It’s Time to Cut Back
Besides the fact that the SAD diet consists of portions that are far too large, these portions contain too much of certain substances. These substances include sugar, excitotoxins and other additives like preservatives. It is said that the modern American’s body decomposes more slowly now then ever before due to all of the preservatives we consume during our lifetime. Now, I don’t know if it’s true or not, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it was because I’ve been reading a lot of labels lately and we do consume a lot of chemicals.
For example, aluminum, in different forms, is often added to our foods. Why? High aluminum levels have been linked to Alzheimer’s disease and many other neurological conditions as well as Hypothyroidism. So why do we add it to our baking powder? It makes no sense. We can cut back on the amount of aluminum we ingest by looking for the “aluminum-free” baking powder now available in many supermarkets and health food stores. Wal-Mart even carries it in many locations.
Yes we need to cut back on sugar, but not by replacing it with an artificial sweetener; they are worse for us than refined sugar. The average American consumes much more sugar in the form of sweets, like cakes and cookies, than ever before. The Average American of a hundred years ago didn’t consume as many sweets as we do these days because they simply did not crave them as we do. The more you eat, the more you crave, and the more you eat. The cycle must be broken! This will take a lot of will power because sugar is as addictive as heroin, but it will be well worth the trouble once we realize we feel better and have more energy.
They say it takes 21 days of repetition for a new habit to be ingrained. This is why the makers of oatmeal challenged consumers to try oatmeal for 30 days. If you have a snack cake once a day, try substituting a healthier alternative, like yogurt or fresh fruit, for one month. If, after that time, you don’t feel better you can always return to your snack cake, but I seriously doubt you will. Or, if you don’t want to give up the cake, make it yourself from scratch. At least that way you will not be getting all of the additives and you can regulate the sugar.
When purchasing a product, and there are multiple companies producing the product, take the time to compare those labels. The less expensive brands often contain more sugar or MSG. For example, instead of using the national brands of fiber, which often contain sugar or aspartame, go to the health food store and pick up psyllium husks. It may cost a little more, but there is no additives and plenty of benefits. There is no benefit to the added sugar, other than taste, but the sugar can block water absorption and we need plenty of water with our fiber. This problem is handled by simply mixing the fiber with juice, preferably freshly squeezed, which will also add more natural fiber.
Canned and bottled juices contain added sugar, and are missing the fiber found in fresh fruits. A piece of fresh fruit is one of the best snack foods available to man. Most varieties of fruit contain potassium, calcium and magnesium, as well as vitamins A, C, and Folate (B9), which is especially beneficial during pregnancy. All of these, along with natural fiber, make the sugar found therein almost negligible. These sugars are non-processed which means that our bodies can better process these sugars.
Once again, may I encourage one and all to purchase these products directly from the farmer whenever possible. This way we not only encourage our farmers, but we also have the opportunity to learn more about the product, such as whether or not pesticide is used or if the seed had been genetically modified. Regardless of where the food is purchased, make sure to clean it thoroughly before eating.
Recently juice companies have begun marketing juice that has half the sugar as the regular juice. Don’t be fooled by the marketing campaigns; the reason they contain less sugar and still taste as sweet is because they contain aspartame. The same can be said of chewing gum and other snack items. Check the labels, if it says, “Less Sugar” it may just mean, “More Aspartame”.
White flour has had so many nutrients removed in the whitening process that there is very little that our body can do with it, so our bodies simply convert it to more sugar. If our families have been used to white bread, we can’t start buying seven-grain bread and expect them to eat it. They won’t. They will rebel and eat white bread behind our back. Instead, make slow changes. Purchase a loaf of light colored wheat bread, and then as they get used to the taste, start purchasing darker bread. Before they know it, they are eating that seven-grain bread by choice.
How many of us take the time to make things from scratch? Do we even understand what that means? It does not mean buying a mix and following the directions. It means using a recipe and flour, sugar, eggs, etc. to make our treats. It also means no preservatives and no additives, as well as meaning no unidentified objects, such as carrot flavored “pieces”, in our food. When we make our own snack cakes, we will discover that the others don’t taste so good any more, because of all the extra sugar. We can even experiment with honey or stevia (an herbal sweetener) with apple pulp. Homemade frosting has a much better taste (especially when made with real butter) and the sweetness can be modified to better suit our tastes. Truly homemade tastes better because it is better.
That is because taste is more than how food feels on our tongue. It also includes how the food makes us feel afterwards. How good can it taste if you are hungry again in a little while? Obviously it was not satisfying. Egg substitute may look like egg and taste like egg, but it does not have the nutrients of real eggs and therefore will leave your body craving more. The egg sandwiches found at the local fast food joint are made from these fake eggs and will only make you hungry faster. How long does it take to make an egg sandwich at home? Maybe 15 minutes, usually less. The real question is, “How much longer will the food stay with you?”
