NUTRITION PRINCIPLE #1 – Do not eat refined or processed foods. They are not real food, and are not compatible with health. They may provide calories so that you stay alive, but you will not thrive.
Foods to avoid include vegetable oils, sugar, white flour, canned foods, pasteurized and homogenized skim or low-fat milk, protein powders, synthetic vitamins, genetically modified foods, and any ingredients that you do not recognize as a real food.
Typical processed “fake foods” include pastries, cakes, cookies, candy, icecream, most breads and crackers, chips, processed meats, frozen meals, instant soups, condiments, and sweetened beverages. These foods contain refined and highly processed sugars, oils and wheat. These are bad enough, but they also contain preservatives, artificial flavors, colors, emulsifiers, bulking agents, etc. These have not been proven to be safe, and you would not use them in your kitchen.
Processed foods are intended to give a profit to the transnational corporations that manufacture them, not to provide the nutrition that a human body actually needs. Very low cost ingredients are used, they are designed to have a long shelf life, to be convenient, and to be hyper-palatable to keep you craving them. These fake foods are also agressively marketed, especially to children.
Why are processed foods bad? They do not contain adequate nutrients, and they contain ingredients that are toxic to your body. Today people are getting only 29% of their calories from whole foods. 32% of calories are coming from vegetable oils, perhaps the most toxic processed food of all (to be discussed in more detail in the future). Sugar and refined wheat make up the remaining 39%. This is a recipe for disaster, as the current poor state of health for most people clearly shows.
What can you do? Make a hearty beef stew to eat instead of a deli meat sandwhich. Eat eggs or steel-cut oats for breakfast instead of cold cereal. Eat a steak with a baked sweet potato topped with butter and zucchini sauteed in butter. Eat ripe, in-season fruit for that sweet craving, or make your own homemade icecream with real cream, egg yolks and maple syrup. Use honey instead of sugar. Drink water or whole, raw milk.
Read last week’s article here: “Principles of Good Nutrition”, https://sierranewsonline.com/focus-on-vibrant-health-principles-of-good-nutrition/
Dr. Veronica Tilden helps people regain vibrant health, using traditional hands-on osteopathy and lifestyle counseling. Her office is in North Fork. You can find out more and schedule an appointment at DrVeronicaTilden.com.
