easy rule to eating healthy

[inflated]

Only shop the perimeter of the store--don't even venture down the aisles nothing but High Fructose junk there. The perimeter is where the fresh vegetables, butcher, eggs, homemade bakery, dairy and other perishables are--if your food is not perishable its not food. Twinkies last forever because even lowly bacteria do not recognize them as food.

Another easy rule if your great grandmother would not recognize the product as food then do not buy it.

[msllover]

Good advice. I'm gonna follow that. My partner and I are eating more healthy. I'm trying to learn how to cook at home to decrease cost and decrease additives.

In nursing we learn that it is near impossible to change a person's diet or routine completely. My mother always taught me to eat healthy things and "learn to like them, even if you don't!" I have learned that I need to stick with the foods I enjoy and am familiar with but learn to stream line them to be more healthy. Also, just decreasing the carbs to loose weight or increase the protein to gain muscle seems common sense.

Any other ideas? I'm open to learn!

T

[inflated]

Another simple rule: The less processed the food is the better for you. Raw equals better than cooked, fresh better than frozen, frozen better than canned, etc. Meat that is grass fed is better than corn fed in a feed lot. From the garden is better than from the store, these are basic rules and as guidelines to eating your diet will be healthier and better for you. The less processed and more natural your diet the better it is for you.

[mewletter]

What about foods from GM crops? Many of them are selling cheaply in my local market. Very tasty too!

Ironically, the organic vegetables that are selling too over-priced.

[inflated]

Originally Posted by mewletter

What about foods from GM crops? Many of them are selling cheaply in my local market. Very tasty too!

Ironically, the organic vegetables that are selling too over-priced.

Cheaper yes, but definitely not as good as the organics, but probably still better than canned, or processed food. Diversity of crops, truly organically grown are definitely healthier and contain more of the necessary micro-nutrients that are often missing in hybrid or GM crops. Most of these crops are engineered to ripen or mature faster, to ward off pests, and to handle adverse growing situations. Unfortunately, there is no free ride, in order to ripen faster the crop usually has less nutritional value and a higher sugar content, to ward off pests the crop usually has less flavor or natural smell, etc. Growing a garden, using compost or manure as fertilizer is the best bet, but not available to everyone. We put in a huge garden every year and have a rooftop garden as well, we can and freeze our own vegetables and make fruit preserves the taste and nutrition are superior. I recommend a couple of good books--"In defense of Food" "The Omnivores Dilemma" "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" all have a good take on real food vs the crap that makes Americans look like blobs.

[AS2000]

Of course, all the modification of foods isn't always good - it's why supermarket tomatoes taste like watery cardboard. (After they built the tomato picking machine, they had to build a tomato with skin thick enough to withstand the machine. Or so the legend goes. )

As for organics, it depends on where you go. Sometimes, it's cheaper than the pesticide stuff. (Farmer's markets, Trader Joe's sometimes, etc.)

And the genetic engineering thing is potentially problematic for those of us with food allergies. We're not talking about just selecting for a heartier strain any more. I'm not saying that GM food is the evil monster of the new millennium, but I sincerely doubt its a panacea either. Maybe it's cynicism on my part, but it sounds like the new wonder bread to me - packed with chemical stuff to replace all the good things that were ripped out by overprocessing.

[wolfotehmoon]

Well, actually, you have MORE control over what genes change with GM, if I understand the process correctly. So, in a way, it's safer.

[alfiealvins]

If glows in the dark, do not eat. If one word in the list of ingredients, I can not pronounce, do not buy it. If I go to the store to buy maple syrup and not maple I see the word in the list of ingredients, not in my body or my Son of the cases. The white refined sugar, flour refined white sugar and refined white men are directly linked.

[madeleine]

My rule is to always choose foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. Eat the whole egg, not just the white. Choose full-fat organic dairy over low-fat, antibiotic-ridden dairy. Include a small amount of nature?s fats organic meat, avocado, oils, nuts and seeds.

[cohzaku]

Originally Posted by alfiealvins

If glows in the dark, do not eat. If one word in the list of ingredients, I can not pronounce, do not buy it.

I would soooooooo buy glow-in-the-dark yoghurt if they sold it...XD

As for your last point, I remember one time when a woman was complaining at a healthfood store that they were selling a horrible product with all kinds of "inpronouncible harmful ingredients". As she read of the list, I recognised some of the names, walked over, and politely informed her that those were vitamins and latin names for various herbs.

[RosettaWood]

Originally Posted by inflated

Only shop the perimeter of the store--don't even venture down the aisles nothing but High Fructose junk there. The perimeter is where the fresh vegetables, butcher, eggs, homemade bakery, dairy and other perishables are--if your food is not perishable its not food. Twinkies last forever because even lowly bacteria do not recognize them as food.

Another easy rule if your great grandmother would not recognize the product as food then do not buy it.

Hi,
I very much agree with the route when shopping (I laugh). It is best not to look up to temptations. Since I am familiar with the grocery store, I usually go directly to the healthy food sections. Anyway I like your last advice, it is so meaningful.
-Rosetta

[aloramackenzie]

My rule is to always choose foods that are as close to their natural state as possible