Are You Eating Healthy?
Read this to make sure!
Eating healthy is all about knowing what type of processing your food has been subjected, to and what kind of additives it contains.
You owe it to yourself and your family to learn whether the food you're eating is really healthy...or not.
One of our most frequently asked questions is "How do I eat healthy"? The answer is very simple, but we'll admit, putting it into practice takes some effort.
We recommend:
The largest proportion of the food you eat should be in its natural form
Use moderation when choosing processed foods.
...It’s that simple.
Anytime you put food through a man-made process of any kind you are changing its structure and therefore changing the way it is used by the body. This can be a minimal change, such as damaging natural enzymes when you heat food over 118 degrees, all the way to the harmful and dangerous alterations that result from mass production factory processes.
Following are just some of the processing techniques that should be avoided when possible. Of course, we realize that it's the rare person who has the lifestyle that allows the "perfect" diet, so the idea is to just do the best you can. The more you learn about eating healthy, the better choices you'll make.
"Enriched and Fortified" is NOT better
Food manufacturers have been very successful in convincing the general public that processed food has been improved beyond what nature could provide. Nothing could be further from the truth. We need to realize that just because a “man-made” benefit is listed on the label doesn’t make it so. What nature provides is perfect just the way it is. “Enriched” and “fortified”, are NOT improvements; they are marketing ploys to get the public to buy food that has been altered for shelf life, color, flavor, smell, consistency, convenience, or advertising reasons.
Pasteurized milk that is "fortified" with Vitamin D many times contains the synthetic form, D2, instead of the natural form D3. Many children have severe reactions to the D2 synthetic form and parents don't have any idea why.
Our society is so bombarded with convenience “everything” that many people don’t know what to eat if somebody hasn’t pre-made it for us. Many don’t realize it is even possible to prepare and enjoy a meal without the help of convenience, packaged, and already prepared items. It’s gotten so bad people don’t even recognize processed food as being processed. For example, many people think flavored, packaged rice mixes are no different than cooking rice from scratch. How many artificial ingredients are on the label? How many preservatives, chemical flavorings, coloring, MSG derivatives? How damaging is the factory processing that allows it to cook so freakishly fast? Being "enriched and fortified" is not a "plus" here!
Once people realize that “enriched and fortified” may not be the healthy alternative they thought it was, they are at a loss as to who they should believe and often don’t know where to get accurate information on nutrition.
Education will free you from food manufacturers' influence
The only real way out of this dilemma is through education. You must gain enough nutritional knowledge to enable you to be independent of food manufacturers’ influence regarding what you should eat and buy. Learning about nutrition will give you the knowledge you need to choose healthy food for yourself. Keep reading, and we'll tell you how to make it easy, and what the benefits are.
The benefits will be apparent from how you feel!
Once you start making better food choices, and begin to notice the difference in how much better you feel, sleep, think - and realize what larger portion quantities you can consume without gaining weight - it gets easier and easier to make the right choices. Probably most surprising to people who are interested in improving their health through good nutrition is realizing that eating healthy involves no deprivation and no will power struggles. Once you get on the right track with a sound nutritional diet, you’ll find that all the unhealthy foods you used to agonize over and feel deprived about will totally lose their appeal. You will wonder how you could have ever enjoyed food like that at all! So, no will power is required to eat right…just knowledge. Your body will do exactly what it's supposed to if you feed it right!
Do you really know what "natural" is?
For example, juice is not a natural form, fruit is. Juice affects insulin levels differently than whole fruit because the fiber has been removed; the sugar in juice enters the bloodstream much faster than fruit. This is a good example of how changing the structure of a food affects the way your body deals with it. Manufacturers have to pasteurize and add preservatives to bottle things and give them shelf life. So, even foods that many people assume are natural, can unknowingly have a detrimental effect on the body when consumed in larger than intended quantities.To give them a long shelf life, many bottled juices are preserved with brominated oil, which has been linked to major organ system damage, birth defects, growth problems.
Can you have some juice now and then? Of course, juice is fine as long as you revert back to the normal serving size of the 1950’s. Anybody remember those teeny, tiny little juice glasses our grandparents used? That’s right…and it’s also no coincidence that people were smaller back then too!
When you recognize that yes, indeed, juices are “processed” then you can make the intelligent decision to have a smaller portion. But without the knowledge of how altering a food can affect its utilization by the body you would have no way of knowing that moderation is prudent. As we said in the beginning of this article, “The largest proportion of the food you eat should be in its natural form, and use moderation when choosing processed foods”.
The more “natural” the form, the better
Sugars and starches in their natural, unrefined form, enter the bloodstream at a moderate rate. Because they are digested slowly, they provide a steady, even supply of fuel over a period of several hours. Natural carbohydrates such as fruits and vegetables, that contain beneficial soluble, natural fiber, enter the blood stream much slower and therefore don’t create the volatile spikes in blood sugar that processed and refined sweets and starches do.
Processed foods such as bran, rice cakes or breakfast cereals that are perceived to be high in fiber, and therefore "healthy", are deceiving because factory processing has converted the naturally occurring soluble fiber into an insoluble form. The body is only designed to properly deal with fiber in the form presented by nature for that specific food. Fiber in its unprocessed form balances blood sugar, eliminating spikes. But when it is artificially changed, the composition of the carbohydrate has changed, so this built in blood sugar control is compromised and essentially bypassed. Refined carbohydrates cause unnecessary spikes in blood sugar.
The more a carbohydrate is “processed” (using man-made processing methods), the more you break down its cell structure, and the more it negatively affects insulin levels. This also applies to foods that are specifically processed to make them “instant”, like instant potatoes, instant rice, and instant oatmeal. Processing negatively affects the beneficial soluble fiber. Consumers are paying the high price of health for convenience and time saving foods.
Natural, unprocessed foods also provide many vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and other nutrients that have been removed or destroyed in the refining process. These nutrients contribute toward keeping the whole body in good repair.
The fewer the ingredients on a food label, the better
Read the ingredients list on food labels and limit your purchase of foods that contain more than the one ingredient you are buying it for. The fewer the ingredients, the better. This means no packaged mixes, or convenience pre-made dishes. Make your meals from scratch and enjoy the taste of real food, packed with nutrition. Learn to recognize the good taste of natural food. Canned vegetables do not taste the same as fresh vegetables, and they are nutritionally worlds apart. Never open a can when you have access to the same item in its natural form.
Of course, buying organic is always better because you are limiting exposure to dangerous pesticides and chemical fertilizers. When you stop buying canned, frozen, boxed and pre-packaged foods do you know what you will be giving up? You will automatically be eliminating hydrogenated oil, (trans fat), harmful additives, chemicals, MSG, artificial flavorings, colorings, unnecessary added sugar and salt, artificial sweeteners, etc. etc….all the things that are detrimental to good health.
Do you have to be a fanatic to be healthy? Of course not. Pick the level of your “choices” based on what appeals to you. You already do that now, but you probably don’t realize it; the same way you don’t eat ice cream for every meal, you are already currently choosing a variety of foods that fits the level of your nutritional knowledge.
You just need to gain additional knowledge needed to choose healthier options than the ones you’re currently choosing. You can absolutely eat food you love, but what you’ll probably notice with time is that after you start eating this new way, you’ll find that what you love will now be healthier things!
Beware of "refined" foods
Watch out for anything "refined" such as white flour and white sugar - both of these significantly reduce B vitamins in the body. The human body doesn’t recognize highly processed foods that have been stripped of most of their nutritional value, such as these. They are regarded as a substance that the body has to “deal” with and remove. In order for your body to process white flour and sugar, it has to seek out and use nutrients from other food sources just to process them. Learn to think of white sugar and white flour as providing nothing but a good time for your mouth...they certainly don't offer any benefits besides taste!
Yes, you can still enjoy homemade baked goods
For occasional baking, choose whole grain flour, or a combination of the great tasting and nutrient rich whole flours that are available now, such as almond, hazelnut, buckwheat, graham, spelt, and more. And use natural sweeteners like evaporated cane juice, xylitol, agave syrup, maple syrup, and honey instead of white sugar. Even "raw" sugar has had some degree of processing and isn’t your healthiest choice. Evaporated cane juice is as close to the real source as you can get other than picking sugar cane right out of the field; it still contains its natural vitamins and minerals. Plus you'll notice that evaporated cane juice has a delicious butterscotchy flavor, compared to white sugar that has absolutely no taste as all - just sweetness.
