Hey everyone, Joseph Onesta here. Welcome to the second episode of our "Your Taste Buds Have Been Hijacked, or Hacked" series, where we explore the intricate relationship we have with food. I
In this post I want to discuss a critical topic: how our taste buds have been hijacked by manufactured food. These are the foods sold in boxes, bags, and packages with long ingredient lists and nutrition labels. They're designed to be irresistible, making it hard for us to stop eating them. This is great for business but not for our health.
Remember the old Pringles commercials, "Once you pop, you can't stop"? They weren't kidding. I used to polish off a can easily, sometimes even more than one. But I haven't touched them in years. The issue is deeper than just overeating; it's about how these foods dull our taste buds, making us crave more intense flavors. This is why hot and spicy foods have become so popular—they provide the extra stimulation our dulled taste buds now crave.
When working with my clients, we focus on moving away from ultra-processed foods. These foods contain ingredients our bodies don't recognize as food, and they may even have to treat them as toxins. While they might not be outright poison, their long-term effects are uncertain and untested. For example, artificial sweeteners have been linked to various health issues, and many ingredients have complex scientific names that we can't even pronounce, let alone understand their impact on our bodies.
Food companies are in the business of making money, not keeping us healthy. They ensure their products won't cause immediate harm, but they aren't concerned about the long-term effects on our microbiome or overall health. In truth, the evidence regarding the microbiome is only now emerging. The reliance on ultra-processed, that is, hyper palatable and convenient food has shifted our relationship with food to focus on taste rather than health. Just because something tastes good doesn't mean it's good for you, and vice versa.
To improve our relationship with food and our bodies, we need to reconnect with how we feel after eating certain foods. Are we mentally clear, emotionally stable, fatigued, or constantly hungry? As my clients and I have discovered, our bodies communicate with us more clearly once we start making healthier food choices.
Here’s my first piece of advice: move away from ultra-processed foods. These "foods" might not kill us immediately, but they don't offer much benefit either. If you see ingredients you don't recognize or can't pronounce, it's best to avoid them. For instance, what is modified potato starch? When you boil potatoes, the white stuff at the bottom is potato starch. But what does "modified" mean? Why do they need to modify it?
By eliminating ultra-processed foods, we remove various toxins, including pesticides, and herbicides, as well as chemicals our bodies wouldn’t normally encounter. This helps our bodies return to a more natural state of liking and disliking foods based on their true nutritional value.
Give it a try. Start reading ingredient labels, and if you see anything unfamiliar, skip it. Let's reclaim our taste buds and our health, one meal at a time.
Joseph Onesta, Type 2 Mentor