It is so obvious to me that many of our health problems are from processed,unnatural foods. What’s not so obvious is when, when we discover this for ourselves, we don’t immediately put into practice more healthy eating habits.
Many so-called primitive communities, with their natural diets sourced locally and no doubt lacking some of the vitamins that we pop pills to get, still seem to be hugely more healthy than those of us on the Standard American Diet. Or Standard Australian Diet. SAD indeed.
So why don’t we go back to basics? Or in our case, forward to the basics! What exactly is stopping us? One thing is that we don’t take the time to educate ourselves. We’re too busy with our lives to worry about our health. (Now, how is that smart? If we don’t have good health we don’t have a life anyway.) Another is that junk food just tastes so good to our poor, mutilated tastebuds which have been bombarded with such an indulgence of salt and fat and sugar that they no longer recognise the deliciousness of clean, real foods. Yet another is that there is so much conflicting information out there and we’re not sure we’ll choose the right information.
The answer is, we need to just start somewhere. Eat a little fruit. Add vegetables to every single meal. Learn how to cook simple food superbly. Make a solemn promise to ourselves that from this day on we will put health first—our health and that of our families.
As for the conflicting information, perhaps there’s an easy way around that too. If you’re going to be vegan, be the best little vegan you can be. Buy GMO-free grains and top quality organic fruit and vegetables. Go heirloom rather than hybrid. Don’t buy processed almond milk and soy milk or other kinds of processed food. Eat as naturally as possible.
If you want to be paleo, source the very best grassfed beef and organic eggs in your district. Don’t fall into the trap of buying highly processed food just to have low-carb treats. If it’s not something you can do in your own kitchen without too much hassle, it’s probably not worth eating anyway.
The vegetarian scenario would be similar, with eggs from free-range chickens that are also free from hormones, unhomogenised whole milk, simple white cheeses, real butter and scads of vegetables and fruit.
If you favour a standard diet, find ways that you can incorporate natural foods into it. Just a few little changes here and there, when taken on permanently, can together add up to a big health benefit. And if it costs a little more for food, remember that down the track it will cost a lot less in misery, medications, doctor’s bills and hospital stays.
Our lives are our most precious resource. We are nothing without life. And good health is surely one of the essential keys to a good life.