Is Eating Right Wrong?

I snagged a food wrapper from the recycle bin at work the other day.  I know someone who eats one of these virtually every day for lunch.  Unfortunately, the microwave is located just outside my office and the smell of this little pizza sandwich thing is quite amazing.  If you're only counting calories, 270 for a serving isn't too bad.  But we know that calories aren't what it's all about; it's what's in those calories that is important.
 

Look at this ingredient list.  Oh, my goodness!!!  The package talks about uniting flavor and nutrition.  Really?  What sort of nutrition?  Let's take a look-see, shall we?

• Calories:  270
• Fat:  7g
• Cholesterol: 20mg
• Sodium: 590mg
• Carbs:  36g
• Protein 15g

There are ingredients in that list that I can't even pronounce!  At a quick glance, the words that keep popping out at me are "salt," "sodium," "salt," "salt."  It must be in the list 18 times.  Well, I just counted.  Only 10 times is the word "salt" used.  I didn't bother counting all the variations of "sodium" that are listed.  I try to keep my daily sodium intake to about 300mg.  This one thing has 590 alone!

I do have to say it has 15g of protein.  Well, it is all derived from animal products since there isn't one vegetable in the ingredient list, unless you count the onion that is listed in the seasoning.

I must confess that I have, at a different stage of my life, eaten a similar product by a different name.  I just wonder how this brand can call itself "Eating Right" when it's clearly not.

Why not have this instead?

For only a few calories, you have a flavor sensation going on.  You've got the crispness of the lettuce coupled with the spiciness of the brown mustard sauce topping off those veggies.  There is no salt added besides what is in the mustard.  Here's all you do: load up a Romaine leaf with your favorite veggies, there's cucumber, avocado, and tomato in there.  Top with a dressing of cashews, water, dates, garlic, brown spicy mustard & a little vinegar that you whir up in your blender.  Roll it up and eat like a burrito.  I usually eat two or three of these at one sitting.  With a tablespoon of dressing on each one, I think you'd have less than the 270 calories you'd consume if you ate just ONE of those pizza pocket things.  And think of how full you'd be and all of the nutrients you'd be getting.  You'd have so much energy you could keep going all day long instead of needing a nap in an hour.

This whole thing makes me think of product packaging, advertising and what sells.  Admitting that I was a sucker to product packaging, I will say that I recently purchased a can of olives to serve on the holiday buffet.  The package said "Natural Green Ripe Olives"  It looked strikingly similar to this: 

Now, doesn't that look healthy?  The pale background, the "fresh" look of the olives and the word "Naturals."  It all screams healthy!  Well, not only do they taste just like regular olives, they have the identical nutrition content!  Their green appearance kept the kids away -- they didn't notice there were no pimento -- and so there were more olives for the adults!

I think the best package for most foods is no package at all, or maybe just its natural package.  Bananas have a peel, oranges have a rind, avocados have a skin.  They're all perfect packaging.  Consider that berries, carrots and greens have no package at all.  I love it!  Less trash too!

I'm seeing a correlation between packaging and nutrition.  The less packaging and processing, the higher the nutritional content!  And I'm talking about plant-based foods here.  The closer to its grown state, the better.  So don't send my wheat through some sort of a machine that smooshes it, bleaches it, waters it down and sends it out through another sort of machine and then it dries for a day and put in a package to be called pasta.  I'll put my sauce over spaghetti squash or zucchini "noodles," thank you very much!

What does your pantry look like?  Are there lots of boxes and packages in there?  Mine looks a lot different than it was two years ago! 

I hope those of you who have made a commitment to change for the New Year are on track for a healthy start.  You've made it through one day; let's go for two!  I will be back here on Friday.  Make today special for YOU!