Wednesday, September 4, 1985
Daily Nebraskan
Page 17
100 natural foods aren't plastic wrapped
That's tho
l". I " ..Annhnarrf anH nnccSklv TuT. "."v, " . VPK WOIl I pay.
eryaisiti j - F..j iUe won i eat rigm, exercise enough
They're everywhere in your groc-
.i.Hv in vour body.
Don't take another bite. They're
imnosters! I'm talking about pseudo-
health foods. ,
You've seen these products labeled
"lite," "100 percent natural" and "Fea
therweight." Perhaps you've even bought
some of these products, thinking you
were making health-conscious pur-chases.
Cheryl
Petersen
If you have, you've been ripped off. In
my opinion, the entire "health food"
industry and craze is a rip-off, yet it is
flourishing.
Everyone seems to worry about their
health, but not many seem willing to
pay the price. I'm not talking about
money. In that sense, people will pay
anything to be healthy. But you can't
health: vou have to work at it.
V J V
or put forth the effort to adjust their
habits to improve their hpalt.h inetoH
they choose to support an industry of
quackery.
t Two types of people are suckered
into buying everything in the health
food section at the grocery store. Some
people think anything in that aisle
must be good for them and can't be
fattening. They think they only need to
eat this food to be healthy, no matter
how many Big Macs they eat on the side
or how little they exercise.
These kind of people think they are
fit if they eat one salad a week and
chew sugarless gum. So they load their
grocery carts with cans of fruit labeled
"Diet Delite," and packages of "All
Natural Chocolate Crunchee Snax" and
ignore the inflated prices and lists of
ingredients that look like the glossary
of a chemistry book.
The second type of people genuinely
are concerned with their health. How
ever, they still buy these products
because of misleading labels.
A box of granola bars containing
chocolate, sugar, brown sugar, corn
syup and fructose is labeled "100 Per
cent Natural" in fluorescent orange
letters. If people only read the front of
the package they may believe the pro
duct really is natural. Yet, anything
that is really natural is not wrapped in
cellophane wrappers, boxed and
stamped with an expiration date.
Many people in this group probably
buy Wheaties because of its American
image. The cereal is associated with
being strong, healthy and athletic.
Mary Lou is on the front of the box. How
healthy and patriotic can you get?
Most people probably never have
checked the ingredients, the second of
which is sugar.
People who buy these products reallv
think they are doing themselves a
favor. Wrong. Most health or diet pro
ducts are the same as or sometimes
even worse than their "regular" coun
terparts two aisles over. The differ
ence? They are labeled differently and
cost more.
For instance, I compared a can of
Calorie-free drink is vital
Featherweight pears with the store's
regular brand. The Featherweight ones
were packed in natural pear juices. So
were the store's name brand pears. The
Featherweight pears had 60 calories
per serving. The store's had 50 calories
per serving. The Featherweight brand
wa $1.26 for 15 ounces and the other
brand cost 88 cents.
Then there are diet desserts. I can't
figure out who these are made for. If
people are sincerely health-conscious
they wouldn't eat this stuff anyway. If
you really have a sweet tooth and are
trying to satisfy a craving, you might as
well have the real thing.
Maybe products like "Diet Choco
late Mousse" are made for people who
need some justification for eating eight
servings of dessert. They don't have to
feel guilty if the package says "diet,"
no matter what it contains.
If the health food aisle is the wrong
place to shop, where should you be?
Simple. The produce aisle. These are
natural products; they just don't have it
stamped all over them.
My advice for a healthy diet is to buy
about 80 percent of your groceries in
the produce section. With such a wide
variety, you're sure to find something
you like and it's all good for you. Split
the other 20 percent of your shopping
between the meat case and the dairy
section. I think you'd be surprised at
the wide variety of foods you can get,
and you'll certainly have a healthier
diet than if you bought a lot of boxed
and canned "health" foods.
This shopping system can work for
anyone in any living situation. If you're
always in a hurry and hate to cook, or if
you live in the residence halls but don't
want to eat the food there,' lots of fresh
fruit and cheeses would be great for
you. If you're a galloping gourmet, then
you should buy lots of vegetables and
whip up some Chinese cuisine in your
wok.
We live in such a convenience
oriented society that ordering a burger
and fries at a drive-through is too easy.
But it's just as easy to go to the store
once a week and wheel a cart down the
produce aisle. You just have to change
your way of thinking and plan ahead.
With the humidity recently nearing
100 percent, it's hard to believe that
one of the most important elements
that your body needs is water.
I would guess that all runners, peo
ple who simply run for fun and those
who frequently are physically active,
have a day of reckoning. For me, it was
the day of my first and so far, only
five-mile race.
I had been running for what seemed
like forever when the mirage of a
"designated water station" finally
became reality at the 2V4-mile mark. I
was confused. I needed a swimming
pool, but all I got was one lousy cup of
water. I poured the water over my head
and threw the wadded cup to the side
of the street with all the other legiti
mate litter. Rocky Balboa, eat your
heart out.
As I was reminded from my expe
rience, regulating body temperature is
one of the essential functions of water.
On the average, we need two quarts of
water a day to replace the water lost
r
,5f J Sandy
S C Gordon
through continuous skin evaporation,
lung respiration and excretion. That
amount of water equivalent to eight
glasses of water a day may sound
like a lot, but we not only get water
from the fluids we drink and from the
recycled water in our bodies, but from
everything we eat. The average Saltine
cracker, for example, contains nearly
15 percent water. Cottage cheese has
nearly 80 percent and lettuce has 95
percent.
Most of us maintain the balance of
water in our bodies by becoming thirsty.
However, athletes may neglect to replace
the amount of water lost during exer
cise and may need to schedule fre
quent water breaks. Of course, the
amount of water needed depends on
the duration and the level of activity.
As most weight-conscious people
know, water contains no calories.
But, water may be retained in the
body, resulting in temporary weight
gain. Still, if water is substitued for
snacks, soft drinks and alcoholic bev
erages, you probably will lose weight.
Help us caver you. Newsline
Daily Nebraskan 's 472-1763
Attention American
Indian Students
Students interested in possibility of
i
forming a Native American Organization
on campus will meet Thursday,
September 5, 1985 at 1:00 p.m.,
room 43, Henzlik Hall.
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