Food: A Very Powerful Drug
The old adage “you are what you eat” has never been more true. Healthy food acts as a powerful drug and the foods that you eat result in your optimal health or lack of it. Taking the time to learn about what is healthy and then planning for it, is the most important thing that you can do to prevent and reverse not just age related issues, but your overall health as well.
Did you know that exercise and nutritional supplements will not help much (or at all) with your optimal health if you’re not eating the right foods? Unfortunately, we live in a world now where chemically laden, artificially processed, bad fat, sugar-laden foods are everywhere you look. In fact, billions of dollars are spent each year by food manufacturers marketing these unhealthful products. The food manufacturers know you love sugar, for example, and are doing their utmost to ensure you stay a loyal customer.
Most people feel that if they just lose that weight that will be the optimal health they are looking for. They falsely believe that the myth of ‘calories in – calories out’ is what will take them to their desired weight and health. As I have written about before, there is a vast difference in the way the body metabolizes a 100-calorie candy bar vs. a 100-calorie serving of broccoli.
Culturally, we have become desensitized to what healthy foods are and opt for the processed ones instead. This Standard American Diet (SAD) is not just creating FatFlammtion – the health conditions that stem from low-level inflammation due to weight gain, but is killing us as well. Our foods are dense with pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, refined carbohydrates and more that are poisoning our bodies.
Our collective addiction to carbohydrates such as breads, pastas, potatoes, sodas and more, are creating low-level inflammation in the body that we can’t necessarily feel immediately, but health conditions and excess weight will surface down the road. The excess trigger of insulin is creating insulin resistance and this is important because your sensitivity to insulin is perhaps the most import component of optimal health. The SAD diet is directly responsible for low-level inflammation.
Low Level inflammation is the core cause of most illness, disease, faster aging and weight gain. Diseases that plague our society such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, strokes, autoimmune disease, dementia and cancer, are all a result of lifestyle choices.
Healthy eating is about adding more to your diet..not taking away. Eating healthy means you will prevent hunger and cravings, allowing you to not only create optimal health, but lose weight as well. A good place to begin is to start eliminating refined carbs from your diet. Select low-glycemic foods (such as berries, cherries, zucchini, leafy greens, cottage cheese, yogurt, eggs, lean meats and seafood) along with lean proteins and healthy fats at each meal and watch your health take a huge positive leap.
~Lori