Seniors and others who live on a limited budget will be glad to know that not only is home-cooked food cheaper, it is far better for health than all the much-touted fast food and quick foods from the store.
Highly Palatable Food Defined as Too Much Sugar, Fat, and Salt
The End of Overeating (Rodale Books, 2009) by Dr. David Kessler explains the addictive nature of excessive sugar, fat, and salt. It has happened gradually in American society, yet the effects have finally shown up on the bodies of people. The average weight continues to rise as folks exercise and buy "healthy" items yet one can't help but wonder if the sugar, fat, and salt are winning. Seniors have a chance since this is not the only food they have known.
Palatable foods cause appetite arousal and provide adventurous sensations in the mouth. Sugar and fat are carefully combined to please the palate, thus gaining the name "hyperpalatable." This information is documented scientifically in the book, but also rings true to the average senior's experience in a lifetime of eating – first without highly palatable foods, then as the years went by with these convenient but weight-bearing foods.
Food Industry Creates Addictive and Non-Nutritive Foods
The food industry has developed impressive expertise in piling sugar, sodium and fat to create foods which are addictive and gain more than their fair share of the market. There is a concerted effort on the part of the nation's food suppliers to make food irresistible, thus assuring continued sales.
The End of Overeating delineates ways in which processed food manufacturers have researched and developed foods which are almost impossible to resist. Whether or not it was intended to be that way, repeated ingestion of this food virtually changes the actual physiology of the brain.
Processed food manufacturers have developed many ways to provide a huge variety of these items based more on enhancing the desire to eat them repeatedly rather than on nutrition.
Restaurants and Fast Food Places Reward Overeating
Food science has affected restaurants also. While portions increase due to cheap fillers, food consultants have found ways to increase volume without significant increase in price, thus increasing profits enormously.
At the same time restaurants have increased serving sizes by adding cheap and fattening fillers while marketing low-fat foods in order to build their image. Yet they mostly sell high fat foods laced with excessive sugar and salt.
Dr. Kessler cites the changes in eating habits over the least few decades as hamburger and other fast foods have become bigger and more lathered with fat, sugar, and salt. Restaurants and their suppliers have spent lots of time and money on the technology of chemical flavorings to make food hyperpalatable while at the same time, less healthy and a cause for mass weight gain.
Strategies for Seniors to Manage Eating Habits While Resisting Processed Food
Seniors and Boomers have the advantage in that many of them grew up without processed or fast foods. This enabled them to learn how to prepare food without excessive overloading of fat, sugar, and salt.
This book may serve as a reminder to avoid some of the non-nutritive foods which are so easily available nowadays. It can be tempting to seniors to eat fast food also because it is affordable.
However, after reading Dr. Kessler's well-researched comments, seniors and others may revert to previous and healthier eating habits. Food prepared at home will not run the risk of excessive fat, sugar, and salt. He shows how the consumers are the losers as people are being unknowingly trained to eat far more than is needed.
Returning to the wisdom of the body involves re-programming oneself away from the conditioned overeating. It is time to realize that seniors have cognitive processes that can fight the stimulus designed to propel their cravings toward food that is not good for them.
A few strategies seniors and others can use to combat overeating are:
- Purposely think of food as fuel.
- Stay on a schedule of planned eating most days.
- Make food rules for themselves.
- Count or be aware of calories.
- Accept the reality that controlling intake will require regular effort.
- Don't focus on setbacks.
- Avoid giving in to obsession on foods since that increases its reward value.
- Discouragement which many seniors face about eating can lead to satisfaction of breaking the cycle.
- Read labels carefully.
- Cook at home when possible, even if it's only leftovers. It is usually healthier food.
A number of older adults are reading The End of Overeating, which explains how food manufacturing and marketing has changed what seniors and others eat. This is done by using highly palatable foods which are heavily laden with fat, sugar and salt and has contributed to steadily increasing obesity. Conditioned overeating has become part of the American lifestyle as restaurants reward it by increasing serving sizes of such food. There are strategies for seniors to use to bring their eating habits more in line with fueling their bodies.
Reference:
Dr. Kessler, David A. The End of Overeating. New York: Rodale Books, 2009.
Hildra Tague - Mrs. Hildra Tague is a freelance writer, consultant, and teacher dedicated to issues of education and parenting. This all started when she ...
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