Health Food

It’s no secret; everyone likes to think that they are eating healthy. Of course, healthy means different things to different people. But, the fact remains that most people will generally choose something that’s good for them - as long as it’s convenient and tastes just as good as the unhealthy alternative.

Now more than ever, an ever growing number of foods are purporting themselves as “healthier” options with less fat, less calories, and more vitamins than any person needs in any concentration. While some of these foods actually are healthier, many of them are simply unhealthy products wrapped in a way that makes them look, taste, and feel far healthier than they actually are.

People buy these products because they feel healthier when they eat or drink them. The medical benefits of Vitamin Water and $100 supplements have long been questioned, but they’re both flying off the shelves nonetheless. In science, there is a commonly documented phenomenon that is remarkably similar to the health food economy.

The placebo effect is realized when one group of patients is treated with a placebo (usually a non-functional sugar pill) and another group is treated with an actual medication. Sometimes, the results from the medicine and the placebo align to make both groups of people feel better and thus creates the placebo effect.

Likewise, drinking a $6 health smoothie or eating a vitamin enhanced granola bar often make people feel as though they’re actually getting healthier. Sure, there are ethical concerns involved in marketing products that claim to be healthy when they’re actually not. But, perhaps, these products are still doing some good - even if it is only in the minds of the consumer. After all, they do indeed feel quite a bit healthier after buying and using these products.

In an optimal world however, healthy products would actually be healthy. Then, consumers would feel good because they felt healthier and, medically speaking, they would actually be healthier too. It might not happen tomorrow, but it’s definitely something to strive for.