Let me just go ahead and give you a summary of today’s article: Processed foods are bad and we’re addicted to them.

The big questions are how do we change that and would we even want to? We’ll come back to these questions at the end of the article. For now, let’s dive a little deeper into how we got to where we are.

Before the 1940s, most meals were made at home. After World War II though, women started having jobs outside of the home and there was a shift away from either adult having time to cook dinner. The television soon came out as well as the microwave. People wanted to spend more time around the telly and the processed food industry was born.

Seriously, though, we can’t blame society at that time for this downfall. Think about it. They had no idea what the health risks were. All they saw was a reasonably priced meal that could be ready in 3 minutes as opposed to the hours spent preparing a home-cooked meal. They now held jobs that kept them at work until late. Who could blame them?

An interesting tidbit is that home economics classes (which they’ve now phased out of school much to my disappointment) still taught the basics of home cooked meals and such. What did the food industry do to counter this? They created home economics classes, teachers, and competitions with a focus on preparing processed foods. That’s where Betty Crocker came from. She’s a made-up icon who originally was created to stand against the traditional approach to food. And I loved Betty Crocker growing up — now, though, I see it was just marketing. (I also like coffee and was disappointed to find out recently Juan Valdez and his trusty steed are also marketing ploys) .

In the early days of growth for the processed food market, they learned that more salt, sugar, and fat led to two things: an increased chance a consumer would buy their product and an overall increase in the amount of food consumed. Then the race was on, and still is, to push the limits of possibility. Coca-Cola was originally a 6-8 ounce treat. Now it’s a 20-ounce drink of choice at every meal. That’s not how it was intended but that’s how it has evolved.

Now, to credit the processed food industry (just a little), some companies, like Kraft and Campbell’s, have tried in the past 20 years to cut down on salt, sugar, and/or fat in their product lines. What was the result? You guessed it: a significant drop in sales thus forcing them to abandon ship and swim back into the camp of salt, sugar, and fat. The feedback given by consumers was that the foods tasted bland. As an aside, they tasted bland because we had developed a tolerance especially to salt and sugar levels that we are now used to in our daily intake. So, turns out, as consumers, even if the companies attempt a change, we aren’t ready.

Let’s go back to our original statement and questions: processed foods are bad and we’re addicted to them. How do we change that and would we even want to?

The companies lowering salt, sugar, and fat didn’t work. I think making salt, sugar and saturated fat nutritional information significantly more prominent on food packaging would help. In England, for example, they did this through a voluntary (not required) program companies could sign up for and now estimate it has decreased heart disease and strokes by 10,000 per year. Something similar was done in Finland in the 1970s and by the early 2000s they’ve estimated a decrease in heart disease and strokes across the board by 80 percent .

These are just small ideas but ones that could make a big impact not only on our health but also on healthcare spending. Want cheaper insurance and lower deductibles? Part of the answer come from less healthcare spending.

So, don’t freak out. I’m not telling you to go home and cook a meal every night from food you just got from the farmers’ market and to never set foot in McDonald’s again. I’m just saying we need to start thinking about this stuff. As a nation, we’re headed in the wrong direction. To right ourselves, we’ve got to address our eating patterns.

• Dr. Thomas is a board-certified physician who operates Complete Health Integrative Wellness Clinic and Thomas Urology Clinic in Starkville, Mississippi. Is this column helpful or are you looking for more information? We’d love to hear from you. Go to www.CompleteHealthIWC.com or call 662-498-1400.

This newspaper column is for informational purposes only and is, under no circumstances, intended to constitute medical advice or to create or continue a physician-patient relationship.  If you have a medical emergency, you should immediately seek care from your nearest emergency room, and if you have specific health questions, you should consult your own physician.