Eat Real Food...

[kathydwells]

I thought this was a very interesting article. I wanted to share it with everyone. I am trying to eat healthier and I am reading everything I can about healthy eating....let me know your thoughts.

Real Food Challenge

The Nourished Kitchen

 

[Lynnie]

I thought this was a very interesting article. I wanted to share it with everyone. I am trying to eat healthier and I am reading everything I can about healthy eating....let me know your thoughts.

Real Food Challenge

Once you get used to it, it isn't a challenge at all. I started a few years ago with 'shop the exterior aisles only' at the grocery store....except for coffee, sugar, paper products.

I still eat some junk, but not as much as I used to and I don't skimp on stuff I love, like butter and cream, dark chocolate and on and on.

 

[scooterbug44]

I try to eat as few processed/ready made items as possible as I do think it is healthier. I don't go as extreme as this article - I'll be damned if I'll start grinding my own grains. :roll:

Aside from that, it's actually pretty easy if you aren't too militant - mainly because I grew up in foodie/traditional land not eating those foods or ingredients so I don't really like them (many actually make me sick or send my blood sugar through the roof).

Vegetables from a can just taste nasty to me, we didn't eat casseroles or any ready made food except soup and meat products, we didn't have much fast food, cookies were baked (not bought), and between hunting and gardening and neighbors you could get a wide variety of items, so most of our food was from scratch.

It certainly helps that I can get unprocessed/from scratch cookies, bread, pasta, butter, jelly, produce, salsa, and eggs at the Farmer's market and good produce from local stores.

My processed dietary downfalls are mainly dairy items that I will NOT do without (yogurt, cheese, milk), and starch items that I try to eat very little of - instant mashed potatoes, white rice, tortillas, tortilla chips, and pasta - though Cheerios, sweets, and drinks are also big oops items.

 

[Lynnie]

My family stores wheat/grain and mills for their food items that require this kind of flour. They are healthier. Grain loses its nutrients after 72 hours of being ground, so buying flour at the store 'enriched' has no nutrients at all. During the Depression, they were enriching it to prevent beri beri and other diseases.

So, I bought a mill, invested in grain and used it maybe three times. Time factor here......same reason I don't make my own pasta and buy the box. But, I certainly believe this is the healthier way!

 

[kathydwells]

It is all certainly new to me to eat this way. However, I am trying to be better. I am not going to be growing my own grain, or making lard, or milling my own flour, but I am trying to eat more fresh veggies and fruit. Also, I have taken a liking to dried fruit. I guess that would be considered processed but it is better than candy. I LOVE High Fiber V8 juice and their new fruit/veggie juice V8 Fusion. Trying to get some of my fruits and veggies in this way.

It is hard to give up some processed foods like Scooter said. I am not giving up my cheese, Multi Grain Cheerios or Milk.

For someone who has not always eaten this healthy I have noticed one side effect that is....well, gaseous. That is also a side effect of quitting smoking. I had no idea. Put them both together and it can be explosive!

I hope this does not last forever......I bet everyone else around me hopes this as well.

 

[scooterbug44]

It's the dried fruit - especially if you are eating apricots or apples!

A big part of the not eating processed food is realizing just how bad the processed food is for you - once you are aware you are willing to exchange a little inconvenience for a lot more goodness.

 

[Matt J]

The gas will go away, it's just your body adjusting.

 

[ShallowsNole]

Also watch your onions, cabbage, broccoli, collards, and of course, beans. Love 'em all but they make for a rough night (or a good night, if you are into redneck entertainment).

There is no way I would have time to grind my own grain or make my own pasta, but there is no doubt that processed food is just not as good for you. I grew up on processed food; Fuzz's family did not. Whatever they ate, they either grew or raised. They even took their own corn to a mill in Geneva to be ground for cornmeal. The stuff was fine as baby powder...and you can't buy it like that in the store. Fuzz's grandparents got custody of him when he was just a baby, and thus they bought a milk cow. After milking the cow, they stored the milk in a bottle and kept the milk cool by submerging it in the local creek. They didn't know any other way of living, and they pretty much have all lived into their late eighties or their nineties.

That being said, Grandma is 90 and has discovered pizza. We have to stop and get one for her whenever we pass through DFS on the way up.

 

[ShallowsNole]

And before I got off on that episode, I meant to mention that, as most everybody who follows me on FB knows, I found out six weeks ago that I am diabetic. This has forced me to make changes in what I eat. I'm now finding out that I can eat some things that I thought I couldn't, and I basically need a support group every time I go to Publix, but you know what? It's amazing how good food can bring down the glucose levels. I feel MUCH better most of the time, and I got a nice surprise when I went to my doctor for a followup. I was eight pounds lighter! Now the scales say I'm ten pounds down, and that was before I actually got in the routine of exercising again.

Of course, as many 10-lb increments as I have, it's hard to tell. But I can tell - and now I'm motivated.

You guys are going to have to remind me of this from time to time...:roll:

 

[DD]

SN--Bummer about the diabetes, but yippee about the 10 lbs! If you keep going, maybe the diabetes won't be an issue.

I'm soooo loving this thread, Darlene! As I said when I started this whole Lent thing, I've eaten waaaaaay too many processed foods for waaaaaay too long and it's definitely taken it's toll. But, in the last couple of weeks, I can honestly say I do feel better. I think the lack of sugar has helped considerably. I still eat some canned or frozen veggies because of convenience, but I'm looking forward to summer and more availability of good stuff. (Another reason to like summer better).
I haven't read your articles yet, but will print them out at work tomorrow...better printer.
Do they really say to grind your own grain? :shock: