Do our Eating Habits Really Make the Difference?

Would you rather eat “real” food, or would you rather eat “food” that’s made in factories with chemicals and other foreign substances?

Did you know that Kraft Singles, “cheese slices” does not have one single bit of cheese in them?  The package typically says pasteurized prepared cheese product.  You have to look really hard if you find actual cheese.  I wonder if our bodies know how to digest all that.

Did you know that Gatorade is full of artificial ingredients which are known to cause ADHD, cancer and migraines (plus a lot more).  Well, it quenches our thirst, but…

Do you realize that Oatly, that is recommended to people on Paleo diets, has a lot of sugar, contains canola oil, and can spike your blood sugar as much as soda?

And I know you don’t want to hear this (I don’t!!) but Cheetos is made with GMO corn along with many additives but mainly the yellow dye (and the Flamin’Hot ones have Red 40 dye) that are all well known to cause harm in our bodies.

And that Chips Ahoy! In addition to all the dangerous additives, has three types of sugar (every cookie).

Pop Tarts are made with corn syrup and soy oil, and with GMO bleached flour… how could this possibly add nourishment to our bodies?

What about the packaged Kraft Macaroni & Cheese… with three ingredients that are known to encourage heart disease (calcium triphosphate, sodium triphosphate, and sodium phosphate).

Did you know that Marie Callender’s Chicken Pot Pie (large size) has 440 calories, 11 grams of saturated fat, and 650 milligrams of sodium?  And that on the label those numbers are for “one serving” which is half the pie.  How long can our bodies digest all this, without making us sick?

Five Guys burger (no toppings) has 840 calories and 20 grams of saturated fat.

Campbell’s Condensed Soup has about 800 milligrams of sodium per cup.  If you eat the whole can, it’s around 2,000 mg.

(And you knew this was coming…) Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha with 2% milk, and with whipped cream on top has as many calories as a Quarter Pounder with Cheese (530 calories), 14 grams of saturated fat and approximately 9 teaspoons of added sugar.

Do you think, with us eating these “foods”, our bodies can be strong?  Do you think these “foods” help us fend off the viruses and bugs that come along?  What about diseases?  Do you think our cells are strong enough, feeding them this kind of fuel, to keep us healthy?

The answer to those questions, all of them, is NO.

How did we get into this spot?  To think these foods were ok for us to eat?

Why did we exchange real, grass-fed butter for “vegetable oil”, which isn’t even vegetable oil!  … and we drank raw milk from grass-fed cows, from a glass bottle… and now drink grain-fed milk “fortified with vitamins” and stored in plastic bottles.

How did we get to the spot where microplastics are hiding in our food and water?  And now… they are residing in our bodies…

Also…do you believe the words on the packaging in the store?  Look further, to see if those claims are so.  Read the Ingredients.  You will probably be surprised.

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We are literally what we eat.

Food is where we get our energy from… and our strength.

Good food is our Medicine.

Our bodies need High Quality Protein—yes, meat is good for us—grass-fed, or wild-caught, or free-range if you can get it. 

Have you been taught to believe that fat is bad?  It’s not true.  Good fat is not only good for us, it’s necessary—our bodies need it.

Three enemies to our health in addition to “junk” food are:

Sugar

Grains, and

Dairy

But if you must eat them, make your food at home—have your own additions of sugar, your own choice of quality grain products, etc. 

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Fats and Oils:

The “fats” changed for more convenience, and lower cost.  They were marketed to the public very convincingly.  But it did not have good results.

Man-made fats are never healthy.  And Man-made Trans-fats are particularly harmful.  Such as margarine, or any butter that is not actually butter.

Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils are man-made trans-fats found in these “buttery spreads”.  Our bodies can’t use these for anything.

