~ Tasty doesn't mean healthy ~

Popular Spanish proverb goes like "The belly rules the mind". Indeed true for most of us, at all times. Not many of us read or care to know what we eat. I feel we should cultivate awareness towards what we eat & our dietary habits, in this current age. It wouldn't have mattered much 50 years ago. Now that we have so many fast food chains {FFC} mushrooming everywhere be, it local or glocal doesn't really matter.

Not really sure how many of you have observed or paid attention to the taste of items which you get at these FFC, the tastes remains the same no matter no matter how many repeats you order or anywhere across the globe. That itself should raise some alaram bells in your head as to how could it be so consistent plate after plate across the world. This rule doesn't just limit to FFC, they apply to the juice which are served out cartons. 

Orange, Apple, Cranberry, Mango - juice was part of my morning diet for 16 months during 2007-2008. I preferred Tropicana, Real, Naturals. Tropicana tastes the same be it in India, UK or US. Then sometime in late 2008 I came across this 'The Secret Ingredient In Your Orange Juice'. After reading the article I haven't consciously had juice from a carton. 

Today morning I came across this tweet from UberFacts

Chicken McNuggets and breast implants are made from the same thing! Learn more HERE: bit.ly/LtMhwNsp
— UberFacts (@UberFacts) January 21, 2013

Googled and found out that it indeed was true. CNN broke the news about Chicken Nuggets way back in 2010.

McDonald’s says the differences are based on the local tastes: In the United States, McNuggets are coated and then cooked, in the United Kingdom, they are cooked and then coated. As a result, the British McNuggets absorb less oil and have less fat.

Dimethylpolysiloxane is used as a matter of safety to keep the oil from foaming, [Lisa McComb, who handles global media relations for McDonald's,] says. The chemical is a form of silicone also used in cosmetics and Silly Putty. A review of animal studies by The World Health Organization found no adverse health effects associated with dimethylpolysiloxane.

TBHQ is a preservative for vegetable oils and animal fats, limited to .02 percent of the oil in the nugget. One gram (one-thirtieth of an ounce) can cause “nausea, vomiting, ringing in the ears, delirium, a sense of suffocation, and collapse,” according to “A Consumer’s Dictionary of Food Additives.”

So once again we know that most of the large scale food companies use chemicals within reasonable limits to give you the same taste every time. It might be used within reasonable limits, but in long term these chemicals might have an impact your metabolism. 

No doubt, the belly rules the mind. Use your mind before you choose the food you eat the next time. It won't be easy, but it will surely make you healthy.

References: CNN | SFGate | Chicken Nuggets Ingredients | TBHQ |  Polydimethylsiloxane | 6 Disgusting Things You're Eating (And You Don't Even Know It!) | The Secret Ingredient In Your Orange Juice