When you make your own baked goods (in moderation of course), using healthier ingredients, then you can guiltlessly enjoy a dab of butter melted on top as they come hot out of the oven, because you're living an entirely different lifestyle, and that’s one of the perks for us healthy people! We get to eat the good stuff! Eating healthy is a lifestyle that doesn't involve deprivation…because it isn’t necessary. Enjoy food...just make good choices! Once again, eat food in its natural form and use moderation when choosing processed foods.
Even rich desserts are OK - in moderation - with natural ingredients
Have you ever noticed that you're completely satisfied with, and maybe even unable to finish, a small slice of an expensive, high quality, rich dessert, but it's easy to polish off a grapefruit sized, fluffed up $2. blueberry muffin? That's because of the ingredients. That mountain of a muffin is probably made from a packaged mix coming from a big food supplier that manufactures bulk quantity ready-made mixes designed for long shelf life. To do that he has to use nutrient empty ingredients that are processed with the only goal being that they last a longgggggggggg time. Any taste consideration can be addressed with artificial flavoring. That muffin is probably filled with preservatives, chemical flavor enhancers, such as MSG derivatives, artificial ingredients, artificial coloring, etc. etc.
At this point, you could laughingly consider yourself lucky if a caring small business owner happened to make the muffin from scratch using the traditional white flour and white sugar! Whereas, that expensive, rich dessert probably contains only natural ingredients like fresh butter and cream – all the natural foods that trigger chemical reactions in your body designed to tell you you're full and satisfied. You actually want to stop because chemicals have been released that tell your brain to stop. The exact opposite is happening with the processed muffin. It is a documented fact that certain food additives increase appetite, and cause you to crave more and more of a food, even when you’re full. One such additive is MSG, and MSG derivatives. You will be hungry sooner, and crave foods containing MSG over and over. It’s a manufacturer’s dream, but a consumer’s nightmare.
You could argue that that delicious, rich dessert also possibly contains some white flour and white sugar, but you just don’t have the fateful combination of artificial ingredients that combine to make the muffin a nutritional disaster. Plus, many people will grab one of those big muffins or a donut daily, but won’t eat a rich dessert daily.
So, the lesson here is…eat more natural and be more satisfied with the food you’re eating. Then you can allow yourself a delicious, high quality treat now and then. When you are eating a diet that consists of a majority of healthy food, you can absolutely enjoy a few treats now and then. Eat natural and avoid deprivation.
How to find information on making better food choices:
A great and easy source for really sound nutritional advice is to read books on the "raw" food method of eating. (Heating food above 118 degrees damages the natural enzymes in it therefore giving it less nutritional value for your body). Whether you plan on eating mainly raw food or not, you will learn a lot about nutrition, and how you can substitute your current unhealthy favorite foods with better choices.
Many times it's just a matter of buying some different ingredients to re-create the same foods you are already eating. For example, if you're a bread lover, you can switch to "sprouted" bread which is a lot healthier and still retains much of the living enzymes. There are many other grains available besides wheat and each grain has different nutritional characteristics and taste. Health food stores usually carry sprouted bread in the freezer section. One brand name is "Ezekial" bread.
There are also lots of alternatives for unhealthy starches, and processed pastas. (Starches cause blood sugar to spike, creating an over production of insulin, which then causes a dramatic drop in blood sugar, resulting in lethargy, mental fogginess, and then with continued abuse, insulin resistance, and possibly Type II Diabetes.)
Your local health food store will carry many healthy starch substitutes. For example, kelp noodles are a fantastic replacement for the noodles in a stir fry. Most people don't even realize they aren’t the regular starchy noodles they’re used to eating unless you tell them.
If you can't find them in your local store, you can buy them on-line at: http://www.kelpnoodles.com/
And spaghetti squash is a great replacement for pasta noodles. Don't knock it until you try it – it’s delicious with Marinara sauce on it. Lots of people use the raw food principles and then adapt a moderate approach of about 50% cooked food and 50% raw, which is very easy to stick with. Armed with all this information you can choose a wide variety of foods that support an overall healthier way of eating. And you'll be amazed at the quantity of food you can eat compared to the small amounts of high calorie unhealthy options.
