On Saturday
he ate through
one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone one pickle,
one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie,
one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon.
That night he had a stomachache!
from The Very Hungry Caterpillar
written and illustrated by Eric Carle
Philomel Books/Penguin
Young Readers Group, 1969 and 1987
accessed on Libby (read by the author) 3/15/26
Mom taught us that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. She was a big believer in the power of milk, too. We always had a glass of milk for breakfast. Sometimes it went with cereal (hot or cold). Sometimes we had it with toast. And a glass of milk by itself still counted as breakfast.
I did not like milk. I still don’t.
Mom was a good baker, too, and we almost always had cookies, cake, or pie in the pantry. If getting down that glass in the morning was problematic, Mom was okay if we chased it with a piece of cake or a couple of cookies.
The Dairy Council would approve, but we all know now that good nutrition is a big picture item. Each peach, pepper, and pot of pasta works together.
Nutrition is science. At its most basic level, nutrition is the study of available nutrients in the food we eat and how our bodies process them so we can function.
Research shows that proper nutrition reduces the risk for developing diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Good nutrition aides our bodies’ recovery process after an illness, surgery, or injury. Ongoing studies are being conducted by experts to explore what influence nutrition may have on our mental health.
Every five years since 1980, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services update and release the Dietary Guidelines For Americans.
The Guidelines provide recommendations to help us make healthy food choices. It’s also used by local public and federally funded health programs. They influences and impact school meals, Meals on Wheels, military and veteran food services as well as the supplemental food programs WIC (Women Infants and Children), and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).
Say what you will about the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his (scary) stance on vaccines, including firing and replacing its 17-member advisory committee, his (short-sighted) funding-cuts to research, including the termination of contracts to develop vaccines using mRNA technology, and his (dangerous) support of raw, in other words, unpasteurized, milk, he has used his brand, MAHA (Make America Healthy Again), “to wage war on ultra-processed foods, pressure companies to phase out artificial food dyes, criticize fluoride in drinking water and push to ban junk food from the program that subsidizes grocery store runs for low-income Americans.” (PBS Newshour, 1/2/26)
One of his first promises included his interest in how new foods come to market. Kennedy’s stance on removing or at least reducing foods containing GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe), as defined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is maybe the only place where we agree.
Directly from FDA.gov, “any substance that is intentionally added to food…is subject to premarket review and approval by FDA, UNLESS (emphasis is mine) the substance is generally recognized, among qualified experts, as having been adequately shown to be safe under the conditions of its intended use, OR UNLESS (emphasis is mine) the use of the substance is otherwise excepted from the definition of a food additive.”
So, GRAS should be a term we trust. Expert scientists have looked for, tested, and deemed our food supply safe.
But is it really? That’s what Kennedy, Jr. is looking into. He claims foods, especially those labeled as “Ultra-Processed,” are enjoying a loophole in the GRAS regulations. You can find the address (web and street) that accepts public comments on its FAQs page.
According to John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, “Ultra-processed foods have one or more ingredients that wouldn’t be found in a kitchen, like chemical-based preservatives, emulsifiers like hydrogenated oils, sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup, and artificial colors and flavors. [They] undergo processing techniques like pre-frying, molding, extrusion, fractioning, and other chemical alterations that leave the final products bearing almost no resemblance to the original ingredients.”
UPFs (Ultra Processed Foods) are ubiquitous.
According to Julia Wolfson, PhD and associate professor in International Health, “[UPFs dominate our food systems…[M]ost of the foods and beverages lining the shelves are ultra-processed.”
Nova, an interesting study from Brazil done in the late 2000s, classifies food into four categories. It’s used all over the world to determine a food’s nutrient content and its potential influence on “the risk of obesity and other diet-related diseases.”
Nova’s four categories include
But some UPFs like prepackaged whole grain bread, yogurt, soy milk, and baked beans can be part of a healthy diet while others are junk food.
Read the labels. Balance is the key.
When RFK, Jr. called out Starbucks and Dunkin’ a couple of weeks ago for their high-sugar coffee drinks, he was calling attention to his campaign against UPFs, especially those with added sugar. He claims he doesn’t want to ban these (and other) unhealthy drinks and foods, but wants to call the public’s attention to what we are consuming.
We can all make better decisions when we have facts to consider and alternatives to choose from.
I drink my coffee black. No added sugar, but no milk (skim or otherwise) either.
-—Be curious! (and eat more carrots)
I’m reading King and the Fireflies, by Karen Callender (Scholastic Press, 2020), a coming of age story about a 12-year-old boy who is looking for his place in a world after his older brother died when he experienced a heart-attack during a soccer match. 2021 Coretta Scott King Honor and winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Recommended.
he ate through
one piece of chocolate cake, one ice-cream cone one pickle,
one slice of Swiss cheese, one slice of salami, one lollipop, one piece of cherry pie,
one sausage, one cupcake, and one slice of watermelon.
