Is it Really that Simple?

This morning I enjoyed a label free (almost) breakfast with my parents.  Mom made bread yesterday with whole wheat flour, yeast, milk, grape seed oil, water, salt, and today we ate it as toast under a poached egg.  We enhanced the meal with home assembled fruit salad (strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, apples and clementines), black coffee and vitamins. Naturally occurring, whole foods to nourish our bodies and boost our metabolisms.

Is it really that simple?  What about sugar and calories and cholesterol?  What about butter? Isn't butter bad?  And what about vitamins?  How do we know the vitamins we choose are actually the vitamins we choose?  How do we know we are choosing the right vitamins?  All of these questions are media inspired repeats that have only moderate merit.  But, addressing these questions is very important, so let's address them.

Yes.  It is really that simple.  If and when you choose to eat real, whole food, your body will be more nourished and less hungry.  Your body will have access to the vitamins and minerals it cannot make on its own thus be less likely to crave fuel and nutrients so frequently.  Your body requires a measurable amount of calories, macro nutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrates) and macro minerals (calcium, chloride, magnesium, potassium, sulfur, sodium, selenium, zinc) so eating calories should neither be alarming nor avoided.  What you should be mindful of is the food on your plate, what it's made of and where it comes from.  And you are right, butter is not an ideal fat...  but almond butter is!

Vitamins aren't as easily navigated as real fruits, vegetables and fats.  Vitamins, like processed and packaged food, are designed in part to sell a product in order to make money for a company.  The easiest place to find real vitamins in a truly accessible form is to eat fresh, plant based foods or to drink fresh, plant based juices.  If adding a vitamin to your day is something you desire to do, research your vitamin label just as you would a packaged, processed food.  Ingredients like talc, gelatin, sugar, artificial colors, flavors, additives and binders are often present.  Words that end in 'ide' or 'ate' or are preceded by 'd-' or 'dl-' are synthetic variations instead of natural vitamin sources, so beware.  Education here is key.  If you don't know what it is, look it up.   Is there an App for that?

Goal for today? Remove one processed item from your pantry.  Try and think about what it was modeled after and replace it with the real thing.  Cheese flavored chips?  Buy real cheese and bake it into crisps instead.  Blueberry muffins in a box?  Get some blueberries and make your own muffins! Boxed mac n' cheese?  I can't even believe you still have that in there!  Eat real food! Drink plenty of water.  Give your vitamins their vitamins, and, as always, remember to wash your hands.

Anna~