BY KAREN THORNE
Karen is an Eating Psychology Coach. She is the creator of the Conscious Eating Programme: Changing your thoughts about food to transform your body and your life.
Find out more about Karen's work here.
Listening to The 4th Annual Food Revolution Summit 2015, one speaker got my attention when he started talking about the billions of dollars food companies spend marketing their products to children and the fact that there’s junk food everywhere.
John Robbins reported that the science on food addiction has now established that much of the low nutrient, high calorie and intensely salty, sweet and fatty foods produce the exact biochemical reaction in the brain that are characteristic of substance abuse. We know this has been carefully orchestrated, because the food industry employs what is known as “Craveability Specialists” who design their products to maximise their addictive nature.
Joel Fuhrman, M.D. highlighted that much of the general public aren’t aware of the relationship between processed/junk food and depression. He talked about research showing that those who eat junk food twice a week have double the rate of depression, highlighting the link between processed foods and behaviour. He says processed foods and low nutrient foods have been linked to criminal behaviour and poor success rates at school. Not only are these foods highly addictive and are destructive, they are ruining children’s lives as they are responsible for many childhood cancers.
Low nutrient foods are not nourishing children’s brains, therefore they are not reaching their full potential. Dr. Fuhrman goes on to remind us that there’s much suffering due to poor food choices and that we must understand the real costs. By this, he says people need to change the way they eat and the way children eat.
I’ve often wondered how our society has got into such a big problem with ‘food’ and this discussion reminded me of when my daughter was 3 years old and at nursery school. I volunteered to help out at lunch-time serving the children their food. I happily served each child, meat, potatoes and veg until the manager called across the room “Karen, what are you doing?” “Serving the children their lunch”, I replied. To which she sternly announced “You haven’t asked them what they want. It’s written in the policy, children have a choice and you MUST ask the children to choose what they want to eat!” I was stunned.
I think this is where it all began and the Food Industry, being aware of ‘choice’ policies, jumped on the opportunity to ‘up’ their marketing strategies towards children. Now, we are left with a legacy of a society where many suffer food cravings, emotionally eat, and have unhealthy relationships with their food.
If this is you, I offer a free 30 minute ‘Heal your relationship with food’ consultation. For further details, contact Karen Thorne, Eating Psychology Coach on 07804 529371.
Karen is an Eating Psychology Coach. She is the creator of the Conscious Eating Programme: Changing your thoughts about food to transform your body and your life.
Find out more about Karen's work here.
Listening to The 4th Annual Food Revolution Summit 2015, one speaker got my attention when he started talking about the billions of dollars food companies spend marketing their products to children and the fact that there’s junk food everywhere.
John Robbins reported that the science on food addiction has now established that much of the low nutrient, high calorie and intensely salty, sweet and fatty foods produce the exact biochemical reaction in the brain that are characteristic of substance abuse. We know this has been carefully orchestrated, because the food industry employs what is known as “Craveability Specialists” who design their products to maximise their addictive nature.
Joel Fuhrman, M.D. highlighted that much of the general public aren’t aware of the relationship between processed/junk food and depression. He talked about research showing that those who eat junk food twice a week have double the rate of depression, highlighting the link between processed foods and behaviour. He says processed foods and low nutrient foods have been linked to criminal behaviour and poor success rates at school. Not only are these foods highly addictive and are destructive, they are ruining children’s lives as they are responsible for many childhood cancers.
Low nutrient foods are not nourishing children’s brains, therefore they are not reaching their full potential. Dr. Fuhrman goes on to remind us that there’s much suffering due to poor food choices and that we must understand the real costs. By this, he says people need to change the way they eat and the way children eat.
I’ve often wondered how our society has got into such a big problem with ‘food’ and this discussion reminded me of when my daughter was 3 years old and at nursery school. I volunteered to help out at lunch-time serving the children their food. I happily served each child, meat, potatoes and veg until the manager called across the room “Karen, what are you doing?” “Serving the children their lunch”, I replied. To which she sternly announced “You haven’t asked them what they want. It’s written in the policy, children have a choice and you MUST ask the children to choose what they want to eat!” I was stunned.
I think this is where it all began and the Food Industry, being aware of ‘choice’ policies, jumped on the opportunity to ‘up’ their marketing strategies towards children. Now, we are left with a legacy of a society where many suffer food cravings, emotionally eat, and have unhealthy relationships with their food.
If this is you, I offer a free 30 minute ‘Heal your relationship with food’ consultation. For further details, contact Karen Thorne, Eating Psychology Coach on 07804 529371.
RSS Feed
