Have we Lost the Ability to Choose on our Own?

Our taste preferences and emotional attachment to food begin during the very first years of childhood. As a result, our adult food choices are based on learned principles that we have been exposed to throughout our lives. Hearing the same information repeated over many years (and from many different sources) also reinforces these beliefs. For these reasons, we buy and prepare food without giving it much thought. With this in mind, few people are willing to reconsider and question the accuracy of the diet that they were raised on.

What will you be preparing for dinner? Take a moment to think about what influenced your food choices. How important were the following factors?

• Taste preference
• Convenience
• USDA nutritional guidelines
• Accepted socially
• Familiarity
• Religious/ethical beliefs
• Doctor's recommendations
• Cost - finances
• Food addictions

Without question, protein is the most highly revered of all nutrients and is the subject of much controversy. Basing every meal around an animal protein source is believed to be a necessary component in the human diet. However, protein deficiency is nonexistent in those who are consuming sufficient calories. The fear of becoming severely protein deficient is a creative marketing scheme used by large and powerful profit-driven industries as a means of selling their products. (More information here.)

How do our belief systems impact our health? Sadly, over 80% of premature deaths are due to dietary choices - so where have we gone wrong? Don't federal policies protect us by regulating, overseeing, and recommending only what's safe and wholesome for us, or have we been deceived?

Our recent article, Everyone Else is Doing it exposes the powerful political and economic forces behind the production of meat, dairy, and egg products and how they pressure us into purchasing unnecessary and unhealthy food items for our families. You may be surprised to find out how these special interest groups manipulate and control our beliefs and spending habits.

A well-researched and well documented book written by David Simon, Meatonomics, makes us stop to think why we choose some foods over others. It explains why we have lost our ability to make informed independent decisions on our own - regarding what and how much to eat. It describes in detail how our "decisions have been largely been made for us, by big producers of meat and dairy who control and manipulate our buying choices with artificially low prices, aggressive and misleading messaging, and heavy control over legislation and regulation."

Please take the time to view the following two videos: (1) Meatonomics: The Bizarre Economics of Meat and Dairy (two minutes). (2) David Simon addresses how our obsession with meat/dairy has driven the cost of these products unnaturally low, which has caused unprecedented rates of chronic disease in the U.S. (four minutes)

For the most part, our food choices are determined by what our friends, family, and colleagues are eating because conforming to social standards in order to be accepted is much easier than having the courage to be different. Dare to be different! The saying "If you repeat a lie long enough, it becomes truth" certainly applies regarding nutritional beliefs. Following along with what is popular and socially acceptable has fueled an epidemic of dietary-induced chronic illness, premature death and disability. Begin your journey towards optimal health and wellness by switching to a whole-food, nutrient-dense, plant-centered diet today! Learn how to get started by clicking here and here.

Additional resources:

(1) We say Calcium, You say ?

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