Food manufacturers spend massive amounts of resources on making their foods as “rewarding

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ruthfmoy
ruthfmoy Posts: 11 Member
edited October 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
nature.Evolution provided us with taste buds that are supposed to help us navigate the natural food environment.Our appetite gravitates towards foods that are sweet, salty and fatty, because we know such foods contain energy and nutrients that we need for survival.Obviously, if a food manufacturer wants to succeed and get people to buy their product, it has to taste good.But today, the competition is fierce. There are many different food manufacturers, all competing with each other.For this reason, massive resources are spent on making foods as desirable as possible.Many processed foods have been engineered to be so incredibly “rewarding” to the brain, that they overpower anything we might have come across in nature.We have complicated mechanisms in our bodies and brains that are supposed to regulate energy balance (how much we eat and how much we burn) – which, until very recently in evolutionary history, worked to keep us at a healthy weight.truth is, processed foods are so incredibly rewarding to our brains that they affect our thoughts and behavior, making us eat more and more until eventually we become sick.Good food is good, but foods that are engineered to be hyper rewarding, effectively short circuiting our innate brakes against overconsumption, are NOT good.

http://www.wakingtimes.com/2014/01/24/9-ways-processed-foods-slowly-killing-people/
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Replies

  • Whitezombiegirl
    Whitezombiegirl Posts: 1,042 Member
    edited October 2015
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    But hyper-palatable goods taste sooooooo good! As with most things- moderation is key.



  • TheBeachgod
    TheBeachgod Posts: 825 Member
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    Which is where personal accountability comes in.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    Which is why it is so important to engage our frontal lobes (our latest evolutionary advantage) to stop-think before acting.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    Luckily, I am an intelligent and self-aware adult, so I can choose to eat manufactured foods mindfully and in moderation.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    edited October 2015
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    I try to make the food that I cook at home taste as good as I possibly can, so that my family eats more of it. Does that make me an evil food manufacturer preying on their delicate, fragile self control mechanisms in their brains?
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
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    Why shouldn't manufacturers make their products appealing to consumers?
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    I think I'm going to go into business making bad-tasting food. Then go bankrupt.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
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    WinoGelato wrote: »
    I try to make the food that I cook at home taste as good as I possibly can, so that my family eats more of it. Does that make me an evil food manufacturer preying on their delicate, fragile self control mechanisms in their brains?

    Seems like.

    Funny Bones are back on the market, btw. Hooray for victimhood!

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited October 2015
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    TheBeachgod wrote: »
    Which is where personal accountability comes in.

    +1

    I actually don't like most highly processed foods nearly as much as homemade, and I certainly am not incapable of controlling myself with them. If you think you are, change what you eat. I'm another who tries to make the food I cook as tasty as possible, also.

    As I keep saying, I think the biggest victory of the manufacturers is in convincing us we should be eating all the time.
  • TheBeachgod
    TheBeachgod Posts: 825 Member
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    So are Frankenberry, Booberry and Count Chocula for Halloween! I bought some Frankenberry a few days ago!
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    This is your second thread like this today

    Are you here to spread your personal wisdom, are you copy and pasting ideas you find interesting? Do you want discussion?

    It all seems a little forced and odd to me
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    Well, yeah.

    Their ultimate goal is usually to maximise profits which makes it good for them if consumers buy their products and especially if they over consume them.

    Admittedly some companies have corporate social responsibility commitments but profit will always trump that.

    They are not in the business of being your friend or being concerned about your health no matter how many sporting events they sponsor or advertisements they pump out to the contrary.
  • SergeantSausage
    SergeantSausage Posts: 1,673 Member
    edited October 2015
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    Uhhh ...

    We all do this in our own kitchens, right?

    We want "rewarding", tastes good foods that we evolved to like/crave.

    Nobody sits down at the dinner table and says "Holy hell, Batman, I sure am glad I made this bland, tasteless, unrewarding, unfulfilling dinner tonight!" ... right?

    WE ALL DO THIS. DAILY.

    You are unnecessarily demonizing sound business practice (evolve your product/service to what the market demands ... or go bankrupt and die) just so you can point The Finger Of Blame at someone other than yourself.

    It's time to quit the fear mongering and accept responsibility for your own actions.

    Without that, you will surely fail, whatever your goals, in weight loss, fitness, health, and life.

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
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    WinoGelato wrote: »
    I try to make the food that I cook at home taste as good as I possibly can, so that my family eats more of it. Does that make me an evil food manufacturer preying on their delicate, fragile self control mechanisms in their brains?

    I used to scour the ingredient lists of my children's favourite processed foods (Kraft Dinner, Wonder Bread) to wingle out their secrets. By way of this espionage, I now add dry mustard to my cheese sauce, and xanthan gum to my home-made bread.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    edited October 2015
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    I don't know that food manufacturers are the only reason we're overweight. It seems to me that throughout "modern" history, humans with access to basically unlimited foods would easily get over weight. I guess I'm saying, are you saying King Henry VIII was somehow not being "short circuited"? Or is it that you consider 16th century royal bakers to be included in the general category of "Engineered Food Manufacturer"?

    I'm not saying there isn't some devious sensory mojo going on with the smell of McDonald's french fries (I can smell a McDonald's from, like, 2 miles away...). My question is is it more the availability of the food that short circuits our "innate brakes"? Or is it the actually chemistry of the engineered food? Or is it the "culture" we live in where we don't seem to value moderation and simple living and praise one another and glamorize rational intake?
  • _benjammin
    _benjammin Posts: 1,224 Member
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    ... copy and pasting...
    Guaranteed

  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    jgnatca wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    I try to make the food that I cook at home taste as good as I possibly can, so that my family eats more of it. Does that make me an evil food manufacturer preying on their delicate, fragile self control mechanisms in their brains?

    I used to scour the ingredient lists of my children's favourite processed foods (Kraft Dinner, Wonder Bread) to wingle out their secrets. By way of this espionage, I now add dry mustard to my cheese sauce, and xanthan gum to my home-made bread.

    That makes you an evil genius. You shall henceforth be known as Dr. Nefario



  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    It's polite to include a link to the source when you rip someone off. Original appears to be: http://authoritynutrition.com/9-ways-that-processed-foods-are-killing-people/
  • msf74
    msf74 Posts: 3,498 Member
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    WBB55 wrote: »
    I'm not saying there isn't some devious sensory mojo going on with the smell of McDonald's french fries (I can smell a McDonald's from, like, 2 miles away...).

    It's a well known trick of the trade to deliberately pump out enticing scents from a store to lure customers on an unconscious level.

    I think Subway does so with the smell of fresh bread. Your nose knows their is a Subway store nearby usually before your eyes or stomach does!

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