A bit on the serious side today; I watched the documentary "Food Matters" this week. I think everyone should watch it, as it gives one much food for thought. Pun intended. It brings up the very valid issue of the use of vitamins and how little nutrients we get from most of our food. Not to mention it's a good learning tool.
The reality of how poor our diet is in the United States, is driven home in this interesting film. The people in the film discuss that doctors are not taught nutrition in this country. No wonder so many doctors don't talk about vitamins, or ask their patients if they are taking vitamins. It seems rather simple to me that medical schools should include at least one course in how food affects our bodies. They point out that cancer and other illnesses are not prevalent in other countries that consume healthier, plant based foods. There is much discussion that our own bodies can fight off most diseases if we follow healthier, plant based eating habits.
I changed my lifestyle when I started to open my eyes to how poor my own diet was. But apparently, according to some of my friends, I am not your average person. Not in a good way, but in an odd way; thanks guys. Okay, I realize I tend to overly research lots of things and fortunately or unfortunately depending on your opinion, that is just part of the makeup of my personality. I can be a bit nerdy in my pursuit of information and interests, but this is an important subject. So I thought that I should pay attention and watch it. I write and talk about healthy living all of the time. We all know now that the more junk and processed foods we eat, the worse our health becomes. The film points out that food is the major cause of illnesses like cancer.
I don't recall at what point I realized that, but it may have been when I started to go through menopause and was worried about my health. I started reading up on heart disease, cancer, you name it. What hit home for me and the reason I decided to write about this documentary today, was one point that was made about how are bodies are capable of fighting off illnesses like cancer, unless we eat poorly. We in fact don't have to become sick with these illness, if we change our eating habits. I get that and have read or heard it many times. They also said that we should eat a 51% raw diet.
Now I wasn't really aware of that; 51% raw thing. They said that we should eat 51% raw food at every meal. I stopped the DVD and thought about that for a moment. Hmmmm. Do I do that? Sometimes I think I do, but now I'm not so sure. Most days I think I do fairly well. But much of the food I buy is also most likely sprayed with pesticides and may come from soil that is depleted of nutrients. That was also a discussion point in the film as well. See, it goes back to the nutrient thing again. Wow all of this just makes my head spin a bit. If only we could get everyone to pay attention.
It really makes sense though that if the land is farmed over and over again it would no longer have many nutrients left. If it is planted many times without letting it rest naturally for a few seasons or is not planted with a nutrient giving, cover crop in the off season, it would become depleted of nutrients over time. Some farms do that and some don't, but how do we know which ones are supplying our local food market? Doesn't this all just make your head swim? And you thought you were eating healthy just by buying more produce! Ha! I don't want to think about it for awhile or my head may just explode. Geez!
The best message we can take away from this film is to try to eat more healthy, raw foods and make sure most of them are organic. We also need to avoid or restrict highly processed foods as much as possible and read more labels. So go out and grow your own food if you can. Oh, and don't eat meat. Now there's a curve ball for most of us.
The reality of how poor our diet is in the United States, is driven home in this interesting film. The people in the film discuss that doctors are not taught nutrition in this country. No wonder so many doctors don't talk about vitamins, or ask their patients if they are taking vitamins. It seems rather simple to me that medical schools should include at least one course in how food affects our bodies. They point out that cancer and other illnesses are not prevalent in other countries that consume healthier, plant based foods. There is much discussion that our own bodies can fight off most diseases if we follow healthier, plant based eating habits.
I changed my lifestyle when I started to open my eyes to how poor my own diet was. But apparently, according to some of my friends, I am not your average person. Not in a good way, but in an odd way; thanks guys. Okay, I realize I tend to overly research lots of things and fortunately or unfortunately depending on your opinion, that is just part of the makeup of my personality. I can be a bit nerdy in my pursuit of information and interests, but this is an important subject. So I thought that I should pay attention and watch it. I write and talk about healthy living all of the time. We all know now that the more junk and processed foods we eat, the worse our health becomes. The film points out that food is the major cause of illnesses like cancer.
I don't recall at what point I realized that, but it may have been when I started to go through menopause and was worried about my health. I started reading up on heart disease, cancer, you name it. What hit home for me and the reason I decided to write about this documentary today, was one point that was made about how are bodies are capable of fighting off illnesses like cancer, unless we eat poorly. We in fact don't have to become sick with these illness, if we change our eating habits. I get that and have read or heard it many times. They also said that we should eat a 51% raw diet.
Now I wasn't really aware of that; 51% raw thing. They said that we should eat 51% raw food at every meal. I stopped the DVD and thought about that for a moment. Hmmmm. Do I do that? Sometimes I think I do, but now I'm not so sure. Most days I think I do fairly well. But much of the food I buy is also most likely sprayed with pesticides and may come from soil that is depleted of nutrients. That was also a discussion point in the film as well. See, it goes back to the nutrient thing again. Wow all of this just makes my head spin a bit. If only we could get everyone to pay attention.
It really makes sense though that if the land is farmed over and over again it would no longer have many nutrients left. If it is planted many times without letting it rest naturally for a few seasons or is not planted with a nutrient giving, cover crop in the off season, it would become depleted of nutrients over time. Some farms do that and some don't, but how do we know which ones are supplying our local food market? Doesn't this all just make your head swim? And you thought you were eating healthy just by buying more produce! Ha! I don't want to think about it for awhile or my head may just explode. Geez!
The best message we can take away from this film is to try to eat more healthy, raw foods and make sure most of them are organic. We also need to avoid or restrict highly processed foods as much as possible and read more labels. So go out and grow your own food if you can. Oh, and don't eat meat. Now there's a curve ball for most of us.
