Is Your Diet Helping or Hurting You and The Blue Zone Book

I keep tabs on the latest diet fads that are in the media.  Maybe it’s my background in anthropology or my line of thinking that strives to find simple solutions to problems using information from the past.  Sometimes the way they did things in the past was better and should have never been messed with.    I don’t know, but I seem to be able to put two-and-two together without doing 1000 years of school to get a double PhD in Whatever or from conducting a Quazillion dollar research study. 

Some of the latest diets I have read about include:

* The Paleo diet, where you eat like you are from the Paleolithic time. 

* The Nordic Diet where you eat things that people in cold regions eat, like fish, nuts, and berries.

*  And don’t forget about the good old classic Mediterranean diet. 

Ok, are you ready for the two-and-two I put together:  All of these diets have the same basic principles:

1.       Eat locally (all have a name that places them in a specific region)
2.       Eat fresh whole food.

  That’s it!  No calorie counting, keeping food journals or agenizing over measuring everything you put into your mouth.  Just cut out the processed food.   Plant a garden, grab some eggs and a goat from Farmer Joe and you are on your way to a healthy diet.  Ok. Well, maybe it’s not that easy now-a-days.

 

For thousands of years, people lived off the land closest to them. They didn’t eat bananas from Peru to get enough potassium, unless they lived in Peru.  They didn’t eat kiwis from New Zealand to get enough vitamin C, unless they lived in New Zealand.  I know you get my point.  They ate FOOD, fresh from their garden outside of their house.  They milked the goat that was hanging out in their front yard for milk and cheese.  They handmade the bread or tortillas from the flour they just ground in their kitchen.  They didn’t eat processed, packaged food like substances that were made with synthetic vitamins and chemicals which were created in a lab.  I call that “Dinner in a Box and Salad in a Bag” eating.  My great-grandma lived until she was almost 90 years old.  And I think the only reason she passed away then is because of her broken heart that missed my great-grandpa.  She lived her life healthy as a bull.  And she had a garden in her yard almost her entire life.  That seems to be a common story among the older (wiser) generations. 

So you see, it’s simple.  You don’t have to spend tons of money on diet books and journals.  Just eat what Great-Grandma ate and you will see a difference.  Get rid of ideas like diet soda pop is a diet food.  Studies have shown that it makes people gain weight just like regular soda pop.  Cut out soda pop and anything that is processed.  I know that’s the hardest part.  Our lives are so fast paced.  Who has time to cook?  But once you learn to make time, your health will reward you.  The key is to Make It Simple!  Think simple meals with whole food ingredients.    Nourish your body.   Knowing that you are making yourself and your family healthier with food will change your life.  It changed mine and Brooklyn’s life. Maybe the acne you have always had will suddenly clear up.  Or maybe the stomach aches that constantly plague you (which used to be my case) will finally go away. Putting real nutrients into your body does miraculous things.  Plus, for families with food allergies, you don’t have to read labels on whole foods or worry about undeclared allergens.  What you see is what you get.

 It’s important to find your kitchen groove. I always put on some Frank Sinatra or Nat King Cole when I cook.  Music is calming to me.  Maybe it’s a glass of red wine while you cook or the kitchen can be a “no kids allowed” zone.   Creating the pleasure of cooking wholesome food is half of the best part.  The other half is getting to eat it!

  Also, I have a book coming out at the beginning of the year that will help you out with what to cook when you have a busy schedule and limited budget.   Keep an eye out for that.

  In the meantime, please read this book.  It’s not a diet book but it will give you some insight into what centenarians (people living past 100 years old) have been eating their whole life.  You will see that pattern of simplicity in the food choices of these people.  I hope it inspires you in your meal planning and helps you realize that eating healthy doesn’t have to be so hard.   And you can live to be 100 without the latest diet guru or fad!

"The Blue Zones- Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest" by Dan Buettner

 Here is the link on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Zones-Lessons-Living-Longest/dp/1426207557/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320440508&sr=8-1