Sometimes The Things I See Shock Me!

[ghostlykisses]

The other day I was watching an old episode of wife swap. In the episode one mom lived on fast food and junk and the other lived on natural whole foods. The fast food woman sat there and said something about fast food being better for you than the whole foods.

Then I see a commercial for a juice that is supposed to replace two servings of fruit. They show the woman digging in her purse for a banana and then they say this fruit juice is fruit made easier! How much easier can eating be than peeling a banana and eating it? LOL

With all the information out there in the world I guess it just shocks me that people out there think that packaged garbage and fast food is good for you. Am I alone?

Ps...I am by no means perfect, we are kind of middle of the road eaters here BUT I do know how to make good choices and I try to make a balance.

[lolar2]

I think the banana thing was because a bottle of juice won't get squished or bruised. Not sure about the other.

[funkymamajoy]

Its kinda like the argument that formula is better because you know exactly whats in it and how much the baby is getting.

[Ellp]

My dad is like this. I told him that he shouldn't eat so much fast food but he INSISTS that its the preservatives in the food that would preserve HIM!

At that point there is no sense in argueing with him. He's overweight, got high blood pressure, high colesteral, diabetes etc. :

[ElaineBenes]

lol! I mean it is very hard to eat grapes, an apple or whatever. I have to agree OP, fruit is very easy to eat already!

[velochic]

It's the insidious nature of marketing. Companies know how to spin something to convince people it is "better" for them than another choice. Not better health-wise, but another reason (for Americans, that's usually convenience). I don't mean to be insulting when I say this, but it's ignorance that marketing is able to take advantage of. These advertising campaigns don't work on people who are informed.

[LauraLoo]

The other day I went to the beach with a friend who brought store bought, organic fruit juice frozen pops for her children, and had extra for my kids. She was boasting that they were so good for her kids and gave me the label to read. Of course, the 2nd ingredient on the list was sugar. They were loaded with sugar, and not even organic sugar. I said nothing because I didn't know where to start.

Granted, the organic part is great, but the million grams of sugar kind of outweighed any benefit that I saw. Seems like people now associate anything *organic* with healthy, and that isn't necessarily always the case.

[mamatoablessing]

Originally Posted by velochic

It's the insidious nature of marketing. Companies know how to spin something to convince people it is "better" for them than another choice. Not better health-wise, but another reason (for Americans, that's usually convenience). I don't mean to be insulting when I say this, but it's ignorance that marketing is able to take advantage of. These advertising campaigns don't work on people who are informed.

ITA.

Originally Posted by LauraLoo

The other day I went to the beach with a friend who brought store bought, organic fruit juice frozen pops for her children, and had extra for my kids. She was boasting that they were so good for her kids and gave me the label to read. Of course, the 2nd ingredient on the list was sugar. They were loaded with sugar, and not even organic sugar. I said nothing because I didn't know where to start.

Granted, the organic part is great, but the million grams of sugar kind of outweighed any benefit that I saw. Seems like people now associate anything *organic* with healthy, and that isn't necessarily always the case.

So true. Junk food is junk food, no matter what kind of label it's touting. Just because something is organic does not make it healthy.

[hypnoticsymphony]

I guess you could say some people just aren't educated enough about health.

[CrunchyChristianMama]

I know exactly which commercial you're talking about. I was watching it with my husband and when they said it was juice with bits of real fruit in it he said, "wait, it's got floaties?" So gross when you think of it like that!

[Ruthla]

OK, I can understand being too busy to cook and reaching for the fast foods and the pre-packaged "heat and serve" items. Really, I can. But to actually think they're HEALTHIER than fresh foods??????

[laohaire]

I have noticed the packaging of some junk food in the grocery store to trumpet "ORGANIC" and so on, and DH and I have had conversations about how people must be equating organic with health. Clever. Also, as if that wasn't bad enough, usually only one ingredient in the junk food is organic. Not that it really matters, but it's just insane that having one organic ingredient in a junk food makes people think it's healthy and guilt-free.

We're also tearing our hair out about the whole "study finding organic foods no healthier than conventional" because it's just a red herring. For one thing, I think very few people eat organic because they want more nutrients. The primary health issue is avoiding poison in their food! (Not to mention all the other ecological, moral, and so on reasons to eat organic). I do think that sustainably grown food probably has some more nutrients than conventional, but that's just a side benefit. (And I think a study that showed otherwise probably compared industrially grown organic food to industrially grown conventional food, and I can certainly believe there's little nutritional difference there).

