But it tastes good!

Food has to taste good. In all my years of consumer research, I have never heard anyone say that they would choose a food that didn't prioritize taste over all other factors. Taste is a must, and is a cost of entry to market a food product. If it doesn't taste good, no one will care enough about convenience or health to keep a food product on the grocery shelves or likely anywhere for that matter. 

We all have different taste preferences. 

Many are cultural. What we are raised on matters because for kids, what we know and associate with family and positive emotions impact choices for life.

Our tongues have a print just as a finger has a print that is unique to us. While our basic tastes are common, the extent to which they impact us is not necessarily. We all likely know someone with a "sweet tooth" or who doesn't eat vegetables because they "taste too bitter". 

There are many other tastes beyond the basic 5 of sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and, umami. Think of all the different spices and foods you have preferences for. 

However, the basic tastes are just that because they relate to our survival. We are hard-wired to crave them when insufficient in our diet. We know we are thirsty when our bodies are dehydrated. Why do we crave chips? Often because our bodies need salt to retain our fluid balance. We salivate when we see or smell delicious desserts high in fat and sugar. Our brain knows these are required for energy. We may crave citrus after eating meat to aid digestion and balance our body pH. We may crave meat or cheese for the protein needed for our muscles. When we learn to listen to our body well, we learn to maintain health. 

When we listen to the latest study or trend we may be causing harm or throwing out our money. Often the trends may have some foundational science behind them but that doesn't mean you should blindly follow them. Typically, people are unaware of the source of the science or the context. 

Follow me here or @foodfitter to learn more inside information on the journey of food and how it impacts your health. 

Doctors blaming food companies for our health crisis is convenient yet coming from a biased perspective. They are part of the problem.

I've heard everything, mostly in the name of whom to blame for the diabesity crisis. 

It works like this. Those in medicine notice that there is an increase in medical conditions that burden our hospital system. They work with government and pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs to address the issue. With the possible exception of drugs for infection and some cancers, most drugs will need to be taken for a lifetime to address chronic conditions.

In Western medicine, physicians are trained best for the sickest and those needing emergency care. Physicians often gravitate to specialties (as if we are the sum of our organs and body systems). Often a holistic view of the person's health is absent until all else fails.  Their system waits until one is ill enough to be diagnosed based on laboratory tests. 

Physicians then treat those who have disease. At this point, the patients they see typically need what they provide in the form of medicine or drugs because they are strong remedies. Much of the medical training and research the physicians rely on is supported by profit driven pharmaceutical companies. 

Doctors who are trained to prescribe drugs do so, and, when the patient has too many diseases (some from the side effects of a drug and others from disease progression) polypharmacy results (too many prescriptions often interacting). Eventually, there is nothing the doctor can do. 

Doctors hypothesize based on their knowledge of the human body from medical school and continuing education. It is difficult for them to keep up with the latest information given the large amount of research they have access to. They only have so many hours in their day. Pharmaceutical reps give them information on the latest drug advancements which can be helpful however, at the same time as they are educating the doctors they are also marketing drugs to them. New drugs typically have higher profit margins. There is clearly an inherent bias in the process. 

In contrast to the profitable drugs sold by pharmaceutical companies, the food industry works off of much smaller profit margins and considerably more volume. Often the ingredients in formulating new products are components of subsidized crops. The ingredients used that are not GRAS (generally recognized as safe) may be regulated by government research. Examples are artificial colors and sweeteners.

I listen to the latest doctor, or dietician blame the food industry for the sick patients that they see. Journalists and consumers repeat what they hear and read. It's safe for the professionals to blame the industry that is not paying their paycheck. It is also easy to blame whoever or whatever immediately proceeds the situation. But too often that is not the root cause of the problem. 

The truth is that everyone has a role in this.

I have another perspective.