The Pitfalls of Advertising…even the good stuff

June 24, 2013June 24, 2013 / ktbuchs87

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that advertising companies know exactly how to reel in consumers, that’s their job. They compile loads of data and research and conduct numerous studies just to find out what makes the general population tick. They want to know EXACTLY what will make you personally buy their product, and they are good at their jobs. The food industry is huge, and marketing strategies are common practice, but what are the effects of all this food advertising?

Children’s Exposure to Food Advertising on TV

Children’s Exposure to PSA on Fitness or Nutrition

Because the food industry and advertisers are smart, they know that their easiest, and most vulnerable, targets are children. If you have ever watched cartoons on a Saturday morning (admit it, you still do), every single commercial is selling something to kids and many of those commercials are selling food. A 2007 study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that children in the 2 to 7 age bracket will see 12 food related commercials per day. That would translate to about 30 hours and 4,427 food ads in one year. As children get older, the amount of food ads increases. I don’t know about you but the fact that a child as young as 2 years old is already being exposed to a barrage of food commercials is a little shocking. Not as surprising is the amount of junk food commercials compared to the amount of healthier food commercials, which is about 76% junk and 5% healthy.

The problem with all these commercials for food being aimed directly at children is that kids have a very hard time grasping the concept of advertising. They just do not have the cognitive capacity to understand that they are being sold a product and very young kids can’t even determine the difference between a TV show and a commercial. What’s more is that their favorite characters or celebrities are in these advertisements trying to get them (or more accurately their parents) to buy the product. What kid doesn’t want to eat mac and cheese shaped as their favorite cartoon character? Already at a young age these advertisements are setting up unhealthy eating habits. In this 2009 health study on TV viewing and food consumption, researchers found that children eat 45% more food when exposed to food advertising. These habits lead into adulthood as this study also found that adults consumed more as well after exposure to food advertising.

I can see you thinking to yourself, “Well there is an easy fix to this, why don’t we just start marketing healthier food?” That would seem like the most logical answer, but this has its pitfalls as well. When the healthier food companies start using the same tactics as the junk food people, say using a popular character to advertise their product, they are influencing children to buy their product because their favorite character is selling it, not because they actually want the food in the commercial. It is important to help children make food choices based on their own needs, such as hunger or good nutrition, not because Ronald McDonald is telling them to. Building a healthy relationship with food at a young age is important because those skills will carry on into adulthood and educate children on how to make healthy choices and take care of themselves.

I know it can seem like an overwhelming task for parents to fight against the millions of advertisements that are constantly being shown to their children. Heck, it’s hard for adults to navigate their own food choices when it comes to advertising. Here are a few ideas to try out (for both kids and adults) when it comes to not being swayed by food advertisements.

1. Stop and decide if you are actually hungry. You just saw a commercial for a Dorito Taco at Taco Bell when, suddenly, you REALLY want a taco. Or maybe your child has come running at you telling you they NEED to have a happy meal even though they just had breakfast 2 minutes ago. Before you drive to Taco Bell or rush out to get a happy meal for your tot, take a second and stop. Are you really hungry? When was the last time you ate? What about the commercial was appealing to you? Taking the time to really evaluate why you want food will cut the chance of you eating just for the sake of the advertisement. Talking through these questions with your child can help them start to learn how to make proper food choices, such as eating when they are actually hungry versus eating because they just saw food on TV.

2. Limit the amount of time you spend watching TV. My husband Adam and I have not had cable TV for the past 3 years for numerous reasons, mainly cost. Now before you think we are total nut jobs who just sit and stare at each other or only (gasp!) read for entertainment, we do have Netflix and we watch plenty of TV shows and movies. What we do not, or very rarely, watch are commercials. Netflix does not have commercials and because we don’t have “regular” TV we are not exposed to advertising in this form. I have no clue what food specials are running at local fast food place or what the next crazy food concoction some company has come up with. Because I don’t watch TV, I don’t have any desire for or knowledge of these things and I believe that has really helped with leading a healthier lifestyle. I understand that not everyone wants to cut off their cable and that is totally your decision. You can however choose to limit your time watching TV. Limiting your exposure to advertisements weakens their effect on you. Many people have some form of DVR, so you could even record your favorite shows and fast forward through the commercials. Better yet, how about cutting down your TV time and doing something to promote your health? Play outside, read a book, take a new exercise or cooking class. By getting away from the television, you also get away from the advertising.

