Make a Diference

OK, so In Defense of Food turns out to be a little harder to get through than The Omnivore's Dilemma.  Maybe I need the young readers edition from here on out!  You know it's bad when you're only on page 60 when you get the reminder email from the library telling you that the book is due.  But I renewed it and I will carry on...

Although I haven't been reading much, I have been teaching a lot of cooking classes lately and love sharing info about simple changes that people can make to eat and be healthier.  During this time I've also, like many of us, been watching the car crash that has been the debt ceiling debate.  I was struck by one report about how our growing health care costs are crippling our country.  It can't be denied.  We are becoming more and more unhealthy, and I firmly believe our food - the kind and the amount that we eat- is at the root of it all.  So I've put together a few of my simple changes:

1) Eat real food...not processed, not packaged.  If it doesn't have a bar code, a list of ingredients and the dreaded "food label, it is a whole food.  Think vegetables and fruit.  Eat those up!
2) Get rid of the white stuff...white rice, "enriched" pasta, white bread, white sugar...all of that stuff. Your  nanna was right when she said, "The white the bread, the quicker your dead.."
3) Dump the soda. And don't be fooled by flavored water; make your own. Fill a pitcher with water and add lemon and cucumber slices to it...drink that instead.  Nothing unnatural about it.  Every time I hear someone complain about having a headache or feeling tired, I ask when they last had a glass of water.  The answer is usually hours ago or not at all.

We'll stop there.  It's just three simple things to try.  I've got a lot more, but let's just try those three for now.  Make a commitment to give it a go for a week, and see how you feel.  I think you'll be surprised at how easy it is and how much better you'll feel.  I have a friend who adopted these ideas and after a few months, her blood pressure was back to normal after 5 years of being in the dangerously high range.

We may not balance the budget with these 3 rules, but it's a start at being healthier.  And that is just as important to me.....