“Natural” Part 2: Navigating Marketing Tricks That Rob Nature of Its Meaning

First of all, we think it’s unnatural to have to think so hard about what’s natural. Geez…

When we started our healing journey, we didn’t know each other yet, but we each saw an undeniable pattern in which the more raw materials from the earth were processed—the more they were manipulated genetically and in a chemistry lab, the more damage they seemed to do to people, animals and the environment. Often, these effects are observable short-term, like fatigue, aches, pains, sinus symptoms and such, but we learned there were most definitely long-term effects ranging from chronically feeling like crap and weight issues to serious, even deadly, degenerative diseases. So, we reasoned that if something was “natural,” it was probably working in alignment with the infinite complexities of nature and, thus, should be, not only safe, but really good for us. Sounds simple enough, right?

We weren’t alone. A lot of folks, probably you too, thought the same thing and this led to a very good thing: the natural and organic foods movement. However, it has its shadow side: the faux natural marketing movement to win over the natural and organic consumer demographic. Suddenly, something simple like “natural” became very complex, as mainstream conventional and health food store natural brands began to vie for this rapidly growing market share. We are now barraged with claims of “natural” this, “real” that, sometimes meaning the real deal and sometimes meaning something more like not all artificial and with some real stuff in it. Faux “real” and “natural” marketing claims taunt us, but do not necessarily offer us our much-desired return to a bygone era of ancient purity and paradise lost.

But, do not fret! We are here to help you become real natural food savvy. Once you get a feel for it, it becomes second nature (pun intended).  This article is a consumer guide. It is thorough and lengthy, so take a glance now to get a feel for it. Then give it a read when you have some time to sit and absorb.

Here are a few points from the end of the article to jog your memory and help you transition into this one:

1. There is no FDA regulation of the word “natural” and it can be used willy nilly. Technically, Koolaid and Twinkies can be labeled as “natural” without legal repercussion. There are a few more laws regulating the use of the word “real,” as in made with “real” milk, honey, juice, cinnamon, etc. However, food companies like to really push the envelope here too. “Natural” is not a hard line but exists more on a continuum from spontaneously formed in nature to totally man-made and artificial.
2. Devil’s advocate: Ultimately, all chemicals come from a raw material found in nature, even petroleum. So, you could say everything on the planet is natural and not be wrong. All that exists, exists in nature, not outside of it. We agree that this is true, technically. The problem is when we tinker with chemistry and make new chemicals that cause negative harmful effects.
3. More devil’s advocate: There are natural things that are poisonous, like arsenic and botulism, so “natural” does not inherently equal healthy. Obviously, nature can be a brutal place, but this doesn’t make it healthier to separate ourselves from it. Getting sick and dying is also a part of nature, but we obviously lean towards choices that support our biology since we are here to live life.
4. We closed the article asking: “[W]here do we draw the line as consumers? At what point does our manipulation of the world around us become unnatural? At what point are molecules too foreign for our molecular symphony and start to do damage?”

A note about our beloved FDA: Health loving folks like ourselves can have sort of a love-hate relationship with the FDA. On one hand, it does protect us from some pretty heinous stuff that other countries, like China, don’t protect their people from. On the other hand, we know that there is a lot of crooked politics (read this NY Times article) around what does get FDA approved, so just because something gets GRAS status, or “generally recognized as safe,” from the FDA, doesn’t mean it’s really safe. It may not kill you or cause really obvious symptoms short-term, but many chemicals with GRAS status have been scientifically shown to do significant damage to human and animal health, even in small doses, over the long-term. So, it’s up to communities of people, increasingly online communities, to educate ourselves and make informed decisions.

But… who has time to research all of this and think so hard at the store? People are busy and marketing experts are very well funded and wiley. So, what’s a health-conscious real natural food loving consumer to do? We need to strike a balance between using our intellects to inform us and using our instincts, noticing how we feel and our intuition, to guide us.

Shameless plug: We help you strike this balance in our Closing Your Nurture Gap: A Path to Radical Healing online courses and personalized coaching.

Common Strategies Across Product Categories

This is a summary of the 5 most common strategies we see in many of today’s most popular food, home and body care products that cater to the consumers’ desire for more natural ingredients.

1. The product will have a few highlighted natural ingredients in order to distract from the fact that the base is made up of chemical ingredients.
2. The product will have all ingredients that technically came from nature but are included in proportions that are not something we would ever encounter in nature, such as refined sugars, flours and oils.
3. The product will have natural ingredients that have been refined and processed in a way that denatures (removes vital nutrients and damages molecules) the food so that it becomes inflammatory and toxic.
4. The product will have natural ingredients, but they are laced with hidden synthetic inputs such as pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilizers, as well as genes inserted from other species (GMO).
5. Label might say, “Contains no…” or “Free of…” certain harmful ingredients but replaces them with others that are almost as bad. (See Chex example above.)

