Another Food Labeling Mess. Disappointing, But Don't Lose Faith.

GMO labeling has taken center stage in health headlines recently, and while actual laws are slow to get traction, heightened consumer awareness is pushing companies to make positive changes they wouldn't have had good business reason to do otherwise. See article about General Mills' decision to remove GMO's from Cheerios' yellow box variety. Progress!

And if you spend any time looking at food packaging these days, you'll see proud call-outs like "now with no high fructose corn syrup," "now with no artificial colors, flavors, dyes," "no trans fats," etc. This is good stuff. Sure, it can breed laziness: we see those call-outs and assume a product is healthy rather than spending quality time with the actual nutrition facts and ingredient lists which may expose otherwise. However, let's be optimists rather than cynics. Progress!

We're seeing more "antibiotics-free," "hormone-free," "fed no animal by-products" meats. More "pastured" and "grass-fed" options in standard grocery stores instead of just the fancier Whole Foods and natural food stores. Wild fish and organic milk is everywhere. Smuckers makes peanut butter you can feel good about buying for your kids. This all means healthier stuff is becoming more accessible to the masses, which means awareness rates have to be growing. And the more informed we are, the healthier we are. Right?

Well? Here's a head-scratcher for you: despite all of the above, and despite my optimistic blog post from last spring, recent data shows obesity rates in 2013 (27.2%) were higher than they've ever been, this after two years of declines seen in 2011 and 2012. What gives?

Could it be.... FRADULENT OLIVE OIL?

If you haven't heard about all of the incredible benefits of especially extra-virgin olive oil recently, you've likely been living under a rock. Its high concentration of mono-unsaturated (good) fat helps lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and decreases blood pressure. It has stronger concentrations of phytonutrients which have great anti-inflammatory effects on the body. Why is that important? Chronic inflammation wreaks havoc and leads to all sorts of nasty stuff like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

But what if that EVOO we've been pouring all over our salads, drizzling onto over our vitamin A-rich, toxins-removing baked sweet potatoes and brushing onto our deliciously simple grilled halibut isn't EVOO at all, but a mix of god-knows-what kinds of oils? Ones that could very well be genetically-engineered, produce LDL (bad) cholesterol and increase blood pressure?

No, I'm not suggesting that fake olive oil is the number one culprit increasing obesity rates (though I must admit I'm baffled and saddened by the 2013 data), but it's disconcerting to hear that what 70% of us think we're putting into our bodies is actually pretty much the opposite. This is far worse than brands not disclosing whether their products are made from GMO's, or ones who market themselves as "healthy" when their ingredient lists suggest otherwise. No, this olive oil thing (if true, because there's always that question) is a full-blown lie. Makes you wonder what other "good" things we're doing for ourselves that are actually bad.

Ah, screw it, let's just throw in the towel and reach for the Twinkies, right?

Nope, wrong answer. Health is a combination of factors, and just because a couple things we're doing may not be what we've intended or have been told, the (mostly?) good combo will always, always prevail. So read up on as much of this stuff as you can so you stay informed and adjust as you will based on what you conclude. But if you're on the beautiful, albeit sometimes bumpy road to health, DON'T LOSE FAITH.