Your Food is Making You Sick

Have you ever heard the saying, "you are what you eat?"

What you are putting into your body is quickly transformed into energy. It only makes sense, then, if you eat a high-calorie, fatty, sugary breakfast you're going to feel sluggish, tired and hungry again within a few hours.

As a nation, we are eating pre-packaged foods loaded with sugars, salts and artificial ingredients, colors and flavorings.

What cumulative effect is this having on our health? It's a no-brainer.

It's not a surprise that as a country, our health is a growing concern. Obesity, diabetes and heart disease are all on the rise. In fact, according to the American Diabetes Association, 3,600 youth are newly diagnosed with type-2 diabetes annually. Nearly 26 million children and adults in the U.S. have diabetes and 79 million Americans have pre-diabetes.

It's time to change the way you eat, live and play.

Do you know the difference between processed foods and real foods?

When you walk into most grocery stores, anything placed in the middle is processed, including bread, crackers and chips, cereals, etc. Real foods are typically placed on the outside aisles (fruit and veggies). You don't necessarily need to completely cut the middle aisles out of your shopping trip, but it's time to recognize what this food is doing to your health.

What about some ingredients that are being added into your foods?

One major ingredient that's being added into your food is trans fat. Trans fats (trans fatty acids) are created in an industrial process that adds hydrogen to liquid vegetable oils to make food more solid. Trans fats raise your LDL cholesterol levels (your bad cholesterol). There is no healthy level of trans fat that you can eat.

Two types of preservatives you should be avoiding are Butylated hydroxyanisole, or what is put on food labels as BHA. BHA is used in products that contain fats and oils to prevent them from going bad. The second preservative is propyl gallate, an artificial food additive that is found in foods containing fats such as vegetable oil, mayo and chips. This additive also helps maintain freshness in foods.

Dr. Mike explains why the foods you're eating are making you feel so sick, the difference between organic and natural foods and which food additives to avoid.