eat.

Granted, it doesn’t take being a vegan or vegetarian to recognize the importance of dramatically cutting back on animal-based food products and replacing them with plant-based foods.

My perception is that we live in a “paradoxed” society.

As a whole, we choose convenience and taste over health.

To make matters worse, the media that so much of America subconsciously pays attention to (beauty magazines, commercials, headline-making celebrities etc.) sends a mixed message:

“Beauty is on the inside…but you have to be thin to get people to like you, so buy this product to become like this thin person. But remember, all sizes are beautiful.”

Nowhere in that mixed message does it mention actually being healthy. Instead, the focus is on size and beauty.

Or at best, the focus is on calories- which is, in my opinion, illegitimate.

It’s actually good thing to eat a banana (despite the sugar) and cashews (despite the fat), because calories don’t account for the difference between good fat (from plants) and bad fat (from animals), as well as good sugar (from unprocessed fruit) and bad sugar (from processed foods).

That’s why I am passionate to educate open-minded people on what actually makes them healthy.

Feel free to contact me personally and privately with any questions about this. I know what I am talking about:

I used to be 35 pounds heavier, suffering from constant sinus issues and eczema.

Then I changed the way I think, eat, and live.

I began questioning where my food comes from, what’s in it, and what affect it has on my health.

Thanks for reading my blog today. I hope you found it interesting, unique, and relevant. Here is an infographic that shows some of the garbage that is in processed foods these days:

Source: Healthcare-Management-Degree.net

Food Isn’t Food Anymore: The Frightening World of Fillers

The cost of food is lower than it ever has been before.

Food fillers are lowering the cost of meat — a cheeseburger now costs less than produce. But are these fillers helping us or hurting us?

What are food fillers?

• Additives: Fillers help bulk up the weight of food. This helps lower food prices.

• Fillers are mostly found in processed meats.

• Meat fillers can lower the cost of meats by 10-30%

• The average national cost for 1lb of 100% ground beef, which likely contains filler, is $3.808

• The cost of organic ground beef is approximately $4.25/lb

While lowering the cost of food sounds like a great idea, what we’re putting in the food may be costing us.

Cellulose

• Cellulose is a natural component found in corn and many plants used in the production of paper

• Much of the cellulose used in food is derived from wood pulp
  Used in cereal, shredded cheese, salad dressing and ice cream

• Humans can’t digest cellulose. Adding it to food makes for a no-calorie, nonfat filler

• Cellulose appears in many high-fiber snacks and eating organic won’t help you avoid it.

• Watch out for ingredients like microcrystalline cellulose (MCC), cellulose gel, cellulose gum or carboxymethyl cellulose

Soy

• Soy derivatives can be found filling a variety of foods, from frozen yogurt to ground beef

• “Vegetable proteins”

• Soy can be found in almost 60% of the food sold in supermarkets

• In ground meats, soy acts as a cheap filler, lowering both the price and quality of the meat

• Soy contains high levels of phytic acid, an anti-nutrient that steals and eliminates important vitamins and minerals from the body

Olestra

• Olestra is a fat substitute synthesized by Procter and Gamble

• The human body can’t digest the big molecules it is made of, so the fat substitute contributes 0 calories when consumed

• Introduced in the late 90′s by Frito-Lay and included in Fat Free Pringles

• Products containing Olestra were originally required to warn customers of the risk of “loose stools”

• Within 4 years of introduction, 15,000 people had called a hotline set up specifically to take adverse-reaction complaints

• In 2003, the FDA removed the warning label requirement

• Olestra appears to interfere with the body’s absorption of critical nutrients such as beta-carotene and lycopene

Carrageenan

• Carrageenan is a gel extracted from seaweed

• It’s used as a thickening agent and emulsifier

• You can find it in dairy many dairy products such as cottage cheese, ice cream and chocolate milk, where it is used to keep the component from separating

• It is also injected into raw chicken and other meat to make them retain water, making your meat appear bigger and better than it is

• Seaweed doesn’t generally have adverse health effects, but carrageenan is widely used in meats as a way to trick the consumer

Potassium Bromate

• Potassium bromate is a component that helps bread to rise quickly and puff up during baking

• Bread dough is bound together by gluten molecules

• In order for gluten to join to other gluten, it requires oxidation

• Potassium bromate speeds up the oxidation process considerably

• Bread made with potassium bromate ends up being fluffy, soft and unnaturally white

• In 1982, Japanese researchers published the first study linking potassium bromate to thyroid and kidney cancer in mice

• If bread is not baked long enough, or too much potassium bromate is added before baking, the amount in the end product can be much higher than recommended

• The likelihood of consuming potassium bromate is increased in fast food

• Potassium bromate is illegal in China, the European Union, Canada, Brazil and many other countries. It is legal in the U.S.

Even eating organic won’t eliminate these unwanted fillers from your diet.

Educate yourself on what you’re eating.
A good rule of thumb — the more ingredients are in a product, the less natural it is likely to be

Sources:

• http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/food-fillers-101.htm

• http://abcnews.go.com/Health/grossest-things-food/story?id=16824388

• http://eatthis.menshealth.com/slide/scary-ingredient-1-olestra?slideshow=186430#sharetagsfocus

• http://www.businessinsider.com/forget-food-price-inflation-its-actually-cheaper-than-it-has-ever-been-2010-10

• http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20588763_17,00.html

• http://www.livescience.com/36206-truth-potassium-bromate-food-additive.html

• http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/soy-flour-hamburger-extender-11570.html

• http://www.examiner.com/article/soy-free-food-101-a-list-of-soy-derivatives

• http://nutrition-now.com/2012/05/the-dangers-of-soy-a-dark-side-to-a-popular-protien

• http://www.bls.gov/ro3/apmw.htm

• http://beefmagazine.com/blog/price-pound-drives-consumer-beef-sales