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~

Whether We Like it Or Not!

Nine days ago Dad had a heart attack.  He was in the hospital preparing to undergo shoulder surgery to reverse his rotator cuff and 'anatomical neck of the humorous'; a procedure called Reverse Shoulder Replacement Prosthesis.  After the nerve block was administered to numb Dad's shoulder, he reported a heaviness in his chest just as the anesthesiologist observed an abnormal pattern on the heart monitor.  The appropriate medication was immediately given and a heart attack was investigated.  Leave it to Dad to have a heart attack while hooked up to a heart monitor and surrounded by doctors trained to look for anomalies.  God knows if he had one at any other time he would not have had the same results.

Seven days ago five bypasses were performed.  Some time ago his heart began its fight against the blockages by rerouting its own vessels to supply blood through new channels; they were effective until, of course, they weren't.  Seven hours of poking, painting, harvesting, bypassing, stitching, breathing, filtering, watching, sucking, sewing, taping, responding, pulling, pinning, plugging...  Of waiting, praying, resting, laughing, remembering, hoping, worrying, discussing, reassuring, encouraging, thanking, praising...  A surgery that intricate involves as many thoughts and fears and emotions as it does hospital staff ten fold.  Five bypasses.  Five successfully repaired, fully functional, life delivering bypasses.  To all of you who have held the hands of loved ones and prayed for a surgeon's steady hands, I now understand and appreciate your strength.

I am here now, sitting next to Dad in front of the TV while 'Hunt for Red October' sings the house to sleep.  I am pleased to hear him laughing heartily at the dog when he pounces on his rope;  the dog, not Dad.  He has a medication schedule that he follows with mindfulness and dedication; Dad, not the dog.  Dad's heart pillow rests on his chest as a reminder there was actually a procedure done, for other than a bit of laziness one might not even guess at the possibility of such a thing.  Seventy-six years old and his current actions are only slightly different than they were eight days ago.  Just as his body only suggested it was in need of help, he now only suggests he needs anything but company.  What a great role model he is for all of his children and grandchildren and I am glad to sit next to him now and fulfill his need, and mine.

Scott is home.  He has called at least ten times a day to speak to me and ask about Dad.  Curt and Laura have the kids generously and graciously taking 'grand-parental' care of them.  An even divide of chocolate cereal and pancakes for breakfast, roller-blading for lunch, school shopping for dinner and fireworks for dessert.  I haven't seen them in nine days, which is a number two greater than I have ever reached before, but FaceTime and text messages have brought them into Mom and Dad's living room and my face to Maine.  I have, though, spent precious, memorable time with Evelyn, Olivia, Juliet and satisfied needed time with Olie and Kelly. We have all moved the unimportant aside to gladly and eagerly meet Dad's unspoken requests.

And then there is Mom.  Mom and Dad have been married for 37 years.  Walked together down the isle.  Bore and raised children side by side.  Festered over bank accounts.  Butchered chickens; one cut the heads off, one plucked the feathers.  Tolerated beer drinking horses and tree climbing kids.  Whelped puppies and nursed a countless number of other sick animals somehow allowed in the house.  Kicked some hard habits and enabled a few others while sharing a sofa between two very individual end tables.  A week ago they were separated: one was asked to put his life in the hands of others and one was asked to give them permission to take her life in their hands.  I am amazed by her strength and trust and love and faith in all things.  In herself.  In a hospital full of strangers.  In God.  In Dad.  In Fate.  In knowing that everything happens the way it is suppose to happen whether we like it or not.  What a great role model she is for all of us who follow her example, whether she likes it or not.

Thank you for your patience, Dear Reader.  Tomorrow is a brand new day~

Anna~

Delicious and Divine!

The vacation is over.  I may have gained a few pounds and lost a few readers but I have not misplaced my mission of investigating the root of all health; food.  Over the last month I (with my family) have eaten home grown peppers, cukes and green beans from SC, grass fed beef from Jamestown, RI., fresh cheese curds and brats from WI, garden grown bells and toms from northern IL, and an array of restaurant specials along US highways and byways.  My pallet was teased and pleased.  My food fantasies were wined and dined.  My desires were satiated and my waste-line is the proof.  Food is the foundation for all things health!

Wednesday we arrived home after 30 days of stop and go travel.  My husband knew we would be a bit starved for vegetables as road food usually includes fried potatoes, greasy beef, limp lettuce and cheap cheese, so our table was covered in crisp peppers and onions, seared beef tips, fluffy rice, a great bottle of red wine and tall glasses of ice water.  Thursday we ate BLT's with smokey provolone cheese on sourdough bread and last night we enjoyed seared pork tenderloin with a bright green greek salad.  The menu from around the country was delicious, but cooking at home and eating at our own table is divine.

Tomorrow I plan to get the blog back online with information, explanation, suggestions and encouragement.  For now, I will just remind you to eat real food, give your vitamins their vitamins, drink plenty of water and remember to wash your hands.  Think "back to basics!" You might start by eating a great home-made meal around your table~  More tomorrow.

Anna~