3. Let your children play a part in their eating. This last tip is more for children. Instead of making every single food choice for your child, involve them in the process. For younger kids, give them plenty of healthy options at mealtime and let them choose what to eat. At the grocery store, give kids a list of healthy foods that you are willing to buy and let them pick a few to find and purchase. For older kids, let them help you cook. Get them to pick out a recipe they want to try or simply have them help you prepare food for dinner. Being allowed to be a part of their own eating lets kids find out what foods they like or don’t like and lets them have some control over their habits.

These are just a few ideas to get started, but there are plenty more out there. Here are some more in depth tips for children of various ages. Just because those tips are aimed at children though doesn’t mean they can’t be helpful to adults as well. Remember you are just as susceptible to advertising as children, even if you do know better. Like I said earlier, advertisers are smart and know how to reel you in. As long as you are conscientious and aware, you can avoid unhealthy pitfalls and even help the future generation find their best health!

Stir fry with Spicy Peanut Sauce

June 5, 2013January 29, 2016 / ktbuchs87

I love quick meals that taste really good, who doesn’t? This one comes together super fast and delivers quite a powerful taste punch. Yeah. Taste punch. I said it. So if you’re in the mood for a healthy and tasty Asian-inspired dish, try this one out!

Stir fry with Spicy Peanut Sauce

2-3 tbsp natural peanut butter (I used chunky for extra texture)
1/3 cup veggie broth
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (use less if you don’t like spicy, more if you like the heat)
1 tbsp raw honey
2 teaspoon ginger, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp soy sauce (I used Braggs Liquid Aminos, you can also use coconut aminos)
assorted stir fry veggies, broccoli/carrots/water chestnuts/cauliflower/sugar snap peas/bok choy
1 onion, diced
brown rice noodles, optional but delicious!

1. If using brown rice noodles, cook according to the package while you get everything else going

2. Combine peanut butter, veggie broth, red pepper flakes, honey, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce in a small bowl. Whisk together well and set aside

3. In a wok or large skillet, heat a little EVOO and stir fry your vegetables for about 7 to 10 minutes. You don’t want them to be mushy, but crisp.

4. Once your vegetables are cooked, add in your brown rice noodles and combine them with the vegetables. Pour your peanut sauce over this and stir well. Heat through for another 2 minutes. Serve it up and enjoy! This meal also makes some pretty awesome leftovers the next day, so make enough to enjoy it again!

Clean your plate… Kind of

June 3, 2013 / ktbuchs87

I am willing to bet that some of you (me included) have finished a meal even though you weren’t really hungry anymore. A lot of us have probably done this, as it’s really easy to just finish all the food on your plate even if you are already full. You might have heard about “starving children in Africa” and felt the need to finish a second helping of french fries for their sake (because that makes a lot of sense…). I would even go a step further and say that some of us don’t even recognize our own body’s signals for satiety, causing us to overeat at most of our meals.

This isn’t a new concept. In 2006, 6 of every 10 Americans said they ate more than they should. As a country, Americans know very well that they are overeating and that it is contributing to our ever-expanding waistlines and health problems. There have been countless studies and research that has gone into showing us that we are eating too much, but I think the more important question we need to address is when did we start overeating? I don’t mean as a nation, I mean you as an individual.

For the most part, you were not born eating too much food. In fact, if you look at children’s eating habits they are some of the best intuitive eaters. When they are hungry they will eat and when they are full they stop eating. If they don’t eat a huge lunch, they will usually eat more at dinner. They don’t obsess over certain foods or meal times. Trust me, they will let you know when they are hungry. I’ve worked as a nanny for the past two years and gotten to watch this first hand. It fascinates me how easy it is for a 2-year-old to grasp the concept of being full and being done with a meal. It doesn’t bother him if there are still five green beans left on his plate, or three graham cracker bunnies he didn’t eat. When he is done eating he is done eating and happily goes on with his day. Where did adults, the supposedly wiser and more sophisticated group, go wrong on this concept?

While there are many factors that contribute, one of the biggest influences is that of the parents, but I don’t think they are doing it on purpose. Most parents want their child to lead a healthy and happy life. They want to make sure that they are providing nutritious meals that will help their children grow. It can be really frustrating and even worrisome to have a child that seems to never eat. I know the struggle that can occur when you just want your kid to eat one bite of their meal because they haven’t eaten anything all day. But I also believe that sometimes parents need to be open to having their child guide their own eating habits. When parents stress over getting their children to eat, or force them to finish all their food on their plate, they could be setting their child up for future eating problems. Over time, if a child is cleaning his plate even though he is clearly not hungry, he will begin to lose that sense of satiety. He now knows that in order to be done with a meal, the plate needs to be empty, whether he is full or not.

