Telos Journal Edition Three October 2013 | Page 7

Preservatives, by definition, overstay organic welcome. In warmer climates where the body needs not store as much energy as in colder regions, the flushing of the body with food, sweat, and water should be actively facilitated for optimum energetic fluidity and the purging of foreign agents. The salt, fat, and sweet tastes most uncommonly found in nature are the three tastes most commonly manufactured for fast-food consumerism. Since McDonald’s flipped its first patty in 1940 and hooked and accelerated a population of former slow-eaters, professional management has multiplied a culture of sedentary workers. Throw in a chemical flavor enhancer, better yet, a whole collage of them, and the tempted drivel from a mouthful of acrobatic artificiality. As a result, a whole gut of unusable weight is gained. Dr. Blaylock, author of Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, explains that MSG and derivatives cause our cells to become overexcited to the point of poisonous damage. The synthetic flavor enhancers, found in all fast-food and most packaged items, provide an addictive attraction but damage brain cells that shut off the mind’s ‘satiety center’ which alerts the stomach when the body is full and satisfied. Thus, in a way, consumers act like ducks grown for foie gras: like unwitting insatiable eaters. Eaters can develop the ability to taste for the addictive additives themselves by familiarizing with natural ingredients and untainted meals. MSG fans, i.e. fast-food and packaged item addicts need not snivel: if your ingredients are brilliantly full of life, they should taste agreeable regardless of how they are risked in inexperienced kitchens. Proposition Four: Do not go on a diet. Diets are not always sustainable, nor are they often excessively fun. But what is certain is that the diet industry is colossal business. “There are no official statistics on spending for diet products, but estimates vary from $40bn to $100bn in the US alone—more than the combined value for the government’s budget for health, education and welfare,” says Laura Cummings from BBC. Despite the monetary efforts, research shows that 95% of dieters regain the lost weight, causing some to circuitously probe for any possible alternatives. Nevertheless, the ads keep pouring in. Most diets publicize like panaceas, declaring that they cure not just your weight and energy issues but your love troubles and holistic health as well. Some researchers suggest that the diet industry relies on failure and the rise of obesity to fuel their profits. And it is at best unconvincing to think that any related industry would benefit from long-term healthy consumer eating habits, anyhow. From Atkins to the raw food diet, one must ask: How transformative and sustainable are these diets? How