Anyway I went off topic so...

[Rico'sAlice]

I'm pretty sure I saw that episode (with the dog lady and the super-composters, right?) and I think what that woman really meant was that the fast food meal would be more substantial than what they were eating. I don't think she really thinks in terms of nutrients.

[EmeraldFire]

I saw that episode with the woman Sheila with the dogs. She really didn't seem very well informed. She did say to that other family that they should get fast food so they would be eating something with nutrients in it and then buying those processed pot pies too. I was amazed cause at first I thought she was joking.

[PaytonPlace]

There is this commercial that airs mostly during the day (it's on when I'm watching Days of our Lives) for Pediasure, I think it is. This mom is showing all the things her kid "won't eat" and of course it's all the vegetables, whole grains, etc. and she says something like "when my daughter's diet affects her growth & development, I give her Pediasure!". I HATE THAT COMMERCIAL!!!

[smeep]

Totally agreeing with everything thus far. And...

Originally Posted by laohaire

We're also tearing our hair out about the whole "study finding organic foods no healthier than conventional" because it's just a red herring. For one thing, I think very few people eat organic because they want more nutrients. The primary health issue is avoiding poison in their food! (Not to mention all the other ecological, moral, and so on reasons to eat organic). I do think that sustainably grown food probably has some more nutrients than conventional, but that's just a side benefit. (And I think a study that showed otherwise probably compared industrially grown organic food to industrially grown conventional food, and I can certainly believe there's little nutritional difference there).

It's like that study that "proved" that breastmilk doesn't make babies smarter - it's that smarter parents breastfeed, thus it's totally genetics/social status. I did a study comparison on this and the original study that was picked up saying breastfed babies WERE smarter. The second study (showing it didn't) was done in the U.S. where, yes, most women who nurse just so happen to be better educated. The original study saying formula fed babies had lower IQs was done in the Phillipines where people with less education and social status were MORE likely to breastfeed and the ones with more education and a higher social status were LESS likely to breastfeed. If the other study were right, then surely this study would show the same - nope. Totally showed that, in spite of social status and education, the children who were breastfed were STILL smarter. The "not smarter" study was right only in saying breastmilk doesn't make babies smarter - breastmilk is the biological standard therefore formula hinders the brain development of babies, so no, breastfed babies are not smarter - it's formula fed babies who are lesser. Yet nobody paid attention to those factors. It's not like it matters, right? So long as there's a study, regardless of it's flaws, that justifies our choices.

[Cristiaz]

Originally Posted by PaytonPlace

There is this commercial that airs mostly during the day (it's on when I'm watching Days of our Lives) for Pediasure, I think it is. This mom is showing all the things her kid "won't eat" and of course it's all the vegetables, whole grains, etc. and she says something like "when my daughter's diet affects her growth & development, I give her Pediasure!". I HATE THAT COMMERCIAL!!!

I've seen this enough times and it made me ill. Due to commercials depressing the hell out of me, I don't watch TV anymore unless Grey's Anatomy and I mute the commercials, lol.

[EdnaMarie]

There are a lot of people that sincerely believe that advertisements are informational material. It's awfully sad.

[Lynn08]

Ugh. I used to work at a natural food store and people would come in all the time and get crap because it was *organic* and therefore *healthy.* Umm, no, it's still a chocolate bar - it still has 250 calories and 15 grams of fat per serving (or whatever the actual numbers were).

And those commercials just make me sad for people who believe them. Especially the ones for Pediasure, whose parent company, Abbott, also makes Similac and Insomil, as well as many pharmaseuticals including Synthroid and Vicodin. Of course they are going to push something like this for children - they start 'em young with the formula and "supplements" so that they can peddle their drugs when the children grow up and develop health issues.

I could go on, but I might venture into UAV territory, if I haven't already.

[desertpenguin]

i remember earlier this year when my friend offered me some juice and said "it has antioxidants in it!" and pointing at the spiffy label. i was like "doesn't all 100% juice have antioxidants in it????" then she was kinda embarrassed.