What if what we knew about eating healthy, actually had nothing to do with improving your health?
I put food in three different categories. The first is the group of nasties. The second or middle group has very little health benefits, but doesn't do too much to hurt us either. The third group contains all the ingredients that improve our health and are grown the way nature intended them to.
Hello Mr. Nasty Group
"The problem with some food, is that it's not food. Our brains influence science and science has influenced our food, but our digestion has not evolved and doesn't have a clue what we are feeding ourselves. That's scary...and pretty gross, nasty actually." -PG
I don't think we can begin talking about eating "healthy" until we really define what isn't healthy. Know what isn't healthy takes knowing what is really in our food. I don't think that can be covered in one post and I won't even attempt that, but I do want to take a minute to cover a bit of it.
If we take a look at agriculture in let's just say, the U.S., from a 20,000 mile high view, we would see the amount of farm land it takes to feed America. In many manufacturers eyes, feeding America means profit or at least, that's the goal. To be profitable, farmers and manufacturers need to be efficient. Growing crops faster, taller and resistant to disease and infestation increases profitability, but also decreases digestibility. More and more chemicals have been used in farming over the last few decades, keep in mind that all of which are FDA approved.
Not only has farming changed, but so has manufacturing. Processed and convenience foods have saturated the food markets. Cheaper packaging and ingredients with extended shelf life all leads to more...you guessed it...profit.
Now, don't get me wrong, I love profit too, but not at the expense of compromising other peoples health. There are still plenty of farmers who grow crops with the purest of integrity and will never compromise their values. I love those guys and I value their efforts and hope to highlight them in many posts to come.
Ingredients that improve your health
Knowing where your health stands is the basis of knowing what needs improvement. Eating to improve your health is absolutely an individual journey. There are many ingredients in which small studies have been done to show they have significant positive effects on our well being. Some ingredients can help to kill off cancer cells, reduce inflammation, improve brain function (I should start of gift basket of these for some of my friends!), decrease blood pressure and so much more. The best part is, it's not complicated. It's simple, clean, fresh, delicious and these ingredients are so commonly available.
I compare filling your kitchen with these ingredients to being in a room full of your favorite friends and family. No matter who it is you talk to, you'll never have a bad conversation. We all know there are still people you want to talk to longer than others and there is nothing wrong with that. The same goes for ingredients, you'll like some more than others. So, keep that in mind when you're looking for recipes, especially on this website. A good meal isn't about how many ounces or grams I think is right. A great dish is what YOU think is right and as long as you are choosing from ingredients that will improve your health and stepping away from the potato chips, you'll being doing sooooo much better for yourself and for others.