Here's a great breakfast choice
To make a delicious and protein packed bowl of cereal, you can chop germinated raw almonds into very small pieces, then add a spoonful of plain non-homogenized whole milk yogurt, a drizzle of natural maple syrup, some fresh fruit, (berries are really tasty with this cereal) and maybe a sprinkle of cinnamon, and then some coconut milk or non-homogenized whole milk for your liquid if desired. It’s delicious! Once they try it most people wouldn't switch back to boxed cereals for anything. (I also add a spoonful of lecithin, and some wheat germ)
You can find recipes like this in many raw food cookbooks. This cereal variation is from a breakfast granola recipe from the book: "Eating in the Raw: A beginner's Guide to Getting Slimmer, Feeling Healthier, and Looking Younger the Raw-Food Way", by Carol Alt. This is an excellent book for people looking for nutritional information.
Germinated raw almonds also make a great snack food and they're packed with protein. By germinating the almonds you are releasing the enzyme inhibitors in the nuts, giving them much greater protein value than the raw nut. And they have a nice almost chewy consistency that most people like better than raw almonds. To germinate any nuts simply put them in a bowl of water and store in the refrigerator. Almonds take about 8 hours to germinate. The term "germinate" makes them sound like they are turning to seed or something, when actually you are just soaking them in water. They just get a little softer and have a richer taste. Change the water every couple days and keep adding more nuts now and then to replenish them so you can keep an ongoing supply. Kids love them and they're a fantastic substitute for chips! Drain off the water and put them out at a party and see how fast they disappear.
Use Olive and Coconut Oils; don't be fooled into buying those other supposedly "healthy" oils
Olive and coconut oil are extremely good for you, but what about all those other supposedly healthy oils that manufacturers are trying to claim as being so much superior? Oils touted as healthy, such as safflower, corn, sunflower, soybean, and cottonseed oils all contain over 50% Omega 6; whereas olive oil is only 10%. We should be consuming approximately even proportions of Omega 3 and Omega 6 essential fatty acids. But in our current society, most Americans consume an average ratio of one part Omega 3, to fifteen parts Omega 6. This means we are consuming 15 times more Omega 6 specifically than we should be! This out of whack consumption ratio is primarily due to the excessive amount of vegetable oil and hydrogenated oils that are in almost all processed and convenience foods.
Plus healthy fat contains the hormone cholecystokinin (CKK) that tells the brain you’re full and to stop eating. When healthy forms of fat are missing, this important signal is missing...which leads to overeating in many people. Cultures that use coconut oil in their cooking are typically much thinner. And coconut oil is also great for a sluggish thyroid. It is composed of medium chain fatty acids which are sent directly to your liver and are converted into energy rather than being stored as fat. Coconut oil can actually stimulate your body's metabolism and increase thyroid activity.
Why you need to pay attention to the processing method of the oil you're consuming:
In the old days, oils were extracted using slow moving stone presses which did not damage the integrity of the original source. Naturally occurring vitamins were retained within the finished product, such as Vitamin E, and served to protect the body from the free radicals created when oil is exposed to light and oxygen. But today’s mass produced oils are processed in large factories by crushing the seeds, then heating them to 230 degrees. The oil is then subjected to more heat when it is squeezed out at 10 to 20 tons of pressure per inch. And since money is the name of the game here, in order to extract every possible drop, the pulp is then treated with any number of toxic solvents, usually hexane. The solvent is boiled off, but up to 100 ppm (parts per million) may still remain in the oil.
These high temperatures create dangerous free radicals within the finished product and kill off the naturally occurring vitamin E in the original fruit, nuts or seeds that would normally have helped protect the body from free radicals. And we haven’t even gotten into the residues that are coming off the metal containers used in the high heat process. So much for “healthy” vegetable oil! Because olive and coconut oils are cold-pressed the free radical fighting vitamin E is preserved, making them the far healthier choice. Make sure you always use “cold pressed” olive and coconut oil.
About homogenized milk...
Milk: Most states require the pasteurization of milk, but it is possible to find non-homogenized milk in some stores. (Scientists believe its no coincidence that the homogenization of milk and the increase atherosclerotic heart disease began at about the same time, in the 1940’s.) When milk is homogenized mechanically the fat particles of the cream are strained under great pressure, becoming so small they will stay in suspension within the milk, rather than rise to the top of the milk, giving the product a “smoother” feel. Often the fat is damaged during the process if the temperature or the pressure is too high. This unnatural composition cannot be broken down by the body as intended, making it more susceptible to rancidity and oxidation which may contribute to heart disease. So, as you can see, anytime you can purchase a product that is as close to its natural form the better off you will be.
