Processed foods are not your friend

This week I find myself in mourning as I have lost a dear and beloved friend. Corn Chips. With the promise of Low Fat, Less Carbs, no Trans Fat, I BELIEVED my friend's packaging and let them wend their way back into my diet. 

But, and there is always a butt in my mirror, my Corn Chips deceived me. Even with the packaging, they are a processed food. This is the "P" word, and it is bad.

Chemicals are used when processing foods. Vitamins are stripped, then artificially restored. Forget trying to determine what is artificial during this restoration, as if we were ever told, we would live off of “pine floats.” In the South, this is known as “water with a toothpick.” Butt, and yes I still see mine trying to hide, processed foods either slow my weight loss or increase the gain.

I cry to the Heavens, “The package says low fat and the carbs are within my food plan. So what's the prob?” The Heavens respond: fancy packaging, borderline false advertising and profit.

Should have known my Guardian Angel has a degree in economics.

In order to retain Corn Chip crispness, the corn is broken down and rebuilt to perfection. Mystery additives to restore its taste and color, and preservatives to maintain the beloved crispy texture. Remember when President Reagan declared ketchup a vegetable? Same premise. In processed foods, we no longer have corn as a vegetable. It’s a “glam Hollywood party going” slick chip. 

Corn Chips are not the ones I researched that included REAL vitamins and fibers that are good for me. It has become a carb that includes chemicals that I can’t pronounce. I call these chemicals the unmentionables. 

In my Journey, I learned from Overeaters Anonymous to count items on a label by commas. The first five ingredients must be recognizable, and the average shopper must be able to pronounce them.

LABEL ALERT: Sugar should never be part of the first five. Sneaky sugar has disguised itself and goes by many names: sucrose, dextrose, fructose, corn syrup, malt, sorbitol, galactose, lactose and polydextrose to name a few. It's hard to catch at times but in a Journey one must look carefully down the path or we run the risk of losing the path instead of weight.

Even though I thought I was doing the right thing, the weight was still there. So, my fellow weight warriors, I had to re-evaluate my food, my activity and look carefully at what I was consuming.   

Processed foods are made for a long shelf life. Remember the original Twinkie? Fairly confident some are still on the shelf as they do not biodegrade, so always be leery of a "best if consumed date" of the next millennium.

I’m not advocating running to the organic side of the grocery store. Too expensive and some organic foods have their own issues. For now, I just need to read and be mindful of my choices. At this time I choose to let go of my corn chips as my "go to" side dish. 

However, they, like chocolate, are put in the OK on a special-occasion-food group. Remember on our Journey if your body is craving chocolate or in my case, corn chips, if you do not allow yourself the occasional indulgence, you will obsess. 

Affirmation: Love is all around and I welcome it!

Martha T. Soto-Galicia, the president of The Lebanon Voice, is a longtime dieter and a motivational speaker. She lives in Lebanon.