Demystifying the link between food and health: What happens when I eat that?

It’s not surprising that food and wellness are related. The link between good nutrition and good health is not that hard to understand; what people put into their body every day undoubtedly has some kind of effect on how it functions. What is probably less clear is the profound effects that ingredients and nutrients in food have on all kinds of body processes from brain function to blood pressure. A growing body of evidence and research supports the idea that even small increases in the amount of salt, sugar, and fat that we eat on a daily basis has significant negative impacts on our wellness. Conversely, diets that are consistently high in fruits and vegetables and low in red meats can significantly improve health. But the relation between the foods we eat and our health is still fuzzy in the mind of the average person. Does anyone really know what the daily soda could do to your health?  We believe that raising awareness about the important role that nutrition plays in health can help illustrate the important link between choosing healthy, nutrient-rich foods and good health. Take this study as an example. Researchers from the Yale School of Medicine found that fructose affects the brain in such a way that causes people to overeat. Fructose is ubiquitous in our food system; it is in naturally occurs in fruit, but it is also added to soft drinks, candy, and bread among other things. This common ingredient does not suppress brain activity in the region that makes us want to eat, causing us to overeat. From here on the link is simple: overeating leads to excessive weight gain and the associated range of health problems. Now imagine a world in which soda and fructose-rich foods were associated with overeating and the associated weight gain. Does this seem crazy? Remember when cigarettes, now known as “cancer sticks”, were not associated with lung cancer? Changing the conversation about food and health is very much a possibility. As the evidence accumulates and the skyrocketing levels of diabetes and cardiovascular disease are linked back to dietary changes that have occurred in the last fifty years, this change will undoubtedly occur. We believe that building a Nutrients for All world will help to catalyze that change. We don’t want to wait until 2030, by which time the number of people with diabetes is expected to increase 66% globally. We value our health, so why don’t we value the food that can improve it?