Processed vs. Fresh Food. A Story.

[hippywife]

I'm not even going to get caught up in that whole Sandra Lee flamefest but I do want to share something with everyone who is young enough to think they can eat anything they want with impunity.

I'm 50 years old. Diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease runs in my family. About a year and a half ago, my doctor became concerned because my HgA1c was running at 7.1 which threw me from the "borderline diabetic" category into the "you better start doing something about this now" category. My cholesterol was 234.

I bought two books that are not diet books. They are Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and "In Defense of Food." They discuss the very topic of the kinds of foods we eat, i.e. processed vs. fresh.

I changed the way I eat and the results of my next blood lab six months later showed my HgA1c had dropped to 5.1 and my cholesterol was down to 189...the first time in my adult life that it was under 200. My doctor was amazed. He said he'd never seen anyone reduce their numbers like that without having bariatric surgery.

If I veer from that way of eating, I can feel it. I'm tired and sluggish, my body aches, and I become depressed and crabby all over again.

I used to feel the same way many of you do. I loved fast food and I looked at processed food as inexpensive time savers, which they really are not. But once I got serious about it, I saw what is possible with regard to food and my health, and I really do love the way my healthy meals taste. Doesn't have to be anything fancy. Tonight I just steamed some fresh veggies and threw them over rice with a little soy sauce. It was fresh tasting and delicious. If I want to treat myself to a little sugary treat once in a while, I can. I've not given up anything but chemically produced food-like products, I've gained so much in the area of really excellent meals I love.

You can keep eating the trash the big agriculture and the food industry in this country pedal and the government subsidizes until you develop health problems that, depending on how bad they become before they are caught, you may or may not have the opportunity to turn around for the better. You can not learn to prepare good, healthy food until the market determines that you never will and one day there will be no real food available in the grocery stores. It's a really important and fundamental choice, especially for people who have children, to take the time to learn how to fuel your body properly.

I hope folks will get more savvy to this before we see more people having heart attacks, strokes and cancers and dying long before they have a chance to grow old. I've already lost too many friends too young.

:hug: :hi: