What do you get when you mix a few chemicals with flavoured fat, processed sugar and concentrated milk?
The answer is, a lump of sweet fat, better known as a CANDY BAR.
As you can see from it's basic ingredients, candy is not a health-food. Neither, for that matter, are cookies. Indeed, since both these foods contain large amounts of sugar or fat, or both, and have no real food-value, it would be more accurate to call them ill-health foods.
So why do we eat so much of them? Why are we filling our bodies and those of our children with all this unhealthy, fattening junk? The answer is, because we are completely brain-washed by advertising.
Let's start with TV advertising for chocolate. Almost every time we turn on the TV, we see lots of slim, happy people sinking their beautiful white teeth into bars of chocolate. Or, we see smiling mothers feeding candy to their teenagers.
However, one thing we never see is a fat child eating chocolate! Why not? Because the advertisers want to brain-wash us into believing that candy doesn't make you fat. But that's not all. They also want us to believe that candy makes us energetic and happy.
Instead of swallowing this ridiculous nonsense, why not do yourself and your family a big favour! Next time you see a TV commercial for candy, remember this: candy is bad for your heart, bad for your teeth, bad for your weight, bad for your shape and reduces your energy. No wonder it needs advertising!
Cookies
Another heavily advertised snack food, is cookies. According to the advertisers, cookies make an ideal snack or go perfectly with a soft drink or a coffee.
What the advertisers never reveal, however, is that cookies are usually rich in both fat and sugar, which means that they too are bad for your heart, bad for your weight and bad for your teeth. Enjoy them as an occasional treat, by all means, but don't be fooled into thinking that they are an ideal snack - they aren't!
If you want to treat yourself or your children to something sweet, choose something with more nutrition and less fat, like a low-fat yogurt, or some raisins, or a banana, or a slice of whole wheat bread and jam.
The truth is, neither candy nor cookies provide us with any real nutrition. Instead, because they contain significant amounts of fat and sugar, they help us to gain weight and lose our health.
So if you want the best for yourself and your children, my advice is to do two things.
First, start buying less of this heavily advertised junk-food. Second, start telling your children the facts about food. Remember, they need you to tell them the truth, to balance what they see on TV.
Whatever you do, stop being brain-washed by all this fancy advertising and start thinking for yourself. It'll make it a lot easier to lose weight.
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Candy "Treats"
When you were small, did your mother ever say to you: 'You've been so naughty that I'm going to buy you a candy bar'?
No, of course not. Like every other child, you only received a bar of chocolate or something similar when you were good.
And no doubt this process continued as you grew up. Candy on Valentine's Day; candy at Easter; candy and cake on your birthday; candy at Thanksgiving and at Christmas, a special cake on your wedding day, chocolates on your anniversary and so on. That's why, you and probably every other adult in the country are now brainwashed into associating candy-type foods with happiness.
Thus, not only do you feed yourself on this sort of fattening, teeth-rotting junk, you also give it to your children - who in turn will probably give it to their children.
Meanwhile, as I mention above, the food industry is only too eager to encourage this habit. Every day, TV advertising reinforces the connection between candy and happiness, cookies and pleasure. Indeed, according to a recent survey, the Top 20 advertised foods on TV are nearly all junk-foods.
So what's the solution? Well, like everything else, it's a question of balance. Eating the occasional cookie or candy bar is not going to do you any harm. However, start eating this food regularly and watch your waistline grow - it won't be long before the fat starts to appear!
Of course, I realise that for some of you, this is easier said than done, especially if you are a candy or cookie-addict, or if you have children who aren't overweight and who don't understand why they should suddenly stop eating this sort of food. In this case, your best bet is to improve your diet one step at a time.
Improving Your Diet Gradually
For example, as far as your own eating is concerned, try this: eat normally for one week, but write down exactly how many candy bars or cookies you eat. Then, over the next couple of months, gradually reduce this amount to (say) one bar and half a dozen cookies per week.
At the same time, it's a good idea to fill up with more low-fat yogurts and fruit - I know of one man who completely cured his after-dinner craving for biscuits, simply by eating a carton of light yogurt instead.
Getting your children to eat less junk-food requires more effort. An essential first-step is to explain why it is bad for them and to get them to co-operate in eating less of it. After that, the most important thing to do, is to set them a good example - remember, it was probably you who gave them a taste for these junk-foods, in the first place! (oops)
