Fast Food Genocide

by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

  We look for magical cures for mental illness, breast cancer, autism, and autoimmune diseases, yet the cure has been under our noses all along. Take lung cancer, for instance. No matter how many billions of dollars we throw at searching for a cure for lung cancer, it is highly unlikely that we will develop a medicine that can enable us to smoke three packs of cigarettes a day for forty years and not develop the disease; nor can we undo the cancer once it appears because of smoking. Likewise, it is highly unlikely that we can develop an easy solution for breast or other common cancers, no matter how many research dollars are allocated, while we continue to ingest the standard American diet (SAD) (which I also call the deadly American diet [DAD]).

  Our food choices not only shape our bodies and our futures; they also shape our intelligence and our behavior because food profoundly affects our brains. But perhaps most interesting of all, our choice of food is not our own. Humans are social animals, and as such, we are subject to invisible social forces. Our brain reasons that if everyone else is eating a certain way, it must be okay. Our choice of food is one of the most important decisions that we make, and it is a decision that we unconsciously allow invisible social forces to govern. These forces have the power to compel dangerous eating behavior that can alter us on a genetic level, and this in turn leads people to become self-destructive and to make even worse choices as time goes on. This cycle, supported by the addictive nature of highly processed food, is insidious, pervasive, and powerful.

  Americans have abandoned natural foods such as vegetables, fresh fruits, and other plant foods in favor of a dizzying array of chemically altered, nutrient-deficient Frankenfood substitutes. We are paying for this exchange with an unaffordable, bloated, and unsustainable health care system. Chronic diseases—a direct result of not eating enough natural foods—affect record numbers of Americans. But this is only a part of the problem. Commercial food substitutes contribute to people being more depressed, more violent, less intelligent, and less forgiving. I explain the biological reasons for these effects in the chapters that follow. For now, suffice it to say that a biological problem caused by the way foods are made today is creating enormous social consequences that we presently don’t associate with our modern radically altered diets.

  Many crimes occur in places where people must survive on unhealthy food substitutes because they don’t have access to real foods; such areas are sometimes called “food deserts.” What if we could prevent a significant number of violent crimes by eliminating food deserts and changing how people eat? What if we could similarly improve school performance? And what if we could reduce or even eradicate poverty by fundamentally changing how everyone thinks about food? This is a matter of justice.

  Most Americans are free to choose what types of foods they eat. But within the borders of this great nation are vulnerable people who have almost no choice other than to eat a brain-damaging, disease-promoting diet consisting of commercial food substitutes. And worst of all, the people who live outside the food deserts are doing only slightly better—they are so addicted to the same dietary style that they can’t see the problem.

  We are victims of a status quo based on a fundamentally flawed way of thinking. At one time, people believed that the Earth was the center of the universe. Then, in 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus published On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, in which he proposed that the Earth and the other planets revolved around the sun. Copernicus was talking about the revolution of the planets, but in a broader sense, he launched a revolution that fundamentally altered and forever changed the way people thought about and saw the world.

  The idea that the Earth is the center of the universe became entwined with religious dogma and was the generally accepted worldview for a long time. Challenging this idea was dangerous. Copernicus didn’t live to see the change that he ushered in; he waited nearly thirty years to publish his work. (It is said that he saw the first copy of his published book on the day that he died.) He experienced the backlash that came from challenging such orthodoxy: His book was banned by the Catholic Church.

  Copernicus launched a scientific revolution that paved the way for the likes of Galileo, René Descartes, and Sir Isaac Newton. He challenged twelve hundred years of entrenched thought. But this did not happen all at once; the questions Copernicus raised were not settled for another 150 years. Today, the idea that the Earth revolves around the sun is self-evident. We take it for granted, but it is a relatively recent insight and was such a groundbreaking change that it became known as the Copernican Revolution.

  We need another Copernican Revolution today. The simple premise of this book is that all humans are created equal, but all calories are not.

  The lower the nutrients in the food that you eat, the more calories you crave.

  Many people think the problem is that Americans are overeating. But the real problem is that Americans are eating the wrong things. Unhealthy foods alter our brains in ways that make us emotionally attached to the very foods that are doing us the most harm. The way we eat affects our brains in ways that prevent us from seeing the problem with the way we are eating.

  This message might be hard to swallow, but many people have already heeded the call and have changed the way that they eat. As a result, they have resolved their desire to overeat and, with time, have retrained their palates to prefer the flavors of healthy food choices. The outcome is not just weight loss, but recovery from high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, headaches, acne, fatigue, and excessive menstrual bleeding and cramps. They have also tremendously improved their emotional outlook on life. Thousands have reported that the “fog” clouding their thoughts has lifted; they are no longer depressed and feel newly excited about life and their future.

