Nutritional Cigarettes

Anything with high fructose corn syrup, MSG (monosodium glutamate), aspartame, sucralose, a thousand and one ingredients, ingredients I don't know and/or can't pronounce, artificial colrs and/or flavors.

These are things I consider "nutritional cigarettes". Eating them won't kill you immediately, but they are probably so bad for you that you might as well smoke a cigarette. Like cigarettes, one won't kill you, but having one does bodily harm and over time will most likely (not always) lead to disease. And, also like cigarettes, they are addictive (people crave them), are hard to quit and give some (immediate) pleasure to those ingesting them.

Eating healthy to most people means giving up the foods they love. It means no more fast food, no more chocolate, no more dessert...just cardboard and boring stuff. This is of course far from the truth, but it's hard to start making that change towards health when your life has been so filled with unhealthy things.

For me, I try to avoid "nutritional cigarettes" as much as possible, but that does NOT mean I don't indulge in "bad" foods. Instead of a chips ahoy cookie, I would rather have a nice homemade cookie. Instead of ice cream from baskin robbins, I would rather go for a mom and pop ice cream shop that has homemade ice cream...or actually, frozen yogurt since I am lactose intolerant. Instead of doritos, there are plenty of wholesome tortilla chips that have FAR less ingedients and made without all the junk that doritos are made with.

And of course, many people might say, you only live once. Or, everybody eats this stuff, you don't see everyone getting sick. or "George Burns smoked a cogar every day of his life". Well, the only thing I can say is that a) it is not about living long, but living WELL and that means taking care of yourself b) No, not everyone is sick, but many people are and increasingly so. Plus while everyone may not be dropping like flies, we have a high rates of heart disease, diabetes and other debilitating and chronic illnesses c) we are not all going to be George Burns.

The chemicals and unhealthy ingredients in the processed and packaged foods we eat are not going to do us any good. And while it might be okay to have those few oreos now and then, most of don't only have it "now and then". We are a processed food nation. Go to your local supermarket and check out the "breakfast foods". You will likely find cereals with high sugar, low fiber and high fructose corn syrup, bagels with "enriched flour" and high fructose corn syrup, "whole grain bread" with....you guessed it - HCFS! Let's not go into lunch and dinner.

If we treated "nutritional" cigarettes" as treats, maybe we would not be so unhealthy. Unfortunately, MANY foods are void of ANY nutrional value. If breakfast consisted of oatmeal with raisins and nuts, or eggs and REAL whole grain bread, and then a handful of chips ahoy cookies...then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. I still would rather they be homemade or wholesomely made (which are available packaged), but at least it is less of the whole than the aforementioned breakfasts.

Our bodies serve us and we only have ONE body per lifetime. We take care of our cars so that they lasts you a long time and to decrease frequencies of breakdowns...why wouldn't we do the same for our bodies? Why do we go to the "good" gas stations for the good gas and then fill our bodies with CRAP? We may feel fine now, we may not feel sick or feel as if we are doing anything harmful, but one day, all those nutritional cigarettes' harms may accumulate and then we will wish we had taken care of ourselves better. And even if we don't get seriously ill, we may wind up with those chronic diseases that make life harder to live. Don't wait until that happens.

Quitting smoking is not easy, neither is switching to a healthier, more wholesome diet. It takes time, effort and determination. But, your body will thank you. Trust me.