Know the Paths to Fat & Sick
At least resolve to learn which foods are harming your health
Treat your body however you like, but know what you are doing.
Maybe you drink. You know alcohol is not good for you. You know you will feel good now and risk feeling bad later. You may joke about “killing brain cells.” You may not know what you are doing when you are drunk, but you knew the risks when you made the decision to pour yourself a tall one. It was an informed decision.
Similarly, I want you, my Girls, to understand the impact of the foods you choose to eat. Know the impact of seed oils, added sugar, and grains. These are commonly served together in delicious and far-from-nutritious ultra-processed foods. I was raised on them, and I raised you on them. I am sorry.
At the risk of sounding like a crazed conspiracy-theorist, we have been lied to. The food pyramid was not science, but propaganda. My eyes are now wide open because I am facing health problems, because I have time and motivation to read and research, because, as an old woman, I have witnessed the increasing obesity and decreasing health of our great nation. This American diet, heavy on ultra-processed food, is making us fat and sick. You are too young to remember a population without rampant Type 2 Diabetes and Alzheimer’s. I am not. I remember. And I’ve finally opened my eyes to the truth.
How can there not be a connection between food and health? With this as a given, how can we not prioritize eating well?
It is simple, but not easy.
Not easy because the very ingredients that are harming our health are cheap, abundant, pervasive, delicious, and addicting.
Simple because all we need to do is eat actual food. I preach reading labels, but better still to choose food that does not require an ingredient list. Eggs. Meat. Vegetables.
The first step is the hardest: decide your body deserves healthy food. Believe that a constant diet of ultra-processed food is harmful. Choose real food, avoid processed food.
We are now in the holiday season. This is a terrible time to give up sweets and such. It is a wonderful time, however, to resolve to improve your health at some later date - perhaps this new year?
Savor every decadent bite of every decadent treat. But please tune into a health-impact podcast now and then. Shore up your resolve to do better later.
This worked for me! I ate all the things last Christmas season, knowing I would be cutting out sugar in the new year. By the time we rang in 2023, I was well and properly saturated with rich desserts and ready for my transformation. The seed oils came next. Then the grains.
Will 2024 be the year you choose health for your beautiful God-given body?
Shake Off Sugar
Returning to my alcohol analogy…
Maybe you eat cake. You know sugar is not good for you. You know you will feel good now and risk feeling bad later. You may joke about “a minute on the lips, forever on the hips.” You may not know how dramatically sugar impacts your body at the cellular level, but you know that sweets are an indulgence when you made the decision to order that slice. It was an informed decision.
But - do you know how much sugar you eating when you are *not* ordering cake? Probably a lot more than you think. And it adds up.
If you want to learn more about the impact of sugar and how to minimize the impact of the sugar you choose to eat, look up biochemist Jessie Inchauspé, aka, the Glucose Goddess. She has a website, books, a program, but you can learn a lot simply from listening to her interviews with popular health podcasters such as Steven Bartlett who hosts Diary of a CEO.
Stop Seed Oil
You definitely eat seed oil.
Do you know that you eat seed oil? Do you know that seed oil is bad for you? Do you know how much seed oil you are eating even when you keep olive oil in the cupboard?
Whereas I will forgive a little sugar in my seasoning blend, and natural sugar in sweet vegetables like squash, I will go to great lengths to avoid even traces of seed oils.
Please educate yourself on the evils of seed oils. Begin with Dr. Cate Shanahan. She is a board-certified family physician, author, and has been a nutritionist for the LA Lakers. Again, she has a website and books, but you can learn a lot simply from listening to her interviews with popular health podcasters such as Dr. Mindy Pelz of The Resetter Podcast.
Good-bye Grains
Not heart-healthy grains!
Sorry.
This is a really hard one, I know. When you are ready to listen to the anti-grain argument, you might want to look up cardiologist Dr. William Davis. He is a cardiologist, author, and self-described health crusader of Wheat Belly fame. He is also a leader in the gut microbiome discussion. Explore his website and books on eating for good health. Listen to his interviews with popular health podcasters such as nutritionist Sarah Ann Macklin of the Live Well Be Well.
Push Off Packaged Food
Honestly, if you simply looked askance at anything in a package, you would be on your way to improved health.
For today, all I ask is for you to decide to dip your toe into these food discussions.
Or.
You could just do what your old mother says.
Nah.
I love you, my girls! You know that’s why I am a nag, right?
Love you bunches, love you more than you know.