  These concepts gleaned from scientific studies are still ignored or contested. With all the research data available, you would expect that achieving an adequate amount of food-based antioxidants and phytochemicals for optimal health and brain function should be an accepted norm and known by everyone. The idea that heart disease, diabetes, dementia, stroke, and most cancers are preventable and are largely the result of poor nutrition is still not fully accepted, either by authorities or by society at large. Powerful social and economic interests support the status quo. Massive societal awareness and change are desperately needed, but we can expect these concepts to be contested and denied for years to come—Copernicus was not the only one whose revolutionary, but correct, idea was opposed.

  These pages show that there is a direct and clear connection between the foods that you eat and the way that you behave and live. It is to be expected that interested parties will attempt to discredit the science and fight back.

  The diet industry is a big business. There is no shortage of diet advice: eat more, eat less, eat more frequently, eat less frequently, use herbs or natural stimulants to speed up your metabolism, eliminate carbs, eat less fat, or eat more fat—it doesn’t really matter anymore. All of these recommendations have some basis in fact. And yet, our nation’s dieting mentality and dieting efforts have not put even the slightest dent in the problem of obesity.

  Despite a $40 billion-a-year diet industry, people are fatter now than ever. In the end, the advice and products offer virtually no long-term return on investment—measured, of course, in pounds permanently lost. According to a review of seventeen studies on long-term maintenance of weight loss, ranging from three to fourteen years in duration, 85 percent of dieters fail to keep the weight off.11 And always keep in mind that no health benefits occur from temporary weight loss. It is necessary to understand the addictive nature of commercial food, and its connection to our failures, in order to achieve a new chance at success. We need to move the needle of social behavior into a favorable range—and that can happen only when we are properly educated about the power of the food we put on our plates and the power of these laboratory-designed foods to control us.

  This book challenges some fundamental beliefs, but many of these commonly held belie
fs are simply wrong. However, being wrong, by itself, is not a problem unless it causes us to act in harmful ways. The real problem is that the untrue beliefs that are tackled here are toxic. These untrue beliefs have cost the lives of millions of people and continue to have a negative health influence on billions of others across the globe. Unless something is done, it will get worse, much worse.

  The ideas in this book have been distilled from years of scientific research, and this critical information calls for widespread awareness and action. Turn these pages and study this problem carefully, because greater knowledge can lead to a solution: a solution to your personal health issues and a solution for our society. It has to start with you.

  CHAPTER ONE

  FAST FOOD AND DISEASE

  Of all the preposterous assumptions of humanity over humanity, nothing exceeds most of the criticisms made on the habits of the poor by the well-housed, well-warmed, and well-fed.

  —HERMAN MELVILLE

  Let’s start with the basics: “Fast food” is, literally, fast food. That means you can get it fast, eat it fast, digest it fast, and assimilate it into your fat cells fast—all with minimal effort.

  Addiction to fast food is likely the most far-reaching and destructive influence on our population today. As I show in the following pages, this addiction has had an increasingly and dramatically negative effect on our society. Certainly, given what we know about the health effects of cigarettes, you have to be insane to smoke, but in this book I explain why the health effects of regularly consuming fast food may be even more severe than smoking.

  I define fast food in two ways: First, it is the food served at commercial chain restaurants, where processed meats, pizza, burgers, French fries, pretzels, soft drinks, and rich desserts are made in an assembly-line process, with commercial ingredients that are duplicated and dispersed all over the world. Second, it is any commercially made food that includes artificial ingredients, processed grains, sweeteners, salt, and oil, with minimal nutrient content.

  Most of us are aware that many chain restaurants aren’t serving up healthy foods, but the second definition of fast food is often confusing to many and just as lethal. These “fake” foods—the frozen waffle, the deli sandwich, the frozen pizza, the bag of chips, and much more—are easily available at our local supermarkets and convenience stores. Processing foods removes and destroys the fragile micronutrients and phytochemicals we need for cellular normalcy, and also adds toxins.

  Toxins added to fast foods and processed foods include artificial colors, artificial flavors, preservatives, pesticides, antifoaming agents, emulsifiers, stabilizers, and thickeners. These ingredients give foods the texture and consistency that consumers expect. Added toxins also include cleaning chemicals, whitening chemicals, and packagsing components. Fast foods are toxic; they accelerate death through these added toxins but also by supplying concentrated calories without substantial fiber or the micronutrients humans need to sustain a normal life.

  This book is not an exposé about fast food restaurants. Fast food includes all types of junk food too, regardless of where it is purchased. These human-created fakes are not only served at fast food restaurants, but in almost every food store across the country. After all, fast food restaurants could decide now, or in the future, to serve healthy (or healthier) foods. Instead, this book is a condemnation of the fast food style of eating—the consumption of mass-processed convenience foods in general. These foods include commercial and preserved (deli) meats and cheeses, cold breakfast cereals, sandwiches that use bread and rolls made from white flour, burgers, pizza, soft drinks, ice cream, doughnuts, cookies, marshmallows, and candies. These, and other “recreational” foods, have drug-like effects that are damaging the emotional fabric of our country and creating an immense and growing burden of human health tragedies. When I use the terms “fast food” or “junk food” throughout this book, I refer to this broad definition—not merely the foods served at quick-serve, take-out restaurants.

