It’s The Food

Twenty years ago Paul Stitt, a biochemist working in the food industry, wrote the following.  ” Have you ever eaten just one Oreo cookie? Bet you can’t either. They look so sweet an innocent! What you should realize is that the Nabisco Company spent millions developing that formula so that you can’t eat just one. It contains 23 different appetite stimulants and 11 artificial colors. I saw the recipe and I was aghast. It’s not easy to make a cookie that will hook every last American. So next time you buy a package of Oreo cookies, be assured that you’ll eat them all at one time and gain another pound and continue down a pathway to being overweight.”

That was 20 years ago and look what has happened………..69% of the U.S. population is overweight or obese.  We have a looming health care crisis and the food industry just continues to produce massive amounts of this addicting food.

Professor Joseph Schroeder of Connecticut College conducted a study to consider the potential addictiveness of foods with a high fat and sugar content. He found Oreos activated significantly more neurons in the “pleasure center” of the brain than did cocaine or morphine. Schroeder said, “Our research supports the theory that high-fat, high-sugar foods stimulate the brain in the same way that drugs do. It may explain why some people can’t resist these foods despite the fact that they know they are bad for them.”

We have created a country that almost doesn’t remember what it is like to eat simple, whole foods.  I’m working with a group of people who are on a completely different approach to weight management, targeting the genes that cause us to put weight on in the first place.  What we now know is these foods have changed the expression of our genes.  You can literally watch a gene express itself one way with a diet of fast food then reverse with a diet of whole foods derived from nature.  We ARE NOT our genetic destiny as we once thought!

The new science of gene expression is called EPIGENETICS — “Epi” means to “sit on top of” our genes.  This is the area that can be influenced by our foods, air, water and emotions.  Science now knows that foods influence the way our genes express themselves.

When you read what Oreo’s can do, imagine what a diet filled with canned, packaged, fast food, Starbucks and microwaved food can do to your gene expression!!

 Solution……………….eat the way your grandma did!  Grass fed beef, organic chicken, wild fish, (they raised their own livestock) fresh seasonal vegetables and fruits (they had gardens and ate seasonally) and limited grains (their grains where not GMO).  You’ll feel better and you will be influencing your genes to express in a way that leads to a long, healthy and robust life!!

(P.S. Want some help shifting your diet?  Join me on an educational and empowering “30 Day Detox to Weight-Loss”  and kick the sugar habit for good!  http://www.chrismckeecnc.com/#!info–30-day-weight-loss-detox-/cdfb