By: Brittany Hill

Losing weight is not about eating less food, it’s about eating the right food. Think of your body as a machine. If you put bad in, bad will come out. Likewise, if you put good in, good will come out. For some people in the U.S., and other cultures around the world, eating healthy comes naturally. But Americans are so busy figuring out their “next” step, that food is nothing more than sustenance until the next hunger pain or moment of boredom.

In comes processed foods.

As prevalent as processed foods are in our grocery stores, gas stations and vending machines, there is almost nothing good about them. Nearly all of the ingredients are treated with chemicals impossible to pronounce. Does this worry anyone else? Think about it. Almost everything we are putting into our bodies is full of preservatives. I dare you to read the food labels and seriously tell yourself that you will feel good after ingesting such harmful ingredients.

Remember–put good in, get good out. If you are putting all of these rough chemicals, preservatives, sugar and fat into your body, how do you expect to feel?

The most obvious and easily understood side effects are weight gain, diabetes and heart issues. It is the less obvious side effects that have the greatest presence soon after eating these foods. It may be difficult to believe, but fatigue, skin issues, feeling depressed, sleep problems and concentration levels are directly correlated with your diet.

The high calorie count in processed foods makes you think you are eating something fulfilling. However, in truth, your body craves more food to make up for the lack of nutrition able to fill your stomach for better, long-term functioning. Rest assured, considering our ancestors were hunter-gatherers, our bodies are historically designed to desire salt, sugar and fat–so you’re not crazy for loving every minute of munching down on an entire plate of fries.

Unfortunately, the succumbing to your cravings becomes a vicious cycle. If you are constantly relying on vending machine snacks, processed foods and “quick, cheap” meals from fast food restaurants, it is scientifically proven that you will come back for more. The companies that make these foods do not care about the nutritional content. They care about the profit. When profit is the leading force, health goes out the window. After the big food corporations put disgusting amounts of salt and preservatives into their food, the food loses its taste. Luckily for them, fat is equally as cheap as salt. So, after all the processing that allows food to stay on the shelves for months on end, they add tons of fat to the food to give it a “flavor” they hope you taste.

The scary part: so many food labels are a fraud. Some foods will say they are flavored by one thing, but do not actually have any ingredients that match the label. General Mills’ Blueberry Pomegranate Total cereal has no mention of neither blueberry or pomegranate on the ingredient list. The producers hope that the consumer will psychologically believe that the chemical concoctions they add to their product match up with what the label says.

Losing weight goes way beyond trying the newest diet or taking the newest diet pill. It is a lifestyle change. A majority of the foods in your grocery store are there for entertainment–nothing else. Stop resorting to fast food and processed snacks. They are expensive for what they offer nutritionally, give you terrible skin, affect your sleep pattern and minimize your mental cognition. I know they are tasty and are visually intriguing, but it is the processed foods that are making us fat–the sooner you eradicate them from your diet, the sooner you will feel better in mind, body and spirit. If you treat your body well, it will treat you well.