How to Eat – Plain & Simple

This is your down-home, Wayne County, plan and simple, completely unprofessional guide on how to eat.  This is strictly my opinions and observations.  I have no formal training or education, just an interest in food and health, a few books and magazine articles, and some documentaries on Netflix.

The following points are a few simple rules I follow for my own dietary guidelines.  I feel I have a fairly balanced, joyful relationship with food.  These rules help me to maintain a healthy weight, feel good, perform athletically, and from time to time still enjoy the finer, more delectable temptations of the food world.

Always make sure to get your daily dose of vitamins and minerals.

This may sound like a complicated task to the average person who is looking to take charge of their heath.  It is relatively easy to accomplish and can be summed up as follows: EAT REAL FOOD!

You can get your daily needs for vitamins and minerals, and protein, fats and carbs when you eat from whole food sources.  What does this mean?  The fewer ingredients on the label the better… No label at all = best

Eat a fresh pork chop instead of hot dogs.  Eat whole potatoes instead of potato chips.  Eat whole fruits instead of diced fruit from a cup with sugar added.  Eat whole grains like oats and grits instead of sugary cereals.  And even though by definition it’s not a whole food, eat grandma’s homemade cake with 5 ingredients instead of individually packaged cakes, brownies, cookies and cookies with 20.

Sugar is a highly addictive, deadly drug and is certainly the main cause of our nation’s current health crisis with obesity, heart disease and type two diabetes.  Artificial sweeteners however are not a safe alternative.

When sugar is consumed it causes the body’s blood sugar levels to rise.  To combat the assault of sugar crystals in the blood stream the body produces insulin.  This insulin latches onto the sugar crystals and stuffs them into your fat cells.  Obviously, this leads to weight gain due to an increase in body fat.

Artificial sweeteners are just as dangerous.  One reason is because they are sugar molecules that have been (I’m using my own, sensational language here) zapped with lasers in a laboratory to flip the molecular structure, making these molecules into a shape the body can’t naturally absorb.  What I wonder is where the heck these laboratory molecules actually go when consumed.  Could they be part of the reason cancer occurrences have increased exponentially within the past 50 years?  You better believe it.

It is proven that people who consume artificial sweeteners end up consuming more calories on a daily basis because the sweet taste creates an expectation in the body for receiving sugar and calories.  When this expectation is not met (by sugar free, “diet” drinks and foods) it actually causes the body to yearn for food in a more insatiable nature.

Some safer, locally produced sweeteners include honey and maple syrup.  Foodfair carries local honey and Flanigan Family Maple has some of the best maple syrup you’ve ever tasted!

Your body needs sugar, its critical for your health.  Moderate intake from refined, processed sources with tons of ingredients that were created in factories and laboratories and stick to trusted sources like whole fruits.

I have a few more rules and tips, but I will save those for the next edition.  In the mean time practice following these two rules.  An easy way to know what you’re eating is to CHECK YOUR LABELS! Know how much sugar is in your food.  If it’s a fruit or vegetable, look it up online.  This will help you learn the various vitamins and minerals each food contains.

Also READ YOUR INGREDIENTS.  The fewer the better.  Sugar and artificial sweeteners can be disguised under a lot of names including: corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, sucrose, cane sugar and fructose.  Artificial sweeteners are aspartame, sucralose (splenda), and phenylalanine; to name a few.

So until next time love yourself, love your body, know what you’re eating/ drinking, and enjoy life!

-PF