Losing our sense of fullness can lead to other bad habits later on as well. Adam shared a study with me last week about teens not paying attention to how many calories they ate in a meal. While I am not a big supporter of religiously counting calories, it is interesting to see that most teens ignored the calorie count completely. I don’t know if there is a definite link between being aware of how much food you eat and our sense of fullness, but I think that they probably do affect each other. I know that there used to be many times I would be eating and I had no clue why. I wasn’t hungry, but somehow I was downing crackers like it was my business.

How do you regain your intuitive eating skills? It’s tough, but you can retrain your body to its childhood eating habits. Don’t expect the change to happen overnight and don’t expect to be perfect all the time. There will be days that you slip up and that is totally ok, just move on and do better next time. These are a few of the tips that I use to help me really tune in to my body’s signals.

Make sure you’re actually hungry. When you get the urge to grab a bag of chips or chow down on a huge meal, pause for just a second. Ask yourself a few questions, when was the last time I ate? Am I really hungry or am I bored/sad/depressed/around a bunch of other people eating? Will I feel better about myself after eating this meal or will I look back with regret? Once you answer those questions, you can better decide if you are actually hungry and ready to eat a meal. To take this a step further, drink a glass of water before you eat anything. Many times, we misread thirsty signals as hunger signals and immediately dive into a snack.

S L O W D O W N. When you are eating a meal, take your time. This can be a key factor in reading your “I’m full” signal. Sometimes we have a tendency to rush through a meal in ten minutes and not realize we had way more to eat than we really wanted or needed. Take a few bites, put your fork down, sip some water, and enjoy the flavor of your food. By giving your body those few extra minutes in between bites, you are letting it register the food you have already eaten and allowing you to know when you are full, before your plate is totally clean. Also, eat until you are pleasantly full, not bursting at the seams. No one likes that feeling of your waistband cutting in to your stomach after a huge chow fest.

Eat foods that will fill you up. You’re probably thinking, “Uh, Katie? Any food can fill me up.” Let me be a bit more specific. Choose foods that have a low density of calories, but high quantity.

400 calories of oil, from say your fried mozzarella sticks, will not fill you up as much as 400 calories of salad. You won’t feel full from that 400 calories of oil, so you’ll continue to eat until you do feel full, possibly taking in more food than your body really wants or needs. I am not saying that you have to ONLY eat vegetables in order to know when you’re full. What I am saying is that you need to choose foods that will fill you in the healthiest way. Including vegetables in your dinner of grilled chicken and brown rice is a very easy way to add bulk that won’t bulk you up.

Be patient, and kind, with yourself. Like I said before, it isn’t easy to retrain the way you eat or tune into your body. Don’t get frustrated if you slip up more than once. Realize that this is a process and it is OK to have setbacks, you’re human, not Superman. Just make sure that your slip ups don’t make you abandon everything and fall back into your old habits. Acknowledge that you had a setback and move on, vowing to make your next choice healthier. Constantly beating yourself up will not help you get to a healthier state.

Remember, we all started out as some of the best intuitive eaters out there. One way or another you might have lost that sense, but you CAN gain it back. I think that a lot of eating problems begin with our lack of awareness of our own bodies, at least that has been the case for me. Just because someone puts food on your plate, does not mean you absolutely have to eat all of it. I promise that eating every single scrap of food on your plate just because it’s there will never lead to a feeling of satisfaction. Knowing you have eaten exactly what you needed and the exact amount your body required will make you feel much happier and healthier!

Curried Quinoa Salad

May 30, 2013 / ktbuchs87 / 1 Comment

I made this meal because it was something that could be made ahead of time and it travels well. Both important things because the weekend that we had this, we were staying at my parents house to watch their dogs before we went to my sister’s graduation. It was also really warm that weekend and this salad hit the spot! Hope you enjoy!

Curried Quinoa Salad

1 Tbsp curry powder
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
2 1/3 cups quinoa
3 cups water
1/2 cup veggie broth
1/2 an onion, diced
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 handful of spinach, chopped
Pepper

1. Add all ingredients through veggie broth into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the pot sit covered for another 10 minutes.

2. Once your quinoa is done, add in the onion, vinegar, maple syrup, spinach, and pepper to taste. Mix everything well. You can serve right away, but it tastes even better after you have let it sit in the fridge for an hour or so. You can also add in other things if you wanted. Carrots or chopped nuts would also be delicious!

Tomorrow I will be posting again (amazing? I know). I participated in Foodie Penpals through theleangreenbean. So check back tomorrow to learn what that is all about!

