a
VEGAN
lifestyle:
It’s not always easy to keep New Year’s
resolutions, particularly when it comes to
breaking old habits. One of those bad habits
many people face is the need to eat healthier, to
shy away from processed, sugary, starchy food - you
know, the stuff the average diet in this country is
based upon? A typical American consumes about
66 pounds of sugar per year on top of the natural
sugars that exist in organic foods, and much of that
sugar doesn’t come from soda or candy bars.
Refined sugar is added to almost everything on a
typical grocery store shelf, from bread to yogurt.
The frozen food you buy often contains added
sugar to increase palatability; the “natural” juice you
buy often contains added sugar even when the
label reads “no high-fructose corn syrup.” A cup of
raisin bran making the same “no fructose” claim,
contains 20 grams of sugar per serving.
Companies are making the sugar harder to detect
on the label by giving it different names, including
everything from agave nectar to cane juice to
sweet sorghum. More than 60 different names
for sugar can be found on popular food items’
labels.
Over-processed food is another big roadblock
in our daily quest for healthy sustenance.
While a few foods are only mildly processed -
such as nuts or fruit - others are more chemical
than food (take Cheese Whiz or a Hostess
cupcake as an example). The difference
between “benignly processed” and “malignantly
processed” food is vast, but it all boils down to
two questions: Would your great-grandmother
recognize it as food, and do you know where it
came from?
When the majority of the food you put into
your body is heavily processed you are lacking
some seriously vital components needed to
keep yourself healthy. People need 20 to 30
grams of fiber a day, yet processed food makers
It doesn’t mean
you’re signing
your life
away ...
Try It!
By Marcy Shortuse
Photos by Marcy Shortuse and provided