Please Don’t Super-Size Me

They may not refer to it as “super-sizing” anymore but the sizes of meals in the fast food chains are still pretty hefty. And in this day and age of economic slow-down, it’s easy to want more for your money. For a few extra cents, you can double the serving size of your French fries and soda and even get a sugary dessert treat. This may look like a great deal but the truth is, when it comes to our health it’s a really bad deal.

Portion sizes are getting larger and so are our waistlines. We’re eating more food now than we ever have before, and what we’re failing to realize is that while the calories we are consuming are up, our activity levels are down. We’re watching too much television, we sit in front of our computers for hours on end, and instead of walking or biking we drive everywhere…even to the corner store. In North America, reports estimate that caloric intake is up by an average of 340 per day due to the availability of inexpensive, calorie-dense foods and eating out at fast-food joints regularly. Vegetables, fruit and fibre are often absent from high-calorie diets, and these types of high-calorie diets provide little or no valuable nutrients our bodies need to maintain good health. Not only is fast-food high in calories it is typically high in sodium, saturated fats and trans fats, and some fast-food is very high in sugar.

Nutrient depleted and high-calorie foods as well as lifestyle choices are taking their toll on the health of many people. Obesity, type 2-diabetes (also known as adult on-set diabetes), high blood pressure and heart disease are becoming the ‘regular’ chronic diseases of Western civilization, and other developed countries are not far behind. There is no doubt that fast-food is here to stay and unless we start to change our choices when we’re grabbing that quick meal, experts warn we are creating a generation of very unhealthy people who create a huge burden on the health care system.

The good news is that there are ways of making healthier choices when eating fast-food and the key is to educate ourselves about different options. One place to start is realizing a ‘regular’ serving size isn’t that regular anymore and instead of eating everything put in front of us, we need to pay attention to the ‘I’m full’ feeling we get when we eat a little more slowly. Many fast-food joints and restaurants are offering more nutritious alternatives as well as providing customers with nutrition information. By choosing grilled or broiled foods, a salad instead of the fries, skipping the sauces and cheese, asking for the butter, sour cream and salad dressing on the side and choosing water or fresh juice instead of soda we can begin to take control of our health choices. And if you must eat at these places, please avoid the drive-thru and get out of the car, walk in and get your fast-food fix.

Another thing to keep in mind about fast-foods is that by consuming them we are creating an acidic environment in our body due to the high fat, sodium and sugar content in them, and disease thrives in an acidic environment. Because of this it’s important to limit our intake of these nutrient depleted foods and strive to maintain a steady pH (acid-alkaline) balance of body fluids. Reducing (or eliminating) the amount of fast-foods we’re consuming and eating a diet rich in fresh colorful vegetables and fruits, whole grains, raw nuts and seeds, fish and lean meats, unprocessed oils and fats, drug-free and free-range eggs, and low-fat organic dairy products can have a very beneficial effect on our health.

Green barley grass juice is also an ideal food to enhance our nutritional intake and one of the most fundamental benefits of barley grass juice is its incredible alkalizing effect. Barley grass juice has a neutral pH of 7.0, and contains alkaline minerals that can neutralize acidic materials. A whole food concentrate made from green barley juice is AIM BarleyLife® which provides us with vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants, phytochemicals, protein, amino acids, and chlorophyll. When taken every day, BarleyLife® helps our cells to function optimally and the rich source of nutrients contained in BarleyLife® helps to maintain whole body health.

The next time you feel like a fix of fast food, check your appetite at the door and try to choose something a little healthier from the menu. If we listen to our bodies and not our taste buds, we’re sure to hear that inner voice saying “please don’t super-size me”!

For more information about AIM BarleyLife® please visit http://www.followthegreen.com/ or My AIM Store website at http://myaimstore.com/awealthofhealth/ where you can read more, download a datasheet and watch a video. As with any supplement it is always recommended to read the literature thoroughly to find out if the product is right for you, and consult your health care practitioner if you have any medical conditions or concerns.