  FAST FOOD IS SUICIDE ON THE INSTALLMENT PLAN

  Obesity affects approximately 35 percent of Americans. This means that a staggering 100 million people are obese in the United States, and 100 million more are significantly and dangerously overweight, but not yet obese.1 This is not just a cosmetic issue; fat on the body is indicative of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer lurking within, if not now, then in a few years. Fast food causes disease: The more you eat of it, the fatter and sicker you become, and the faster you age. Eating fast food kills more people prematurely than smoking cigarettes.2

  Gallup polls have shown that today in the United States, 19 percent of adults smoke, which pales in comparison with the 45 percent of adults who smoked in the 1950s.3 Compare this 19 percent of Americans who smoke to the proportion of Americans who eat fast food: 16 percent eat fast food several times a week; 28 percent eat fast food about once a week; and 80 percent eat fast food at least once a month. Only 4 percent say they never eat fast food.4 But this is only the tip of the iceberg because they are using the narrow definition of “fast food,” considering only food purchased in fast food restaurants when over half the American diet is nutrient-barren processed foods not purchased at fast food establishments.

  A person who eats fried foods, fast food, and processed foods has at least ten times the heart attack risk of someone who eats reasonably healthy food.5 This link between unhealthy foods and heart disease was confirmed in the Harvard Health Professionals Follow-up Study, which showed that if we follow men over time, those making healthier lifestyle choices are associated with a 90 percent drop in heart disease risk, while women making healthier lifestyle choices had a 92 percent drop.6 This huge drop in heart attacks underestimates the benefits of healthy eating, because although the diets evaluated were better than average, they were far from ideal. Based on epidemiologic studies, survey studies, and clinical evidence, a person following a Nutritarian diet style (which I will describe in detail in Chapter 3 and Chapter 7) has at least a hundredfold less risk of developing heart disease than one eating the SAD.

  Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.7 Researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health evaluated the frequency of more than fifty thousand individuals eating Western-style fast food and their risk of dying of heart disease. They found the following:

  •Eating fast food two to three times per week increased the risk of dying from coronary artery disease more than 50 percent.

  •The greatest risk was found when subjects ate fast food four or more times weekly; the risk of dying from coronary artery disease rose to 80 percent under those conditions.

  •Even eating fast food just once a week increased heart disease risk by 20 percent.8

  These heart disease deaths, and the risks reported, were also greatly underestimated, as the participants were followed for only about fifteen years. Plus, all the unhealthy, processed food eaten outside of fast food restaurant settings were not included in the analysis. The participants were not eating anything resembling an ideal cardioprotective diet, which could have offered dramatic protection against heart disease.

  FAST FOOD HAS SIX CHARACTERISTICS:

  •It is digested and absorbed rapidly.

  •It contains multiple synthetic ingredients.

  •It is calorically dense.

  •It is nutritionally barren.

  •It is highly flavored.

  •It contains excess salt and sugar.

  The faster the calories of a food enter the bloodstream, the higher the release of fat storage hormones and the greater the increase in dopamine (a driver of addiction in the brain). Because of these hormonal effects, fast foods initiate and perpetuate food addiction and cravings. The chief fat storage hormone is insulin, and the excessive insulin response to fast food leads to the promotion of fat storage, weight gain, cellular replication, and eventually cancer.

  Speed of Absorption of Calories in Fast Food Versus Slow Food

  The glycemic inde
x, or glycemic load, considers the rate at which glucose builds up in the bloodstream over time. The more rapid and concentrated the elevation of glucose in the blood, the more significant the risk of life-threatening disease developing. The more quickly the brain can sense that rush of sugar into the bloodstream, the more its pleasure center gets stimulated and trained to direct more sugar-seeking behavior. Eating sweets and high-glycemic carbohydrates enhances the desire and craving for these foods. This influences decision-making and makes stimulating, addictive behaviors desirable. Despite the known dangers of these foods, the American public has demonstrated that they will fight to maintain their favorite addictive substances—sugar and white flour—and ignore the undeniable amount of accumulated evidence revealing the dangers of these substances.

  In contrast, the more subtle levels of sugar in natural foods, in conjunction with the fiber and phytochemicals that slow the entry of sugar into the bloodstream, make for a very different biological and neurological experience that does not feed addictive behavior and addictive eating.

  Similar dangers are associated with fat entering the blood quickly. The oils and concentrated fats from animal products can enter the bloodstream rapidly; in contrast, the fat content of seeds and nuts is absorbed over several hours. This slower absorption rate allows more of the calories to be burned for energy, rather than stored as fat, and can delay and reduce the body signaling for calories (the feeling of hunger).