Why You Should Eat Healthy

 

Why should I eat healthy? Why should I waste my time making a salad when I can grab something to go? Why should I be concerned if I’m eating good for the bacteria in my gut when ice cream tastes so much better than plain yogurt? Why should I bother when people are living longer today than they ever have, even with the diet we all consume?

These are all valid questions that I hope to bring some light to the importance on over the next 3 blogs. Why You Should Eat Healthy, How To Eat Healthy, and Eating For Your Gut.

Growing up, I was always the weird kid that never got to eat Lucky Charms, had homemade lunches, and our “ice cream” was frozen bananas blended with vanilla, and don’t even get me started on soda. It was terrible and I longed for the nights I could go to a friend’s house and we could pig out on Pizza Rolls.

            As a kid, this was depressing to be limited to such a “natural” and “organic” lifestyle as you will 100% of the time have your friends thinking you’re a little odd. As an adult however, it’s amazing how much that mindset has changed. It is in my blood and literally a part of my DNA to eat healthy. I grew up in an environment that allowed me the knowledge of what true health is, which as I came to find out is not so common knowledge.

For example, a few years ago I had an acquaintance who decided to lose weight and was giving it a good go. Unfortunately, like many others he just didn’t know how to eat healthy, or even what a good alternative was for everyday snacks. He knew he should eat more protein and lower his carb intake but wasn’t sure how to go about that. His solution was to put Jiff peanut butter on Quaker rice cakes and have a side of Oscar Meyer turkey lunch meat. This “healthy” snack was chock full of sugar, carcinogens, nitrates and preservatives. It wasn’t his fault; he was doing what he had been taught decades before as to what was “healthy” to eat. And it’s this mindset that is causing the weight pandemic across America!

The biggest problem, I feel, is that most people just don’t actually know how to live a healthy lifestyle. Which seems counter intuitive growing up in the world I did. Don’t eat processed foods, take lots of vitamins, exercise on a regular basis. Yadda yadda yadda. However, it was only once I got out

into the world where I realized this is NOT common knowledge. Most people have no clue how to eat healthy! They want to, but they don’t know how or even where to start.

            The last time we were all taught “how to eat healthy” was in elementary school with the food pyramid (or food plate Michelle Obama introduced, depending on when you grew up or when your children were in school). But information is SO WRONG. The base is having 6-11 servings of breads, pastas and cereals a day! That is a crazy amount of gluten and carbohydrates for your body to have to digest! These recommendations suggest equal serving amounts of dairy and meat each day. Although protein is essential to our diet, diary can create excessive mucus in the body which in turn traps irritants and toxins.

 No wonder we have a health problem! We have been taught wrong from a young age, and unless we actively seek the knowledge for the correct way to eat, we have those same food pyramid ideals ingrained in our system which we then teach our family- causing a multi-generational problem.

            We are hooked with the need for immediate gratification. We want satisfaction and we want it now. And sadly, a lettuce wrap just doesn’t hit quite the same way that a burger and fries do. In turn, we tend to lean towards the convenient option rather than the healthy one. According to the CDC in 2015-2016, 71.6% of adult in America over the age of 20 were overweight/obese. That is a scary amount of individuals struggling with their health.

            On TV we see so many ads for prescription pills, fast food restaurants and the latest fad diet. But if prescriptions and diets claiming you’ll “Lose 10lbs in 5 Days” really worked- why is 71% of our population overweight? It’s because these diets and fads don’t work. They are speaking to our desire for immediate satisfaction stating: “take this pill and get an amazing beach body NOW”. This doesn’t work and it never will. The only way to get healthy is to make better choices and stick with them! Yes, it will be hard work. But what is harder: adding more whole foods to your diet now or fighting cancer?

            A lifetime of saying yes to pleasurable foods and forgoing healthy eating all of time leads to low grade chronic inflammation throughout the body. And that inflammation is what leads to cancers, diseases and other chronic problems like heart failure.

            Like everyone else, I like good food too. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a chocolate cake I can pass, but I try enjoying it in moderation. Everything from arthritis to breast cancer is caused from that low-grade inflammation, and all that chronic inflammation is a direct result of what we eat. So, to answer the original question: why should I eat healthy? Because everything you eat to is going to directly affect your health tomorrow,15 years from now, and the rest of your life. It’s not a matter of how long you can live anymore, but whether you have quality and vitality throughout that long life. 

 

How To Eat Healthy... Click Here To Read