My Eaters Manifesto

Breaking Down the Media’s Healthy Food Illusion

           

            The media plays a big part in our perceptions of what food is healthy and they help shape the eating habits we form. Every time I turn on the TV I see a new commercial about a new great tasting healthy product. But so often it’s hard to tell whether the product is legitimately healthy or if they are just trying to reach that demographic. Between all the ads for healthy desserts, diet foods at taco bells, and healthy flavored water, it can be hard to see which foods are truly healthy through the wall of commercial advertisements. This blurring of what is and isn’t healthy may be contributing to our obesity problem we have at hand.  

            According to an International Food Information Council Foundations Food and Healthy Survey in 2010, nearly three quarters (about 70%) of people worldwide have admittedly indicated their concern for their own weight. At an even higher ratio, 77% of Americans have indicated their concern to maintain or loose more weight.  These statistics are both shocking numbers, and it’s important that we identify the cause (Roberts).  When my own food values or values of others come to mind, the first thing I can think about is the media (news, commercials, scientists, religion) and many more advertisements that we consumers see every day.  In today’s society, many of American citizens are choosing which meals to consume based on what they are told by the media.

            Many fast food chain corporations will advertise their new “healthy choice” products influencing public opinion when in reality, these choices are packed with fat, trans-fat, and many unhealthy preservatives.  In my opinion, I can single myself out to this big idea behind the media and its marketing attempts to reach out to students like myself. Choices become even more difficult for me living the fast paced college lifestyle, and I definitely feel like turning to the media and common commercials for the “right choice” has become the easiest, but not the most “reliable” source. Considering the tight financial position most Americans are in, including myself, it has become almost impossible for most consumers to maintain a completely healthy lifestyle. The media knows were looking for answers on what is healthy and they continue to exploit that using rhetorical advertisements to target this massive audience.

            One of the ways media impacted both me and my family was the classic argument between butter and margarine. I remember when I was kid skinny angels would float around in the heavens with a gift from God. The gift was “I cant believe its not butter” margarine. My mom and I were always certain that margarine was a godsend, because it was much healthier and a still tasty alternative to butter. But it turns out we may have been deceived by depictions of the product in the media. According to Harvard “the truth is, there never was any good evidence that using margarine instead of butter cut the chances of having a heart attack or developing heart disease. Making the switch was a well-intentioned guess, given that margarine had less saturated fat than butter, but it overlooked the dangers of trans fats.” (Ferrari) So even though we may think we will get this angel physique seen in the commercial by eating margarine, Ferrari says, “the older stick margarines that are still widely sold are high in trans fats, and are worse for you than butter. Some of the newer margarines that are low in saturated fat, high in unsaturated fat, and free of trans fats are fine as long as you don’t use too much (they are still rich in calories).”

           

            I had no idea this was true until just a few years ago. Like everyone else I bought into this notion that margarine was healthy because the news and commercials were telling us that it was. Ever since I realized the many deceptions of food in the media, I have been cautious of letting commercials impact my diet. I have been eating much healthier lately, but still occasionally I get sucked into buying a “healthy” product that is not really as healthy as it claims. Now however I am driven to research my eating decisions, help clean up my body, and make healthier life style decisions that align with my goals and values.

            However I know the media is inescapable. We see it at bus stops, in magazines, on the radio, and on TV, every piece of media is an argument to control our values on food. These forces of the media often drive perceptions of many diets including my own. The underlying messages of the majority of these advertisements are exploiting the “healthy facts” in their product that in reality lack the key components of a real nutritious diet. This is why researching what I eat us crucial. The media has effectively produced a worldwide market of advertising that has completely controlled my diet for the last five years due to the important underlying emotions of living a healthy lifestyle. Like Pollan mentioned in one of his most popular articles, “unhappy meals”, he explains the danger of these foods that are constantly being advertised by their health promotions such as low in saturated fats or “all natural” ingredients. (Pollan) Pollan explains,  

           

            “It was in the 1980s that food began disappearing from the American supermarket, gradually to be replaced by “nutrients,” which are not the same thing. Where once the familiar names of recognizable comestibles — things like eggs or breakfast cereal or cookies — claimed pride of place on the brightly colored packages crowding the   aisles, now new terms like “fiber” and cholesterol and “saturated fat” rose to large- type prominence” (Pollan).

            Kids think that these meals are happy, full of nutrients, and full balanced meal, but they are not, it is all a deception. Thin kids playing at McDonalds put an image of health in our heads. Another great example of a “healthy” food being debunked was vitamin water. Emily Playscello states on Healthy Eating “Vitamin Water gives the illusion of a healthy, hydrating, and rejuvenating miracle elixir. The bottles are beautiful, colorful, and the text on them is snappy and clever. They have empowering flavor names like "endurance," "energy," "essential," and "focus." There is no question that there is some genius marketing at hand.” (Playscello) She goes on to argue that in reality, they are just a step above soda. Most contain no juice, and sugar is the second leading ingredient behind water.         

