Active Low-Carber Forums - View Single Post - Pet Peeve: "Natural" vs. "Artificial"

WARNING: RANT TO FOLLOW

There are many, many reasons to eat whole foods, and I absolutely believe that they should make up the majority of what we ingest. I back that belief up with what I put in my mouth. But encouraging the wholesale avoidance of "artificial" foods such as sweeteners, etc., just BECAUSE they are artificial really bugs me.

This is a topic that got in my craw even before I started LCing. What does artificial mean, anyway? As far as I know, no food out there is actually made from nothing, anyway; matter cannot be created or destroyed by ordinary means. The building blocks—molecules—they are made with have been taken from something natural. Just because a food is artificial does not make it harmful, though of course some, such as trans fats, are. Most overly processed foods are bad for you not because of what is in them (except for the aforementioned trans fats and sugar, of course), but because of what is not in them: healthy fats, protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Just as artificial foods and supplements are not necessarily unhealthy, natural foods and supplements are not necessarily healthy. Foxglove is very natural; it’s a plant. So is hemlock. But both will kill you quickly. There are plenty of dangerous substances in the natural world. Some, such as snake venom, work rapidly. Some, like, say, sugar, work more slowly.

Okay, rant over.