And, as long as we're talking about milk...
What about those labels on the milk cartons that brag about milk being fortified with Vitamin D. Well, don't get too excited because the Vitamin D that is added to milk is a synthetic form (D2). Many children react to this synthetic form. The natural form of Vitamin D (D3) has untold health benefits such as helping inhibit skin cancer and prostate cancer, stimulating bone density, and increasing the absorption of Calcium, and Phosphorus just to name a few.
Enjoy food! No Willpower Required
Eating in a nutritionally dense manner and supplying your body with healthy supplements that feed nutritional deficiencies, (instead of causing them) will greatly help to eliminate cravings for bread, pasta and starchy processed foods. When you start eating in a nutritionally conscious way, you'll find that you will be eliminating most of the foods that offer nothing beneficial to your body. Realizing just how detrimental some foods are, definitely make them less appealing and desirable. 900 calorie muffins and cinnamon rolls, made with nutrient sucking ingredients and white sugar that will spike your insulin levels off the chart, sending you into a mental haze, with an energy zapping blood sugar crash shortly after, aren't actually very appealing to "nutritionally conscious" people.
Of course if you just have to have a bite of one now and then, go ahead! Take a couple bites, enjoy it (if you can), then throw it in the trash where it belongs. You’ll be amazed how powerful you’ll feel when you actually throw away the unfinished portion of something you used to consider a “treat”. That’s when you’ll realize that food no longer controls you and that you actually desire healthy food.
If you're wondering how all those "health food nuts" out there have so much will power, you will soon realize that we don't have will power at all. We have just learned to love the taste of genuine, fresh, simple, delicious food.
By making a few changes to the way you eat, you too can look forward to a life of good health, filled with energy, mental clarity, and balanced moods. Just remember,
Eat food in its natural form and use moderation
when choosing processed foods - It’s that simple!
Following are some books that offer additional information:
Eating in the Raw: A beginner's Guide to Getting Slimmer, Feeling Healthier, and Looking
Younger the Raw-Food Way, by Carol Alt.
Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon, with Mary G. Enig, Ph.D.
Protein Power, by Michael R. Eades, M.D. and Mary Dan Eades, M.D.
The Healing Foods, by Patricia Hausman & Judith Benn Hurley
Foods That Heal, by Maureen Salaman and James F. Scheer
Doctor Yourself, Andrew Saul, Ph.D.
Be sure to read our report on MSG, a dangerous food additive that damages the hypothalamus gland, which regulates weight control: http://vitalearth.net/MSG.html
Recipe: Fresh spinach sautéed in garlic
Try this for a simple, delicious, healthy side dish
Saute some chopped garlic in a tablespoon or so of olive oil, then add some fresh spinach and toss until it's lightly coated with the oil and garlic. Then sprinkle with some coarse Kosher salt and serve warm.
There isn't a box of anything out there as good as this! And it's easy! There's a reason why the manufacturers of "convenience" food have to add all those chemicals and additives - their food would have no taste without it! You just can't expect food in a box or bag, with a one-year shelf life, to have the same nutritional value, or good taste, as fresh organic produce!
Recipe: Easy Rugala Treats
Quick and tasty home
baked goodies:
Make a pie crust with your favorite healthy, whole grain flour. Roll it into an oblong shape. Brush the rolled piecrust with a couple tablespoons of organic butter. Now spread the piecrust with any number of good, healthy things you may have in the refrigerator, such as natural, unsweetened coconut, some natural all-fruit preserves or some berries, or small pieces of chopped ripe fruit. For sweetener, drizzle on a little maple or agave syrup, or sprinkle with evaporated cane juice. Add a dusting of cinnamon if desired, and some chopped raw nuts. Now roll it up and slice into approx. ½ to 1 inch wide slices.
Place on a cookie sheet and bake @ 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until done. Most people have no idea they are eating something that contains no white flour or white sugar and all the ingredients are actually healthy! Healthy food really is good! |