            Playscello says, “Now, Vitamin Water is not pure poison. It is certainly not a health food or something that I would personally drink, but if the choice is between Vitamin Water or soda, I suppose Vitamin Water is a wiser choice. But you know what the smartest choice is? Water.” Despite the claims in the media vitamin water is not the tasty healthy alternative drink that we thought it was. It contains high amounts of sugars that cause our bodies to crash. However tasty and healthy drinks aren’t impossible to find, but their just not the drinks the commercials are telling us about. Playscello concludes by saying that if you. “want something sweet to drink? Try squeezing lemon or lime in pure or sparkling water. Add a few drops of stevia and you've got a drink that hydrates, tastes great, and isn't full of sugar or added nonsense.” (Playscello)

            I used to buy vitamin water quite frequently, before I began reading through these articles and saw the deception of health that they were trying to convince me of. It was not the real healthy product they had claimed to create. Playscello and others helped me realize it was nothing more than sugar water, and I now know researching food before we eat it is of the utmost importance in maintaining health eating.           
            Living on my own makes me more prone to the tricks of these advertisers. As a student “beauty” and appeal of these advertisements are only enhanced.  I constantly find myself with almost no money, little time and in desperate need of a quick and “healthy” snack; that’s the problem. Similar to the common media, the news has only come out with more and more scientific studies every day that additionally control my diet as a whole.  As a constantly busy college student, I find my self regularly relying on studies like these that I see on the news and a regular search on Google every now and than.  One article that I actually came across from Google no more than a couple months ago was a “good mood diet.” The argument was convincing and concise. In two simple steps, Thomas Crook explains how to make a “good mood diet”, rather than an “unhappy meal,”

            “Include protein in each of your three meals. This will raise blood levels of tryptophan, a        chemical that eventually turns into serotonin. The best sources of tryptophan are poultry, seafood, and lean meat And Have a small carbohydrate snack about 3 or 4 hours after each meal and about 1 hour before your next one. Make sure that your stomach is empty and that you eat no protein between meals. The carbohydrates should be easily digestible- such as one or two oatmeal cookies, a third of a bagel, a slice of whole wheat bread. This   will cause tryptophan in your blood to enter the brain, where it is metabolized into serotonin. Elevated serotonin will improve your mood within 20 to 30 minutes (Crook).”

            He concludes, “If you follow the rules, you'll also fall asleep more quickly at night, because at the end of the day, your brain metabolizes serotonin into the natural sleep aid melatonin. From happy to sleepy, all by way of a cookie. It doesn't get much cheerier than that” (Crook, 1). With my busy schedule, it sounds too easy and simple to be true.  It’s simple reports like these that control my diet and I try harder and harder to improve my eating habits every day. I also notice that I have been sleeping much better since I have been conscience of what I eat. I am able to fall asleep faster, and the quality of my sleep has seemed to improve. 

            Research like this article, along with the other one cited above, are crucial to deciphering the world of food constructed by the commercials around us. Because food can alter our moods and health I am very cautious of what I eat now. I often find myself researching just how truly hot and healthy is the new Carl’s Jr. turkey burger held by the beautiful bombshell Miss. Turkey herself. I investigate healthy alternatives, and more often than not I’m surprised by the façade that these companies are able to put up.

            Another important aspect that ties into my daily food values becomes religious and includes a strong sense of morality when I think my own diet. Trying to improve my diet becomes difficult when I think about my key goals to a healthy lifestyle. As a Christian, gluttony is an act of disrespect and more simply a lack of respect for my own body as a person and the privileges we are all given as human beings. In my own values, this just simply includes eating the right fruits and vegetables, daily exercise and an honest effort to practice a healthier lifestyle a little but more each and every day.  Similar to the feelings of many consumers its evident as Dupuis mentions in his Journal, Angels and Vegetables: A brief History of Food Advice in America that “history of food advice in the United States shows that the search for a perfect diet parallels a search for moral authority.” Supported by some of his theories from the nineteenth century, early New Englanders (Mormons) similarly based many of their food values from religion.  For example in the Book of Mormon, smith received, “The World of Wisdom” a set of recommendations about healthy living including abstinence from coffee, tea, and alcohol, and sparing use of meat (Melanie Du Puis).

            I think that God made my body as a temple, and that it something I need to treat right and respect by eating healthy and exercising to maintain a healthy lifestyle. This is why I think researching what I am actually eating is crucial. Companies use unknown names to replace sugar and cover up sugar content, and like vitamin water they end up in court for false advertisements. The point is marketers have a job, I know that now when I watch TV, or see any advertisement, and I take it with a grain of salt. I research what they claim, because what they say is a healthy drink, I know can actually be just some sugar, water, and genius advertising.

            In conclusion the only hope we have against the assault of advertisements put out by big food conglomerates is the power of research, and act checking. Whenever we hear on TV about a new great healthy snack, we need to think twice about the motive behind the advertisement, and truly find a healthy snack, like grapes, celery, or other fruits and vegetables, rather than cookies. Because of this I now make sure that the food I eat align with my values on food. Eating healthy and living an active life style is crucially important to me so I research everything I eat. Whenever I see commercials on TV about healthy food, rather than take it at face value I make sure to know if this food will help me be active, or if will just be some junk food. Many food writers share my values in trying to eat healthy and deciphering the commercial codes about food, so there is plenty of research on what is healthy and not healthy to eat, I take advantage of it, and so should everyone else.