You are what you read.

Words matter.

They are the raw ingredients that define our mental health …

… in the same way that food ingredients define our physical health.

Yet unlike food — we have little or no cultural framework to define the safety, much less the quality, of the words we consume.

News does not come with a standardised table of nutritional values.

… and if I have learned anything in the past five years it’s that while almost everyone I meet believes they have a healthy news diet… virtually no-one actually does.

The two clippings above are a #before and #after of a paragraph within an article in today’s Guardian.

Its striking because it illustrates a double standard present in almost all reporting, by every publisher of every conflict.

It doesn’t matter whether that conflict is real and physical (like a war)… or simply ideological (like migration or taxation), it’s human instinct to use the subtly of language to hide ideas beneath the surface of the narrative.

But we are what we read.

Whether you admit it to yourself or not: what you see, hear and read today will define who you are tomorrow…

… and the ultra-processing of your diet of news has become so normal that I don’t think you probably notice it anymore. You probably think it’s fine. I’m sure like most people your would have read the #before paragraph without even noticing the double standard.

I can’t save the world from reading bias any more than I can save the world from getting fat. The economics of dramatic news are no different to the economics of monosodium glutamate.

But I can help that small proportion of society who recognise that being mentally healthy is as important as being physically healthy … and that both these ideals start with a developing healthy habits and a healthy diet.

If you care about what you’re feeding your brain: get in touch.

I am laser-focused on building a healthier way to be better informed. I am building various apps to give you a broader range of news; faster, safer and calmer than anywhere else…

… and I need people like you to use them, to give feedback and help make them better for everyone.

If not you, then please share this post with a friend who you think might want a better way to be informed… or ask me anything you like in the comments.

In the meantime: next time you read a story that piques your interest, try and think what additives the author has hidden below the surface. It may surprise you how many additives you actually consume.