Unique

May 20, 2013 / ktbuchs87

I am going to bet good money that you have been told at some point in your life that you are a unique and special individual, that there is no one else just like you. It’s a message that we hear a lot, we’re all individuals and we should embrace our own quirks and personalities. I think it’s a good message and I’m not writing today to bash sentiment, but rather extend it to other parts of our life, mainly eating (go figure).

It’s no secret that my big mantra for healthy eating/living is what works for me might not work for you. I have talked about it before, but more and more I think it is a message that we need to hear again. It seems that every day a new study comes out touting that a new diet is THE way to eat. More recently the Mediterranean diet has been in the news and folks are jumping on that eating bandwagon. I’ve fallen victim to diet hype many times, so I know how tempting it can be to start a new diet craze. We get drawn in by the people who have had amazing results (lost weight, have more energy, can do 1,00 push-ups in a minute etc.), the scientific studies proving that this diet is effective, and the doctors/nutritionist/celebrities representing the diet. Marketing people know how to parade their product/idea to get consumers to buy, that’s their job.

I’m not here to bash these diets either, although there are some fairly terrible ones out there that no one should touch with a ten-foot pole (cabbage soup diet anyone?). In fact I believe that these diets can be successful, but not for every single person. There is no possible way that one diet can meet the needs of the billions of people on this planet, and you know what? That is totally ok! For some reason, people tend to think that if everyone else is eating a certain way, they need to do that too. Take gluten-free diets. The number of people who have Celiac’s Disease (meaning they literally can NOT have any form of gluten) is about 1.8 million, with 1.4 million people out there undiagnosed. The number of people who are following a gluten-free diet? 1.6 million. Gluten-free has become a fad diet that people think will make them healthier, but there are a good number of people out there who have no need to follow a gluten free diet. It can actually cause them more harm than good, mainly because their body doesn’t NEED to avoid gluten.

What we really need to start pushing in terms of healthy eating and living is that it is a unique journey. Just like you yourself are a special individual, your body is a special individual as well. For me, I do well and thrive on a diet of whole fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, and no processed food, preservatives, chemicals, gluten or dairy. Through trial and error I have found a way of eating that give my body the nutrients it needs to perform well. I would never say that every single person needs to eat the way that I do though. Case in point: My parents came over for dinner last weekend and I made sloppy joes with lentils instead of meat. Now my father is a meat eater, always has been. I think that if possible he would just munch on cow all day every day. That is fine and that is what works for him. He was receptive to my vegan sloppy joes and even said they tasted great, but they did not agree with him later on. He has a digestive system that thrives on eating meat and feels his best eating that way.

What do you do though to find your happy diet? Try. Yes, this seems like really stupid advice, but it’s the best way to find what will work. My best suggestion would be to do some research on a few different diets that interest you. Say you feel drawn to eating less meat, look into vegan and/or vegetarian diets. Once you have educated yourself on the basic principles of whatever eating lifestyle, start implementing those into your diet. When you have been eating a certain way for awhile, assess your health. How do you feel? Do you notice improvements in your life like more energy, better skin, healthier bowel movements (of course I am going to mention poop!)? Or do you feel the same or worse than before? If you feel better continue eating that way, and if not start the process over again or make some adjustments. I want to stress though how important it is to stick with a certain diet for a good amount of time before switching. You won’t be able to really assess your health after only a week of eating a new way. It could take up to a few months to really start seeing the benefits. Give your body some time to adjust and then evaluate your situation. Yes, this can be a long process and may seem tedious, but your health is worth it in the end.

Now bear in mind, I am not giving you license to justify junk eating by saying this is the diet that allows you to thrive. I still believe that eating whole and real foods like fresh vegetables and grass-fed humanely raised meat are much better for everyone than processed or packaged food. My main point is that we need to stop worrying about what our friends and neighbors are eating and start focusing more on what makes us feel great. For some that might be a mostly Paleo diet, others might do well on a vegetarian or vegan diet, still others might thrive eating gluten-free. It’s all about finding your perfect balance and not being nervous to step outside of the diet of the moment. I understand it can be difficult for some of us to go against the grain, I still get a little anxious about listing all of the things I don’t eat. I worry that I will be a hassle to others or they might think I’m just trying to get attention or that I am not eating the right way. But the longer I have eaten this way and been more open about it, I’ve realized I value the amazing way I feel rather than what others think about my eating habits. Don’t be afraid to stand up for what makes you feel the healthiest, because in the end that is what matters the most!

In other news, my little sister graduated from Valparaiso yesterday! I am so proud of all she has accomplished and can’t wait to see what she will do next! Congratulations to all graduates out there!