I am not trying to disrespect the Trinitarians found in Christianity or the concept of Trimurti in Hinduism. However, it seems perfectly descriptive of what the makers of fast and junk foods alike attempt to inject in everything they create.
As I attempt to avoid and cut out sweets, I find my desire to eat fatty and salty foods increases. I'm not sure if it is any more than before or maybe I am more acutely aware of it in the absence of high sugar intake.
Think of any of your favorite, guilty pleasures related to food. I can almost guarantee whatever your top ten foods are they probably include more than half or all high quantities of fat, salt, and/or sugar. I'm not mad at you. It is part of our shared biology.
I know that I'm no better than that dim witted Pavlovian dog salivating after a treat. Our brains get activated and stimulated by catchy phrases and music, bright colors, and a charismatic spokesperson for the thousands of products found in any store, restaurant, food truck and dispensing machine around every corner, found in nearly every kitchen, tucked away in our schools and colleges, and paraded across TVs and during movie previews - not to mention throughout the internet.
Even in the no carb, no fat, no trans fat, low sodium, and sugar free foods include a contrary intention to maximize the cooresponding aspect. For example, seek out the nutritional information of any of your top five healthier treats with any of the aforementioned nutritional phrases. You may already be a savvy consumer and aware of this, but I am continually left with my mouth wide open in response to how they replace the sugar and fat with higher amounts of salt. As they cut the fat, they instead up the sugar. All of this food engineering is done to add flavor and respond to most consumers want to eat healthier while maintaining good taste.
Think about ten or twenty year ago and consider those foods that were part of the wave of diet foods. They tasted pretty much like shit, cardboard, and tasteless waste. They simply did not appeal to our biological response to any one of the fat, sugar, and salt trifecta. Currently, food companies seemed to have perfected the trifecta science to allow us to find these "diet" foods tastier and perceive them as healthier, better than other junk foods.
Today, I found myself talking and damn near dreaming of salt and fat foods during the day. Add to the fold a weekend fraught with a bit more unplanned time. Although I've stayed with drinking my water, I did not get started until around late morning. Instead of having a taste for something sweet, I wanted to have water since I could feel my throat getting dry. I ate plenty of fruit and vegetables, but it was not during typical times of eating. Even after eating a highly nutritious dinner, I desired a bit more fat and salt.
It did not take much time to find a food that would satisfy me even though I had dinner and a full stomach.
Yes, it was Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) to the rescue. I could have helped it, but I did not want to find a reason.
So, I drove the five minutes it took to purchase a four piece dark meat, thighs and legs, meal with sweet corn and slaw. After the second piece of chicken, I think I found myself coming out of the food coma. All was not clear until I finished the amazingly small pieces of non-organic chicken pieces and began feeding the bones to my two labs.
I noticed I was a bit annoyed with myself, but I slowly began to laugh about it all. I tricked myself and allowed myself to be vulnerable during the predictably unorganized weekend. The wonderful thing about it all is that I feel good about my plan to deal with this glorious fat, salt, and sugar dilemma.
I won't cut fat and salt. However, I will keep watch on those foods with high fat and salt. Generally, I do a pretty good job of managing it. Actually, no I don't. So, I will need to take care and be mindful. I also need to avoid the fast foods and junk. I'll make certain to have a balanced amount of fat and find foods that provide the fat and salt needed along with the other nutrients.
The trifecta is quite powerful. I also know there are plenty of other options available to manage its influence on my life.
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