Great article,
@berlinda . Those UPF options were the basis of my lifelong food addiction, unrecognized until several years ago via a trip to the ER making drastic changes necessary. As with most substances, I didn't realize I was addicted until I tried to quit.
Being raised on many of them due to having two parents working f/t and then some, then choosing that or fast food as my usual go-to when I was working f/t with lots of overtime and such and just trying to scrape by as best I could. Quick and convenient, until it wasn't. No one ever taught me any differently, nor would I have likely listened.
I still feel like a former crack addict trying to avoid taking another hit when I venture out to the stores and such, even more so after ditching meat/dairy/eggs/gluten/caffeine/alcohol/etc.. The struggle is real and difficult, but worth it.
I also learned many/most of the companies purposefully engineer the substances to be addictive. Profit margins matter much more than healthy nurturance, unfortunately. Here's one of the articles that I happened upon back then...
How Big Business Makes Food As Addictive as Cocaine: The Secret Science Behind Food Addiction And How to Beat It - Modern Health Monk
It's a full-time jog trying to unlearn and re-learn what truly does a body good, and each one is different, so that adds even more elements. Never a dull moment.
Tonight, we're having fire roasted veggie daiya brand pizza and unsalted tortillas topped with grated vegan cheese, guacamole, walnut taco meat, and homemade salsa.