Processed food is definitely engineered. I might be charitable and say it's not done to make people overeat exactly, just to keep buying the processed product, but the effect is the same.
Combine that with a long term economic situation where people are worked off their feet (and usually both parents are, if you're lucky to live in a two-parent household), with precious little time to cook meals from raw ingredients, and it's a recipe for a health disaster.
Still. I've got a monosodium glutamate recipe book. Just can't get enough of it.
@LiteralElite yes not made to make you eat more ,, but to drink more ,, with all that is put in it make it last ,, i agree it does make is easier for those that work as it saves time ,,, but if you have a slow cooker you can make what ever is fast the same way only healthier ,, both my parents worked when i was growing up ,, and they had 5 children ,, i being the oldest at the time (12) was responsible , to get the siblings fed and to school and the youngest to the sitter ,, after school i had to clean and make sure the family was feed and meals ready for mom and dad ,,, not complaining ,,, life deals you what happens ,, so if you have children let them do some of the home and cooking it will help them later in life ,,,
I like food. I especially like food I didn't have to prepare. It's not that I can't cook or won't cook. But I feel so tired so much of the time. That I want something quick and easy. I have forgotten how to be stable and balanced. I used to cook nearly every other night after work. Because I cooked enough for a day or 2. But these days despite finishing work at 2pm... I'm shattered! Since about 2018 ish I've been feeling this overwhelming feeling of tiredness and consequently because of it I just don't have what it takes to muster the strength to do very much. I walk my dog 3x a day which helps me to keep fit but I feel like I don't really sleep anymore. And my weight has increased. My eating habits aren't always the best but they're also not the worst.
So yes buying food fast is more appealing. When you feel so tired all the time. Sometimes I go as far as not eating meals 3 or 4 nights in a row.
Especially this: "It's not that I can't cook or won't cook. But I feel so tired so much of the time."
Some real easy kinda healthy meals I've found are: microwaving eggs in a cup with cheese/leftover meat/spinach/salt and pepper. Next, get the tub of yogurt in the dairy section that is greek yogurt plus honey, get chopped walnuts and almonds from the bakery/flour section of the grocery store, and blueberries if you can handle perishable foods, and its SO GOOD mixed together. lasts a few meals. Yogurt good for a month and nuts good for about a year.
MSG added to food as a “flavor enhancer” when in reality it is an appetite stimulant is one big reason why. Plus the variety of different ethnic foods means that a person will never be bored with their diet and will tend to overeat due to that. So many processed foods available that it makes it easy and quick to buy them and have for a meal or snack.
@HellsBelle I do cook my own food. I find single herbs and spices and a few blends that are MSG free. I can tell if it has MSG in it because MSG causes me to have heart palpitations after eating something with it in it. I think one of the most flavorful combinations is lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. It even tastes good on a plain cooked bowl of beans. Good on chicken baked with it too. I also add a bit of lemon juice and olive oil to a lot of the soups that I cook.
@HellsBelle Can add oregano or thyme to the lemon and oil, maybe other green herbs. Green dill weed is very flavorful, it’s good cooked in rice or rice dishes with chicken, green beans or baby Lima beans and is also good on deviled eggs and potato salad.
Too good. Bombarded with sugar? Other than the meat and vegetable sections in the grocery store everything on the interior of the store is bombarded with sugar and salt to make it taste too good.
Processed food is often engineered so the consumer will never feel completely full up and will crave more. That's good for the manufacturer, not so good for us.
It's certainly not the only reason but yeah, I think there's some truth to it. Junk food tastes great while healthy food usually tastes bad, mediocre or just kind of.... boring. Plus, all the salt and sugar makes you want more of the crappy food and drink, even when you're not hungry or thirsty anymore.