That night he had a stomachache!
from The Very Hungry Caterpillar
written and illustrated by Eric Carle
Philomel Books/Penguin
Young Readers Group, 1969 and 1987
accessed on Libby (read by the author) 3/15/26
Mom taught us that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. She was a big believer in the power of milk, too. We always had a glass of milk for breakfast. Sometimes it went with cereal (hot or cold). Sometimes we had it with toast. And a glass of milk by itself still counted as breakfast.
I did not like milk. I still don’t.
Mom was a good baker, too, and we almost always had cookies, cake, or pie in the pantry. If getting down that glass in the morning was problematic, Mom was okay if we chased it with a piece of cake or a couple of cookies.
The Dairy Council would approve, but we all know now that good nutrition is a big picture item. Each peach, pepper, and pot of pasta works together.
Nutrition is science. At its most basic level, nutrition is the study of available nutrients in the food we eat and how our bodies process them so we can function.
Research shows that proper nutrition reduces the risk for developing diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Good nutrition aides our bodies’ recovery process after an illness, surgery, or injury. Ongoing studies are being conducted by experts to explore what influence nutrition may have on our mental health.
Every five years since 1980, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services update and release the Dietary Guidelines For Americans.
The Guidelines provide recommendations to help us make healthy food choices. It’s also used by local public and federally funded health programs. They influences and impact school meals, Meals on Wheels, military and veteran food services as well as the supplemental food programs WIC (Women Infants and Children), and SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).
Say what you will about the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and his (scary) stance on vaccines, including firing and replacing its 17-member advisory committee, his (short-sighted) funding-cuts to research, including the termination of contracts to develop vaccines using mRNA technology, and his (dangerous) support of raw, in other words, unpasteurized, milk, he has used his brand, MAHA (Make America Healthy Again), “to wage war on ultra-processed foods, pressure companies to phase out artificial food dyes, criticize fluoride in drinking water and push to ban junk food from the program that subsidizes grocery store runs for low-income Americans.” (PBS Newshour, 1/2/26)
One of his first promises included his interest in how new foods come to market. Kennedy’s stance on removing or at least reducing foods containing GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe), as defined by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is maybe the only place where we agree.
Directly from FDA.gov, “any substance that is intentionally added to food…is subject to premarket review and approval by FDA, UNLESS (emphasis is mine) the substance is generally recognized, among qualified experts, as having been adequately shown to be safe under the conditions of its intended use, OR UNLESS (emphasis is mine) the use of the substance is otherwise excepted from the definition of a food additive.”
So, GRAS should be a term we trust. Expert scientists have looked for, tested, and deemed our food supply safe.
But is it really? That’s what Kennedy, Jr. is looking into. He claims foods, especially those labeled as “Ultra-Processed,” are enjoying a loophole in the GRAS regulations. You can find the address (web and street) that accepts public comments on its FAQs page.
According to John Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, “Ultra-processed foods have one or more ingredients that wouldn’t be found in a kitchen, like chemical-based preservatives, emulsifiers like hydrogenated oils, sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup, and artificial colors and flavors. [They] undergo processing techniques like pre-frying, molding, extrusion, fractioning, and other chemical alterations that leave the final products bearing almost no resemblance to the original ingredients.”
UPFs (Ultra Processed Foods) are ubiquitous.
According to Julia Wolfson, PhD and associate professor in International Health, “[UPFs dominate our food systems…[M]ost of the foods and beverages lining the shelves are ultra-processed.”
Nova, an interesting study from Brazil done in the late 2000s, classifies food into four categories. It’s used all over the world to determine a food’s nutrient content and its potential influence on “the risk of obesity and other diet-related diseases.”
Nova’s four categories include
- Unprocessed/minimally processed (fruit, vegetables, milk, fish)
- Processed culinary ingredients (salt, sugar, olive oil, butter)
- Processed foods (jam, pickles, canned fruit)
- Ultra-processed (energy drinks, instant oatmeal, sliced bread, hot dogs)
But some UPFs like prepackaged whole grain bread, yogurt, soy milk, and baked beans can be part of a healthy diet while others are junk food.
Read the labels. Balance is the key.
When RFK, Jr. called out Starbucks and Dunkin’ a couple of weeks ago for their high-sugar coffee drinks, he was calling attention to his campaign against UPFs, especially those with added sugar. He claims he doesn’t want to ban these (and other) unhealthy drinks and foods, but wants to call the public’s attention to what we are consuming.
We can all make better decisions when we have facts to consider and alternatives to choose from.
I drink my coffee black. No added sugar, but no milk (skim or otherwise) either.
-—Be curious! (and eat more carrots)
I’m reading King and the Fireflies, by Karen Callender (Scholastic Press, 2020), a coming of age story about a 12-year-old boy who is looking for his place in a world after his older brother died when he experienced a heart-attack during a soccer match. 2021 Coretta Scott King Honor and winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. Recommended.
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