For the next time you shop and find yourself overwhelmed or confused, here are some consumer guidelines so faux “natural” marketing tricks don’t get you:

1. Eat organic – This weeds out thousands of chemicals and GMO foods, leaving you to just have to eliminate a few borderline “natural” foods that can cause inflammation and other metabolic imbalances (details on what these are below).
2. Buy food straight from farmers you trust who use organic, biodynamic, permaculture and/or “beyond organic” growing practices. Many of these growers are of stellar integrity, yet not certified organic. Often, their products are less expensive because of lower administrative overhead.
3. Read Labels – not just the nutritional facts. Read every single word on the ingredients list. Know what you are eating.
4. Look out for the following “natural” food tricks:

Other “Natural Flavors”

Most artificial colors and flavors as food additives are synthesized, or made in a lab, from petroleum products. So, most people would think that natural flavors, like butter flavor, natural orange flavor, natural strawberry flavor, or natural grape flavor would be made from those items, not in a chemical lab. However, they’re actually very often synthesized from corn in a laboratory. So, by natural flavor, most companies mean that the raw material was a plant as opposed to petroleum, not that the flavor in question came from the food product it’s named after. Makes sense, eh? Okay, maybe not so much.

So, this begs the question if they are really “natural” after all? Oh, that word “natural” is so slippery! On one hand, “natural flavors” from corn and soy are probably less toxic than petroleum-based food additives, but, on the other hand, they have been taken far from their natural state, which is usually what constitutes a synthetic or man-made toxin.

Our recommendation: It’s probably okay to have some natural flavors every once in a while, as long as they’re not the meaty MSG kind. We definitely wouldn’t make a daily habit of it.

“Natural” Chicken, Beef, Pork and Other Animal Products, Like Eggs and Dairy

This is a tricky one. Some meats are labeled natural, meaning that no additives are included in the meat for packaging, but does not mean there’s much of anything natural about how they were raised.

Most of the time, “natural” meat means that the animals were raised without antibiotics. This is a good thing. It’s good to know that it is not legal in the United States to raise poultry with any hormones, so hormone free poultry doesn’t really mean much since poultry is never raised with hormones. However, beef and pork can be raised with hormones, so it’s important to make sure that these products are hormone free.

Next, there’s the question of what livestock were fed and what vermicides and other toxic chemicals were sprayed in their captivity space, which they breathe in and store in their tissues that you eat. Just because an animal was raised “naturally” does not mean that they were raised on an organic diet free of toxic chemicals. Their feed can still be GMO and sprayed with pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, which again, are toxic and occurring in amounts that can cause damage to the gut, immune system, endocrine system and nervous system. It’s really a question of frequency and intensity of exposure, although small amounts can still do damage.

There’s also the question of animal welfare. Personally, we are very concerned about this issue. We think it’s ironic that we, as a society, fawn over our cats and dogs then buy meat from animals that are treated cruelly. Most of you have seen documentaries on this by now, so you know what we mean.

Sometimes, words like cage free and free range don’t mean much. Chickens that are raised in a warehouse and never go outside can be called free range according to current laws. Of course, if you can’t give the animals antibiotics and synthetic chemicals, then you do have to give them a little more space than animals raised in factory farms. However, many “naturally” raised animals are not necessarily given fresh air, natural light or room to move around outside.

Look for words like pastured or grass fed if you want to support livestock raised with space to be fully healthy and alive. In the United States, it is much harder to find organic pork than “natural” pork, unless you find a local farmer at a farmers’ market who sells grass fed pork or biodynamic pork.

We also like to tell clients that even if you don’t care about animals, there are selfish reasons to care about how animals are treated. The biochemistry of a stressed-out animal can adversely affect your hormones and neurotransmitters, adversely affecting your health. Eating a stressed-out animal, literally, transfers their stress biochemistry to you.

Our recommendation: Get the best quality meat, dairy and eggs you can where you live. Save money on other things like second hand clothes and used electronics or cars. Really prioritize animal products labeled as pastured, grass fed and organic. If these options are not available, at least get the “natural” stuff. Just be aware that it still has chemicals and the animals may not be treated as well. Bon appetit.

Products “made with real _____”, but full of a bunch of other junk

These are processed foods, both denatured “natural” and some have artificial ingredients. They are definitly not health foods, but try to make you feel safe as a consumer buying them.

“Natural” products made with lots of refined sugar, oil and flours (still inflammatory)

These products are better than super artificial chemical-laden food, but they can still be inflammatory and are not exactly nutrient rich.

Marketing Using Colors and Images Associated with Nature

This Back to Nature Package above is also a great example of this aesthetic. So are the Outshine Fruit Bars. Look out for leaves, flowers, trees, the sun, fruit, vegetables and colors like green, and even packaging that looks more earthy, as in more of a textured paper look. Some really legit companies also use these strategies but beware of imposters trying snooker you.

Marketing with Pictures of Indigenous People and Rainforest Animals

Again, we are not saying that some of these aren’t good products, as packaged foods go, but we are encouraging you to read labels and think for yourself – even better, feel for yourself if the product in question really serves you. An indigenous person or an endangered species on the label does not mean it’s the best food for your body, especially if you have digestive issues, are trying to balance blood sugar or have food sensitivities to sugar, nuts and/or chocolate. We also doubt if ancient Mayans and Amazonians ate industrially puffed amaranth, “organic flavors,” and lots of cane syrup.