Man-made Unsaturated fats are highly processed and they oxidize easily with light, or air, or heat.  Consuming oxidized oils are never healthy.  Some of these oils are:

Canola Oil            Sunflower Oil                 Safflower Oil

Corn Oil               Cottonseed Oil                Rice Bran Oil

Vegetable Oil        Sesame Oil                     Soybean Oil

Peanut Oil             Grapeseed Oil

We need Fats in our diet—contrary to what we’ve been trained to believe over the years.  Fats do not necessarily make us fat.  As a matter of fact, the “good fats” keep us healthier.

Try these Saturated Fats (for Hot uses):

Coconut Oil          MCT Oil (from grass-fed & organic sources)

Butter                   Ghee

Tallow                  Chicken Fat (free range chickens)

Lamb Fat              Duck Fat

Grass-fed Dairy    Eggs, Meat and Seafood

Avocado Oil

Try these Unsaturated Fats (for Cold uses):

Olive Oil & Olives          Avocado Oil

Nut Oils (walnut, etc)      Flaxseed Oil

Avocado Oil                   Nuts & Seeds (including nut & seed butters)

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70% of our immune system is in our gut.  So gut-healing foods help keep us well.

Overuse of antibiotics, ultra-processed food, toxin overload, and lack of diversified food in our diets, has given a terrible result, pretty-much destroying our guts.  It doesn’t take medicine to heal this result.  It takes good good, and taking care of our bodies.

Eat many, many diverse foods—foods you’ve never tried before.  Be courageous.  Try some.  It will help you heal.

For healthy cells, they require lots of healthy fats to transport cholesterol (necessary for our health—repair of our cells, hormones and nerve insulation).  Fats are necessary for our immune system, and for healing and for clotting.  Our brain is mostly fat, and it wants a variety of healthy fats.

Herbs and spices are very nutrient-dense, and also anti-inflammatory.

Limit refined grains (pretty much all grains) and processed carbohydrates. This includes pasta, bread, crackers, pizza, ramen, cakes, etc.  The grain alone can spike blood sugar exactly as table sugar.   Modern-day flour is mainly hybridized dwarf wheat high in gluten and glysophate.

Sugar.  It’s a NO.  It damages your intestinal lining, disrupts good gut bacteria, and decreases your immune function.  It contributes to diabetes and insulin resistance, and is associated with heart disease and obesity.  It can also impact your brain function.  It’s just not good.

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Food isn’t the only thing that puts us on the road to illness, but if we do everything else right, and we continue to poison our bodies, we can not continue to be well.

We’ll never be perfect with our eating, but a good goal is to try this healthy eating for at least a couple of weeks, then continue it for a couple of weeks more.

By that time, you will be able to see the difference in how you feel, and how you look, and how you think.

Then, if you share with others, eventually we can educate people into believing the truth. 

And eventually, we will be able to have more healthy food, more easily available, and hopefully at a lower cost than it is now.

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 I’m also giving you a list of places (doctors, researchers, scientists and institutes) that make a good starting place for research.  Most, but not all of these are related to Functional Medicine—which concentrates on the cause of illness, instead of the symptoms.

Dr. David Perlmutter, Brain Maker (drperlmutter.com)

Dr. Mark Hyman, Ultra Mind Solution (drhyman.com)

Dr. Dale Bredesen, The End of Alzheimer’s Program

Dr. David Jockers, DNM, DC, MS (DrJockers.com)

Dr. Jeffrey Bland, Nutritionist and Speaker (Jeffrey bland.com)

Dr. Deanna Minich, PhD

Dr. Ocean Robbins, Food Revolution

Dr. Rick Johnson, Researcher

Dr. Robert Hedaya, Functional Medicine Doctor and Dr. of Psychiatry

Institute of Functional Medicine (IFM.org)

Dr. Deanna Minich, PhD, Teacher, Scientist (DeannaMinich.com)

Dr. William Li, M.D., Physician and Scientist (drwilliamli.com)

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And one last thought… build your goals by focusing on your habits… not on pounds lost, etc.  If you form the habits, and follow them, you will reach good health.

And there are always bumps in the road.  We’re always learning, and life happens along the way.  Habits will carry you through.

Thank you for reading; I hope this helps you!

To your good health!

Sharon