The most powerful influence on health; FOOD!

Why would someone forgo a food they desire?  This is extremely important for an individual, or a family member, to get so they understand why they would eat foods that are healthy and avoid ones that are not. 

Maybe a goal is lowering the risk of modern diseases or being free of prescriptive medication, which almost always have side effects or consequences.

 

Only when you have a reason, is it even important to know and understand which foods in the diet are actually healthy to eat. 

 

Without the why, it just feels like a punishment.  It is important to absolutely know why you would be determined to obtain something more valuable than eating the easiest way; to just consume the most accessible, available and convenient foods.  These convenience foods are so common and accessible why would you choose not to eat them? 

  

The way you cook, the foods you bring into the house, or put into your body, are almost assuredly helping or hindering you or your families ability to create health in the body.  But, why would anyone be willing to NOT eat what's convenient, common, and easily accessible and available (and cheaper).

 

Some people are unwilling to abstain from a food they like and to make changes to obtain health. That is any persons right, I feel. 

But, for me, I prize health (and weight control) that is what motivates me.  It is more important than eating a convenience food.  Everyone will have a different why.  Some people have life or death reasons to make the necessary food choice changes. 

It has to be important enough to someone; like being well throughout the aging process.  I think this is a big one.  For me, being mentally present and in good physical health for my young daughter, for as long as possible, is absolutely worth giving up sugar, wheat, soy, most blood sugar triggering starches and grains, and replacing them with nutrient-dense replacements.  I love the way I eat now.  You have to figure out what works.  Everybody is different.

 

A person ultimately has to decide they want to obtain optimal health by eating nutrient-dense, non-inflammatory, foods.  It has to be important to them to make certain food choices (to eat, or sometimes more difficult in the beginning, NOT TO EAT something - making better choices to get full or satisfied). 

Then you need to know what foods are anti-inflammatory and nutrient-dense for health.

You have to want health, joint flexibility, the ability to maintain mobility till the end of life, to have balance, agility and strength in the body, remain disease-free, experience optimal aging without the need for costly prescription drugs, have better looking and acting skin, and a high mental capacity so you are not viewed as old and without input.

 

If you don't want the outcome or know why you would avoid foods, it just feels like punishment. 

When you understand that food is THE most powerful influence on health, aging gracefully, mobility and independence through the aging process, thus sustaining a healthy body and mind, it becomes a no-brainer decision to make healthy food choices. 

Then, and  only then, do you have to know which foods are healthy and do not promote inflammation and therefore disease. 

 

Otherwise, you don't need to know what to eat, because there is no reason to make healthy food choices.

Inflammation in the body, (a response mostly caused by our food choices we eat) is ultimately the cause of all modern disease. What do I mean by modern disease; Muscular Schlerosis, Parkinsons, Alzheimer's (now being called Type 3 Diabetes or Diabetes of the Brain), Cancer, Heart Disease, Leaky Gut Issues that are being linked to promote Auto-Immune Diseases like fibromyalga and chronic fatigue.

Are there other things we can do to promote health?  Yes, of course.  Yoga is one thing that comes to mind that does promote most of the anti-aging benefits mentioned in this post and one additional thing; reduces stress.  But, without the proper fuel in the body, you would not have the energy, joint health, and desire, to practice yoga.  It all starts with FOOD.

Okay, so you say you want to obtain your own personal health goals and they are important enough to make better food choices, what then?

 

Here's two thoughts on health goals that I think of often and what I feel is THE most powerful influence on health in the body; FOOD.

• If a food causes spikes in blood sugar and insulin, I feel it negates any and all health benefits of the food because Insulin causes low grade and chronic inflammation in the body and inflammation promotes ALL modern disease.  

• There isn't a need to lower blood sugar with medications, if blood sugar is not being raised by the wrong blood sugar producing foods, in the first place.

The USDA says to eat so-called "healthy" whole grains and other blood sugar producing foods, so they must be good for us, right? 

I call them "filler-foods" which replace real food.  These are the foods that are most convenient, common, and accessible, and are also parading as healthy foods, but are not.  Cheap grain and cereal foods are just CHEAP "filler-foods" (which government promotes as a health food because it's their job to).  Our Department of Agriculture (USDA) is supposed to support and promote US agriculture like grains, wheat, corn, soy, and increase its yield - a complete conflict of interest to the American public.  Unfortunately, these filler-foods end up replacing real, traditional, nutrient-dense foods, to a much too high degree, and should be avoided or kept to a minimum in the diet. 

I recently heard on Jimmy Moore's podcast interview with Adele Hite that The "USDA" food guidelines (pyramid or food plate) that recommend our food choices are a department directly under, and part of, the U.S.Department of Agriculture "USDA" which is rarely understood fact.  The people making the healthy food recommendations are part of the same governmental department or division as the people promoting agriculture.  In fact, the food recommendations are UNDER the control of the Agriculture Department.  So, the fox is guarding the hen-house.  USDAgriculture wants to promote and sell our countries agriculture, that's one of their jobs and goals. 

The food recommended to us to promote health has little to do with the current science and more to do with promoting and increasing profit of these foods and stimulating the economy.  They want us to eat these very cheap "filler-foods" that support our agriculture, but are they making us a healthier nation?  It is sad. 

Take a look around the streets where you live and decide for yourself.

We want to eat (and sometimes crave) these CHEAP filler-foods because they produce a blood sugar roller-coaster effect (so we HAVE to eat something, and fast, to help bring our blood sugar back up) and they produce an addictive response in the body to want more. 

Huge positive changes with blood sugar control, and therefore reducing inflammation in the body and creating a healthy response, can occur by eliminating (or significantly reducing) starch and sugar.  Starch just turns IMMEDIATELY AND DIRECTLY into sugar in the body.  Most importantly sugar is the most important thing to stop consuming.

That's what I did when I was pregnant and had gestational diabetes.  I controlled my blood sugar with diet, so I know it can be done. 

Do you want to do what it takes to get the results though?

It doesn't mean you can't find alternatives like I do with alternative sweets that I make myself and LOVE.  More to come with that topic.

Think about what's important to you!

Remember; inflammation, not cholesterol, causes risk to most ALL modern disease. 

Insulin causes an inflammatory response in the body.  Spiking blood sugar causes insulin.  Eating starch and sugar cause blood sugar to rise.

Look at it from start to finish.  The wrong food (starch and sugar) raises blood sugar, spiking blood sugar causes the body to produce insulin, insulin is inflammation, inflammation causes risk to most all modern disease.

If you are on a Statin to lower Cholesterol, watch this 1 minute 22 second clip: