Translator: Claudiu C.
Reviewer: Peter van de Ven My name is Kristin Shaffer, and, first and foremost, I'm a corporate executive
in the IT and accounting world. I'm also a mom and, at almost the age of 45,
a bikini fitness model. I've been in and around
the fitness industry for the better part of 30 years now. I have the unique privilege
of helping women all around the world to get into the most amazing
shape of their lives, to shed those unwanted, unhealthy pounds. And they do so
without starving themselves, without spending hours and hours
in the gym every day. Candidly, what I teach are just
really simple principles. So, now that you know that,
why am I here today? Well, I'm here because,
having this unique perspective, as old as I am, I've seen a change in the perspective
of how we treat our diets and what we think food is, here, in the United States, in America,
versus the rest of the world. I'm really concerned about this
change in perception, for two reasons. Number one: first and foremost,
it's not being talked about. But that starts today, right?
That's why we're here. And number two: it is
absolutely positively contributing to the obesity epidemic in this country, where two-thirds of us are
overweight or obese. Two-thirds. And I know that's not a surprise
to anybody in this room, right? So I'm going to challenge you today,
I have an invitation to you. By the end of my talk,
I'd like you to think about, What is it, what's our diet today,
and what do we consider food? What are we calling the foods that we eat? So what is this shift in perception
that I'm talking about? Mostly in the United States, here. Well, I think it's best stated
with an example, with a story. I go to the grocery store every week,
like everybody else, right? I'm normal that way. Well, mostly normal. At the grocery store,
I'm zipping through the aisles, and I'm filling my cart full of, you know,
all the stuff I eat on a regular basis and people in the fitness world
eat on a regular basis. Stacks and stacks and stacks of eggs.
I eat that in one week, folks. That's one week.
That's a lot of freaking food, right? Bags of vegetables! Tons of lean proteins:
chicken, ground turkey, lean beef. I fill it up with fruits
and nuts and whole grains, go through the checkout line, I'm heading out the exit
with my cart full of my food, and then I hear this
familiar voice call my name. Some friend of mine. She comes right up to me:
"Kristin! It's great to see you!" We exchanged pleasantries, and then she, mid-sentence,
looks down at my cart, looks back up at me and says, "Oh my gosh! Is that what you eat?
Eww, I couldn't do what you do. I love food too much,
and I need variety in my diet." What? Let's think about that.
I hear this all the time. See says, number one,
"I love food too much, and I need," number two,
"variety in my diet." What does that mean? I'm looking
at my cart and I'm thinking, okay, I've got variety in my diet,
at least I think I do. And I know I love food.
At least I think I do. I love what I eat every day. And then I look at her cart, filled full of these boxes
and colorful bags, with all these really cool pictures. The foods that just look amazing, right?
They look really delicious. So maybe I'm missing out on something. Maybe I'm missing out on the variety
that the rest of the world is enjoying. Being the curious person that I am,
I do a bunch of research, and this what I've found out. It turns out there are
17,000 new food items released to the market
each and every year in this country. Let's think about that. 17,000 new food items
released to the market in this country. It's a lot of freaking food! And obviously a lot of variety
that I'm missing out on. Or is it? I eat 125 items on a regular basis. Huge difference there, right? So I'm like, wait a minute, okay, I eat
lean proteins, nuts, vegetables, fruits - You know, last time I checked, I don't think there's any new plants
or animals cropping up around the planet. So what is this variety? Well, with the exception to that thing.
We're not really sure what she is. That's our dog. (Laughter) So what are these new foods
that are cropping up? Of course, I do some more research, and it turns out that 60 to 70% of the
calories we are taking in in this country are made up of four items: corn, wheat, soy and rice. 60 to 70 percent of our calories. You tack on some sugar,
you tack on some salt, you add some chemical flavorings to that,
and you've got a new food item. 60 to 70% of the calories,
that's a lot, right? Even for me, that was hard to believe. But let's think about it for a minute. Most of our diets, right? Think about our typical day,
most of us are heading off to - We're at the University of Idaho.
Students, right? Heading off to school
in the morning, starving, you cram a donut down your throat. For me, corporate world, we do bagels.
A little bit, you know, pricier. (Laughter) Or, in this case, vitamin donuts. What's that donut or bagel
made up of? Wheat flour. And maybe, for lunch,
you grab a sub sandwich. What's in that? Wheat flour and soy. Maybe you got a bag of corn chips with it. What's in that? Corn flour,
wheat flour, rice flour. Oh, trifecta. Perfect! And then, for dinner,
what do we typically have? Well, in today's society, it is
the heat-and-serve frozen meals, right? Most of us do that
because we're pressed for time. The number one ingredient in most
of those meals is called semolina - hopefully I've pronounced that right. That's a fancy word for flour. So, when you think about it,
it actually makes sense. 60 to 70 pct of our caloric intake today
are made of these four items. Corn, wheat, soy, rice. You add sugar, you add salt,
chemical flavorings, and you've got a new food. So we think we're getting variety,
but we're really not. We're getting those four ingredients,
sugar, salt and chemical flavorings. So, how did we get there?
How did we get here today? Because, when I was growing up,
way back when - students in the room - 1960s, late 1960s, early 70s, what I have in my cart today
was considered food and was considered variety. But, obviously, not today, because what that lady said
at the grocery store, I hear that all the time. And that is a new trend in this country
the last 10 or 15 years, that "I love food too much.
I couldn't do what you do, Kristin," and "I need variety in my diet." So, how did this all happen? If you look back at the obesity epidemic - we have to look at a graph here - starting in the late 1970s,
that's when it really started taking off. What happens to correspond with that is when the U.S. Government
started recommending that we all go on a low-fat diet. Because we wanted to combat heart disease. That was the number one
issue at that time. So, consumers responded:
they started eating low-fat foods. Manufacturers responded:
they started producing low-fat foods. Well, what happens
when you take fat out of food? It tastes like crap, right? Because fat's flavor. In order for the manufacturers
to put flavor back in, what did they do? They added sugar, salt
and chemical flavorings, of course. It tasted great, it gave
consumers what they wanted because they thought, of course,
they were eating healthy food because, at that time,
healthy food meant low-fat. Right? Sugar, salt, chemical flavorings. 60 Minutes did an amazing piece
on the chemical flavoring industry, which actually took off
right about the same time because manufacturers demanded it. I highly encourage you to look at it,
it's on Youtube - a 2011 piece. It is eye-opening! So we think we're getting variety, we thought we were getting
something healthy - we really weren't, right? Fast forward to 2011. The second chart below. That shows that the per capita
consumption of wheat flour obviously corresponds right along
with the obesity epidemic in this country. Fast forward to 2011,
those perceptions largely are true today. We've carried them with us. We're a little bit smarter
on the sugar thing, but on the rest of these ingredients - and the salt and the chemical flavorings - we still haven't quite caught on yet. So, going back, I challenge you. Today, when you go home: Think about what you're eating; think about our diets, collectively, and how that's contributing to
the obesity epidemic; and what we consider to be food. Or are we really thinking that these four items, plus sugar, salt
and chemical flavorings is food? Thank you very much for your time. (Applause)
