The Heart Healthy Lie: How the American Heart Association Sells Its Seal of Approval to Sugary Cereals...

Feral Foodies

Sep 12

4 min read

In this post we aim to expose how food corporations pay massive licensing fees to get "health associations" to stamp their logo on processed foods, tricking the public into eating foods that fuel insulin resistance and other chronic diseases.

Let's focus on the AHA - the American Heart Association, the association that has made claims that it helpfully is now classifying UPFs (ultra-processed foods) into categories of least to most harmful, giving rise to the idea that not all UPFs are equally damaging and dangerous.

"...in 2024, the AHA became the first major U.S. medical organization to formally distinguish between types of ultra-processed foods. Their three-tier classification acknowledges that not all UPFs carry the same health risks" - UPFL

This is a slippery slope, in that UPFs ARE dangerous, the processing of foods and adding of additives are dangerous, and tampering with what qualifies as "food" is leading to almost immeasurable cases of damaged guts, obesity, diabetes, autoimmune disorders, chronic inflammation, and more.

Apparently, the AHA didn't appreciate that processed "healthy" cereals were being classified as equally damaging to health as sodas. This may be largely due to the fact that the AHA has been cited as shaking hands with Big Food for years.

"AHA rode the profit wave of refined carbohydrates from the 1990s onward by charging a hefty fee for the privilege of putting the AHA’s “Heart Healthy” Check Mark with the label ending up on some dubious candidates such as Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes®, Fruity Marshmallow Krispies®, and Pop Tarts®¹² In 2012, it was on Honey Nut Cheerios® and Quaker Life Cereal Maple and Brown Sugar®⁷, and, in 2023, “Heart Healthy” was on Walmart Great Value Frosted Bite Sized Shredded Wheat® and Quaker Simply Granola, Honey & Almonds®" - FSNS

These aren't all of the foods in question, just some of the name brands that you may find familiar and in your pantry.

THE SUGAR:

Honey Nut Cheerios for example, contains 9g added sugar in a 3/4 cup single serving, which no one is adhering to since we dump the cereal out of the box into almost any sized bowl. If you have two servings, you now have 18g of added sugar. The AHA itself standardizes no more than 25g for women and 36g for men of daily added sugars.

Doing the math, that's two servings (adult bowl) of Honey Nut Cheerios at breakfast equaling 18g of sugar (milk not included). Keep in mind a KitKat Bar contains 21g of added sugar.

If you're eating 1/2 of your daily added sugars (which should be zero) at breakfast...

you will have no sustainable fuel for your daily activities
you will make bad eating decisions throughout the day
You will most DEFINITELY go over the daily recommended amount of added sugars
You are overloading your system with "foods" that aren't

Ask yourself if the AHA is so legitimate and concerned for the general public's health, why in the world would they put their stamp of approval on a food that provides minimal nutrition and maxes out their upper limits of daily sugar intake in your first hour of being awake?

THE FIBER:

Now, let's talk about all of this "heart healthy" fiber. The AHA won't put their label on foods with less than 10% of the daily recommendation of fiber (around 25g), so in the case of Honey Nut Cheerios, you're getting a whopping 2g of fiber. How is that "heart healthy"?

To be clear, a bowl of overnight oats with chia seeds, kiwi fruit, blueberries, and walnuts has about 15g of fiber - just at breakfast.

THE MONEY:

Here is where the answers to the questions in "The Sugar" and "The Fiber" are made abundantly clear. The AHA charges companies fees to wear their label, based on the size of the company - the larger the company, the higher the cost.

While I get that companies are all out here to make money, let's remember the info above - this label is a "trusted company" that people diagnosed with heart disease or simply just trying to be proactive with their health are relying on to help them make smarter dietary decisions.

This betrayal is what is helping keep us sick while keeping Big Food and Big Pharma rich.

While chronic disease continues to increase in the US, these practices aren't just allowed but are standard.

When choosing foods, do a little homework.

Write down nutrient-dense whole-foods that you actually enjoy eating (fruits, veggies, whole grains, plant fibers, smart carbs, healthy fats, lean or plant proteins). Do a quick online search for recipes to make with these foods on your list. Shop the perimeter of the store, and if you do get a packaged food, turn it around and READ THE LABEL.

Read the ingredients - If it is a 300 word novella, put it down. If it needs translating by a scientist, put it down. Moving back to the Honey Nut Cheerios example above - notice the 2nd ingredient is sugar, meaning it is 2nd most found in the cereal, closely followed by corn starch, honey, and brown sugar. Guys - this is NOT good for you.
Read the nutrition - If there isn't any, put it down.

Eating highly processed foods packed with sugar and being overweight both can cause insulin resistance, and these two things go hand-in-hand. People eating these "healthy" foods think they're doing the right thing and will eat a "healthy" cereal instead of whole foods. Now, not only are they packing in unhealthy ingredients, but are inadvertently leaving out whole foods thinking they don't need them because their breakfast was perfection.