Eating - as essential to our life as breathing and sleeping. Yet, what/when/how to eat has dominated and confused our society with each passing year. The act of eating should be simple, but it has become unfortunately very complex - and in the journey towards simplicity, complex is not a welcome word. After much research, I've concluded that there are many reasons why the whole food thing is so confusing. It's not easy to eat anymore, and here's why:
Misleading information on what is healthy. Uh-huh, we're supposed to believe what the experts tell us, right? Experts like the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, American Dietetic Association, USDA, etc.? There have been more flip-flops in the "guiding wisdom" offered by these and other so-called expert groups than can be found on a California beach. We have a DVD of old TV commercials, and one of the saddest ones is an ad for margarine - good for the heart, more healthy than butter, they said. Years later, we discover margarine with its transfats is one of the worst things you can eat. Eggs are bad for the heart, they said earlier. Now eggs are one of the most nutritious items on the menu! Wonder bread builds bodies....now whole grains are the answer! Wait - even whole grains are not heroes...(more on that later...) Unfortunately, you can't just assume everything you hear, even from the "experts." Do your own research, which will lead you inevitably to the fact that...
We've screwed up our food. Oh yeah, we've really made a mess of things. Antibiotics are given to cows who are force-fed corn when their stomachs aren't made to digest corn. Growth hormones are given to many dairy cows. There are fast food joints on every block. And get this: The wheat you buy and eat today is not the same wheat grown generations ago. It has been genetically modified and tweaked so much that the ol' amber waves of grain are patented by Monsanto, et. al., and their "patented seed" is blowing into the farms of organic farmers, so everything is pretty much contaminated. We've overfished the seas, and what's left is filled with mercury and other pollutants. Pesticides cover everything. Fruits and vegetables are grown to withstand a lot of travel and handling without bruising - not for taste and certainly not for nutrition. Crops and animals are grown by large-scale industries who control the majority of our food supply and who appear to have little in the way of ethics. Which brings us to....
We have become aware of our food sources. At first, this seems like a good thing, right? Recall, however, the story of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were happy and naive in their own little world until "their eyes were opened." In other words, they received the blessing/curse of knowledge, and they had to deal with that knowledge. Anyone who has not heard of "Food, Inc" or "Fast Food Nation" or other books and movies has either been leading a sheltered existence or has deliberately avoided the ugly truth. Our daughter and daughter-in-law are vegans for ethical reasons, but even from a purely health reason, to allow some of the "food" on the market into our bodies is pure insanity. Descriptions and pictures of animals standing in their own waste, calves taken from their mothers and/or killed, chickens whose beaks are cut off so they won't peck each other from the anxiety of being stuffed in a cramped space, turkeys bred to have such big breasts that they can't even walk, - well, it's not a pretty picture and it is certainly not appetizing. I'm not a vegan, not even a vegetarian - but it's getting harder and harder to eat the way I've been eating guilt-free. I, of course, try to find my own way, meaning....
Everybody, literally every body, is different. Whether you're allergic to peanuts or gluten, whether or not you can easily digest milk - you have to find out what works for you - a way of eating that is sustainable, where you can maintain a healthy weight and keep your body at optimal performance. There is no one-size-fits all. There will probably be compromises along the way. Not everybody has the same system, or....
Financial resources. Yep, you knew money has to figure in somewhere, right? Organic food costs more, grass-fed beef costs more, vegan ice cream costs more. Your budget can only go so far so you have to make some hard choices. As our daughter posted on Facebook recently, our government kindly subsidizes the very crops and industries that are harming us - so we can get that cheap "food."
Eating - something that should be simple and instinctive - has become a burden so emotionally draining that it gives me a headache just to think about it. Before the first bite, we have to consider the conventional wisdom versus our own research, the contamination of our food supply, the ethics of how our food is raised, our own body's reaction to what we eat, and how much we are willing to financially invest in our health. It's still an ongoing journey for my husband and me to figure this all out, but if anyone hears of a magic pill I can take once a day so I can quit eating altogether, I'd appreciate a heads up. What a bummer! The next thing you know, we'll have problems with the simple act of breathing....oh dear.
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