![](\"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/TraysOfProcessedFoodOnTable.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\nThe<\/span> <\/span>American Society for Nutrition<\/a> <\/span>has a stated mission, which includes the following: \u201c\u2026 to support the dissemination and application of nutrition science to improve public health.\u201d Fair enough, but they<\/span> <\/span>recently released a position paper<\/a> <\/span>telling us that processed food products are an essential part of a healthy American diet.<\/span> Follow @willclower How Can They Justify Recommending These? The American Society for Nutrition has a stated mission, which includes the following: \u201c\u2026 to support the dissemination and application of nutrition science to … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494,227],"tags":[315],"class_list":["post-1937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-culture-of-health","tag-processed-foods"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-vf","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2383,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2383","url_meta":{"origin":1937,"position":0},"title":"The Bad Boys of the Meat Counter","author":"Will Clower","date":"May 18, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"It's not meat, per se, that makes meat bad for you ... it's the crap they put in them to extend the shelf life. Beef ... fine. Pork ... fine. Lamb ... fine. But you might want to think about cutting down on your Slim Jim fetish. \"Processed meats such\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bookmark and Share","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/v2\/lg-share-en.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2704,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2704","url_meta":{"origin":1937,"position":1},"title":"Chlorinated Brownies","author":"Will Clower","date":"September 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"My daughter was asking about making brownies for a bake sale at her school (a public high school), and was told that she certainly could. Great!!Oh, as long as you make them with chlorinate sugar (a.k.a., Splenda). The cafeteria had gone over their limit in the amount of sugar they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2729,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2729","url_meta":{"origin":1937,"position":2},"title":"Dehydrated Water","author":"Will Clower","date":"August 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's the problem for usThe average American consumes 6 to 18g of salt daily ... but the body needs only about 0.5g of salt each day. And that excess salt (sodium chloride) can lead to increased risk of high blood pressure and stroke. We know this. In fact, the American\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2585,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2585","url_meta":{"origin":1937,"position":3},"title":"Salt By Stealth","author":"Will Clower","date":"April 28, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Eat less salt, lower your risk of heart failure.We know this, but are often not coached very well on how to achieve it. For example, in this research report, researchers found that patients THINK they are lowering their salt by having a few less shakes on their food at the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2644,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2644","url_meta":{"origin":1937,"position":4},"title":"Salty Business","author":"Will Clower","date":"December 11, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The food industry has again come under fire for the amount of salt used in products, as this survey found that sodium levels had remained \u2018essentially the same\u2019 over the past three years.That the salt levels mined from processed food products are the same as they have been in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Articles"","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10549,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=10549","url_meta":{"origin":1937,"position":5},"title":"How many minutes of your lifespan gets erased if you eat a hot dog?","author":"Will Clower","date":"September 1, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Eating healthy foods can extend your life. 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<\/span>Hearing this is as perplexing as reading some kids\u2019 cereal labels plump with sugar, synthetic dyes, and preservatives, while the front side of the box assures us they are \u201can important part of a balanced diet.\u201d On one hand, most adults realize that these kinds of questionable slogans are marketed simply to sell products. In this case, though, it’s an official position paper from a mainstream nutrition organization we trust, as they said themselves, to \u201cimprove public health.\u201d<\/span>
<\/span>The concern begins with the impressive list of conflicts of interest of the authors themselves: owning stock in ConAgra, McCormick, Hershey; consulting for various food and beverage companies; being paid by them to speak; and taking grant money from agribusiness giant Tate & Lyle.<\/span>
<\/span>Beyond these relationships, the article itself makes some unusual claims. It states that to assess the quality of processed foods, we shouldn\u2019t compare their nutritious nature to that of whole foods. This is because (per the authors) the range of nutrients to compare is so broad that such a comparison would be \u201cnot useful.\u201d In other words, they want taken off the table a comparison of real food versus processed food products.<\/span>
<\/span>To evaluate<\/span> <\/span>the health of processed food products<\/a>, then, what should be compared? Only the many kinds of processed foods themselves. In doing this, the ASN article creates a false equivalence by asserting that all processed food products \u2014 from bread, cheese, and frozen peas, to Pop Tarts and frozen corn dogs dipped in aerosol spray cheese \u2014 are all qualitatively the same.<\/span>
<\/span>They can only do this by focusing on the number of vitamins and minerals added to the product. They do not mention the synthetic ingredients, additive sugars, or sodium. In other words, if a collection of dyes, sugars, and preservatives (returning to the example of common breakfast cereals) has a multivitamin in it, it is on the same nutritional level as fresh frozen vegetables or cheese.<\/span>
<\/span>This cartoon absurdity of normalizing bizarre food inventions is dangerous because it avoids obvious issues. No matter how margarine made with hydrogenated oil is fortified, it’s still bad for your heart. The nutrient content of some prepackaged foods doesn\u2019t make their sky-high levels of sodium and sugar suddenly good for you. Finally, eating the food preservatives they laud in this paper (including hydrogenated oil, nitrate\/nitrite, salt, BHT, sodium benzoate) does not reverse the link they all have to some form of chronic disease.<\/span>
<\/span>And this is exactly what makes this position paper so antithetical to public health. Americans<\/span> <\/span>eat an estimated 150 pounds of sugar<\/a> <\/span>per person per year, and about 70 percent of that comes from processed food products. The<\/span> <\/span>CDC estimates<\/a> <\/span>that a mere 10 foods account for more than 40% of our sodium consumption. Defending the source of most sugar and sodium consumption, when a staggering two-thirds of our population ranges from overweight to morbidly obese, is anything<\/span> <\/span>but<\/em> <\/span>serving public health.<\/span>
<\/span>I do understand why agribusiness and the processed food product industry sugarcoat everything they say to the public about themselves and their products. But we all should expect that by now. What\u2019s disheartening is being let down by an institution we trusted to give us straight advice. The American Society for Nutrition endorsed the views of processed food industry spokespeople, and allowed them to speak through the invisibility cloak of scientists writing for their organization.<\/span>
<\/span><\/span>The bottom line is that the position of this position paper is no better than the sugar-filled, neon-colored, processed food product breakfast cereals they defend. And, like these products, the ASN is in serious need of some fortification via one key ingredient our consumer public deserves: integrity.<\/span><\/span>
<\/span>For more information: Click here to visit Will Clower’s website. <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"