Time to go into the light...
The truth about our diets
Looking at what we consume can be a difficult and heart wrenching experience. Yet, the results are profound. When I say consume I mean not only the food we eat or don't eat, but the water, air and individuals we allow into our environments. It is not only food that we absorb and either gain or loose health from. Many external influences affect how we experience life, and each of them contributes to our state of being.
Diet like all factors can be a confusing, overwhelming and frustrating area to address. There seems to be so much conflicting information that sometimes it seems that it is more work then it is worth. I get it, I know the struggle is real. I battle daily with what is cheapest, easiest, most readily available. Society has evolved or dissolved into a culture of comfort and ease and quickness. Fast food has become the norm for most people, whether that comes in the form of a drive thru burger place or the microwave prepared boxed meals in every grocery store in numerous places. Our society has become so busy obtaining success in whatever form it takes for the individual that preparing nutritious meals has become a thing of the past for many people.
Whether it be time, lack of experience or knowledge that starts the quick meal process, we have become dependent on processed pseudo foods. I frequently call them frankenfood. Food that has been artificially created to resemble real food, but that is lacking soul, or true nutritional value. The problem starts with the simplest of concepts...we are what we eat. When the basis of our diet is chemical laden, genetically altered, heavily processed food like substances our bodies slowly stop being able to function at prime. Much like driving your car on cheap gas or gas like substances, you may get from A to B at first, but eventually the parts will suffer, the engine will start to resist and break down. Our bodies are no different.
I am the first one to admit that making long lasting changes and sticking to a healthy whole organically grown food lifestyle is difficult, expensive and inconvenient.
Finding food that has been grown in a chemical free way has become more and more difficult because of the universal use of pesticides and herbicides like glyphosate aka Round Up. Even if it hasn't been genetically mutated or sprayed directly, it the harmful chemicals have made their way into our water and air sources, so purity is a difficult commodity to locate. As a result of this, those producers who take the time to prevent toxic exposure of their products require more compensation for their efforts, so we see higher prices for food that is FREE of toxins.
I also appreciate the effort it takes to take these whole foods and blend them together to make nutritious meals. Many of us have become dependent on commercial companies to make our food, and we have lost the practice and knowledge of how to do it for ourselves, not to mention the extra time it takes to prepare and cook it ourselves. The days of learning practical life skills such as cooking from scratch is school are slowly disappearing. Like all dependencies; from drugs, alcohol, or gambling, the key factor is reliance on externals. We rely on outside entities to meet our basic needs and wants. We give up our power to someone or something else.
We sacrifice our standards to industrial processes, which are based on cost analysis not on health benefits. Big business is in it for the profit not the people who consume it. Their goal is rarely to help anyone but their stockholders and their own pockets. Yet because of our dependency we blindly trust they wouldn't knowingly harm their consumers. In a perfect world this might be true, but we do not live in a perfect world.
We live in a world where pHARMaceutical companies have control over the food we eat and also profit from the disease that same food creates. Companies like Monsanto (now a division of Bayer) make genetically modified foods so that their chemicals don't destroy the produce but kills all its competitors, then when our intestines begin to leak because of the chemical assault they produce per chemicals to mask the symptoms of the destruction they initiated.
I was in line at the grocery store the other day and as I was unloading my basket with organic produce/products the woman in front of me started a conversation on the waste of money I was putting into my products. I nodded and suggested that my health was worth spending a little bit more at this store so that I didn't have to spend money at the pharmacy, that is to say "An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure." I am not naive and know that not all organic products are created equally and that indeed some are not much better than their heavily processed counterparts, but I try to research the companies I do purchase from. Organic and GMO free labelling helps, but doesn't guarantee clean, toxin free products. Unfortunately many companies that advertise as healthy have found ways to cut corners to increase profit margins. It's why I try to grow my own produce as much as possible, so that I know with more certainty that what I am consuming has been grown with thought and care.
I admit I am far from perfect, there are occasions when I'm too tired, to rushed, too impatient to make healthy food. I admit to loving pizza, praline ice cream and poutine, and that I do on occasion break down and buy them. However, I do so knowing that they come with consequences. I no longer have guilt free enjoyment. Like falling off the wagon and drinking, smoking or playing the slots, I need to assume full responsibility to the outcomes, inflammation and microbiome dysbiosis. When I cheat on my diet it is like feeding the enemy within and not nurturing my body. I may not feel it immediately or with any great negative consequences at first, but like relapsing with any dependency, it is a slippery slope. One time easily leads to another that leads to reducing standards and giving into the easy over the wise. One scoop of ice cream probably won't alter my gut composition, but the gallon I purchase because it's more economical, will.
Convenience confines, Ease proceeds DISease.
Very few people are perfect, but it is a worthwhile goal. We may never lose our desire for those things that might harm us, but every effort we make to reduce our negative exposures go a long way to improving our health. Knowledge truly is power and knowing what you consume and what effect it has on you is an important first step in healing our guts and living a better healthier life.
What a healthy diet consists of varies from person to person: preferences, culture and even where you live effects selection. I suggest rigorous research and consideration is essential to developing a suitable eating plan, however I would suggest you give special consideration to avoiding processed, prepackaged foods, GMOs (genetically Modified organisms aka Frankenfood), refined sugars (frequently made from GMO sources) , gluten and commercial dairy products. Remember if it is not made by Mother Nature its more likely to be MANipulated to increase profits.