I love flavor! My favorite cuisine is Thai first and Indian second. My palate loves the comfort… so does my belly. My belly also has a tendency to retain that comfort. Which is no bueno. For this final entry (took long enough) of the health trilogy I would like to delve into FOOD! Mainly the good stuff, meaning the healthy stuff. Those foods that center around health and actual nourishment of the body, the real purpose of food… the nourishment of our bodies. Sometimes with all of the delightful dishes that exist we forget.

There are certain things that the body can not identify so in turn it stores it to figure out what to do with it later. That is where we get fat and foreign particles in our bodies. But I have said this before so no need to harp on it. Ultimately, the food industry is a consumer based addictive profit center. Mentally I realize that, but living on this planet for 39 years it will take some time before I can undo a lot of the brainwashing. (I hope it doesn’t take another 39 years, YIKES!)

What should we eat?

Remember that pyramid with the grains and dairy and meat and so forth. You would probably do better to forget about that if you do remember. 6-11 servings of bread, cereal, rice, pasta is not necessarily a good idea. That equates to sugar, sugar, sugar, and sugar because that is what it turns into in the body. Especially, since what is being passed as real or whole food is filled with preservatives and other agents that again our body does not recognize. Carbs are necessary but the goal is complex carbohydrates. Think about it. Nourishment should equate to energy. Sleeping should not be the next step after leaving the breakfast table.

Ok yes the food…

Vegetables

The more raw vegetables the better. You do not have to watch your waist with a plate of veggies. They are low calorie and high octane for the bodily engine we need to keep running. Here are a few of my favorites.  As a kid I was the one who actually like Brussels sprouts. I kinda think they have replaced spinach as my absolute favorite vegetable. Kale was an adult discovery. I make a wicked pot of greens… Even my mama liked it so you know it was good. I remember my grandmother being diagnosed with high cholesterol. At the time the doctor kept emphasizing sweet potatoes. The latest health benefits associated with them now I can definitely understand why. Take a look at the benefits of these three veggies. (Not sure that a sweet potato counts as a veggie though.)

Color Rich

I recently learned that veggies that are prone to cause a stain on your shirt are the best for you to eat. Of course that got me to thinking about beets. I hated them growing up. I think that is because growing up they came from a can. We were not buying fresh beets. A couple of years ago I started ordering produce that was delivered from the farm to my porch. There they were… BEETS. YUK! I wasn’t about wasting money so I made a salad and looked up some other uses. Did you know they are a better sweetener than sugar? BAM… pop it in a smoothie! They are also good by themselves. Peel it, slice it, eat it!

The key is shopping the peripheral aisles at the grocery store. Well that was the best advice years ago, it seems store managers got wind of that. Think anything NOT in a box or wrapped in serious plastic. There is so much more to talk about. Like the phytonutrients in vegetables, like Lycopene in tomatoes which is could possibly reduce the risk of prostate and other cancers. Or we could talk about how if dependent on insulin adding just 3 fresh string beans a day to your diet can help lessen your dependency.

As always I am not a doctor and do not recommend just starting something because I said it. Do your research and find out what works for you!