The more we cut back on fast food, and all junk food, the less we will desire them. Given the choice between fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and the store bought variety, children will always choose the fresh baked ones. So will adults, for that matter. Use naturally white flour instead of the bleached flour and then it won’t be junk food. If you mix a little whole-wheat flour in with the white, it will give the cookie a nutty taste and could almost be called health food, especially if butter is used instead of margarine.
Contrary to popular belief (which comes from advertisers, by the way) butter is not bad for us and margarine is not good for us. In fact, margarine will actually contribute to diabetes control issues, if not the disease itself. Want a healthy heart? Buy only raw butter. Besides containing essential enzymes that margarine does not, raw butter simply tastes better. Margarine contains the oils that cause heart disease and breaks down our immune system, so the sooner we cut this out of our diet the better.
Shortening, made from vegetable oil, is also not all that it’s cracked up to be. When vegetable shortening was first introduced, the Average American housewife would have nothing to do with it. She knew that animal fats, and tropical oils, were much better for her family, than these artificial products. But during WWII, when these oils were in short supply, she had little choice. And since that time we have been fed a pack of lies regarding these oils. Coconut oil is one of the best foods on the planet, yet we are told by doctors and nutritionists to avoid its use. Instead we are told to use polyunsaturated fats, which actually cause cancer and heart disease.
Cutting back on these types of fats would be highly beneficial to any diet. Do not believe the advertising; low fat is not necessarily a good thing. There are certain fats that are not only good for us, but are absolutely necessary. Saturated fats, like those found in butter and coconut oil, do not cause cardiovascular disease, but are regarded as an “all-systems healer,” including the thyroid system. These fats should not be reduced. On the contrary, we need to increase consumption of these foods. What we need to reduce are the polyunsaturated fats.
Hydrolyzed, autolyzed and modified anything is bad for our health. Textured protein is another phrase to watch for. We need to reduce and eliminate these ingredients from our diet, and they are all heavily used in fast and easy foods. These ingredients are all contributing to the massive amount of MSG found in the American diet. They must be reduced as much as possible as soon as possible. This means that we need to find alternatives to the foods that contain these ingredients. Check out the local health food store; there are many healthy alternatives that will allow us to continue eating chips, for example, without eating more MSG.
Beware of any food labeled “diet” or “sugar-free” as they probably contain aspartame. This excitotoxin is everywhere; even the little mouthwash strips have aspartame. Diet soda will actually cause one to gain weight, not lose it and will make maintaining your blood sugar level very difficult. Staying away from sodas completely is the best idea; drink plenty of water instead. You will find that when you are eating more healthy foods that you don’t need those little mouthwash strips anymore anyway.
“Low-salt” and “low-fat” diet foods should be avoided as well. Our bodies need salt as part of a healthy, well balanced diet. What we don’t need is the highly processed table salt that is added to many prepared foods. If we purchase salt grinders (similar to pepper mills, but with ceramic or plastic mechanisms) and then grind our own salt (Celtic Sea Salt is best) we can have all the salt we can take without concern. Low fat foods usually cut out the saturated fats, which are not bad for us. These good fats are often replaced by the bad fats (polyunsaturated) and billed as “healthy” for us.
We of the TV generation have been taught to trust the advertisers. Unfortunately for us, the advertisers don’t care if they are lying to us, as long as their product sells. We believed them when they said that polyunsaturated fats were “heart healthy” and that pork is simply “the other white meat.” Nothing could be further from the truth. As a matter of fact, pork consumption has been linked to many illnesses, including heart disease and parasite infestation. It is not safe to eat, no matter how long it is cooked, and should be avoided.
We cannot leave this topic without first addressing the issue of proportions. The SAD diet can be summed up in two little words: Supersize Me! It used to be that the standard soda size was 12 ounces, now we stop at a drive thru and pick up a 44-ounce drink. If there are nine teaspoons of sugar in a 12-ounce can, just imagine how much sugar one consumes in 44 ounces. It’s over two cups of sugar! We really don’t need all of that added sugar. We’ve got to cut back.
Soda, bleached flour, sugar, MSG, aspartame and a host of other additives are making us sick. The sooner we eliminate these ingredients from our diet, the better off we will be. The best place to start is by scaling back the size of our helpings, and adding back in real foods, so that we can cut back on the amount of chemicals ingested. Only then will we be able to break the hold that fast food has on our lives and regain the health stolen from us.
Once again, this is not something that can be done overnight. Cutting back takes time. If we simply cut back on the size without changing the quality of the food, we will find ourselves hungry quickly, so we need to do more than simply cut back, but it is a great place to start. Cutting back on the amount of chemicals we ingest can only bring positive results, so let’s start checking those labels now and keep checking them until we know them better than the manufacturer themselves.