Last night I had the pleasure of seeing this hot new documentary that was actually made by these filmmakers who live right here in Salt Lake City! Killer At Large is about the biggest threat to Americans. It isn't Osama Bin Laden, people. Or terrorists. It is ourselves. And Obesity!
We are overeating. And it's not just that we're overeating. It is that the food that we're eating has absolutely no nutritional value what so ever. I know that there are many of you out there who are doing your best to eat a whole foods organic diet. I applaud all of you. No, seriously. I'm standing on my tippy toes and applauding loudly. Eating a locally grown mostly organic diet (because I know it is very difficult to eat a 100% organic diet...I'm trying) of whole foods is absolutely something that should be cheered.
Our grocery store shelves are overflowing these days with foods that our great-great grandmothers would never even recognize as food. I have a hint for you: If there's a label smacked on the outside that says "healthy" it most likely is not. Real food doesn't need a label to tell you that it is real, healthy, or fortified. Because it just is!
We also need to avoid food products that contain ingredients that we are unable to pronounce. There's a reason we can't pronounce them. Because they're manufactured. If they come from a factory, it's pretty likely our body can't recognize them or process them either. And high-fructose corn syrup is going to kill all of us. So avoid it. Please. I will find and share with you, soon, some very eye-opening statistics about what corn is doing to our planet. It's becoming one of my new causes. But in the meantime, please just say no to corn!
The easiest way to avoid these additives and preservatives and processed foods is to avoid the supermarket all together. It is summertime. Get out and explore your local farmers markets! Or join a CSA. Community supported agriculture helps support your community, the environment and your family!
Spend more on organics, but eat less. Those ten for a dollar Twinkies may seem like a deal, but at what nutritional value and at what health cost for your children? Buy them the organic fruit. It will fill them up and they will not have the allergies from the Genetically modified corn fillers that are present in so many foods!
Finally, eat a variety of plants and vegetables and make sure you're eating the dark and leafy greens. They're highly nutritious. Scientists can't even yet explain why. But do we need nutritional science to explain to us WHAT TO EAT? I mean, seriously? We should eat the good things that are grown in the earth. Not the things that are genetically manufactured in a plant and shipped to us on a truck that never expire sitting on a shelf until the year 2025. That is not food. That is an experiment that none of us should be willing to make with the one and only body that we have!
Go see Killer at Large if it comes to a festival near you. I am pushing to have this movie shown at every school as part of the required curriculum for health class. Why? Because I believe that it is our children who we can educate to make a change in eating for healthier planet. If we can get them to actually demand a healthier school lunch, it will happen.
One organic beet green at a time.
And for those who are still reading....here's a great recipe that I created because I wanted a healthy "raw" spread to eat for my lunches. It is really delicious!
In a Cuisine Art put the following:
2 cups raw cashews
4 whole garlic cloves
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup spring water
1 TBS sea salt
1 TBS or more tumeric
pulse until creamy. add more water/lemon juice if you want a creamier mixture. i used all organic ingredients for mine, but either way works!
spread on romaine lettuce leaves, sprouted breads, celery, carrots, etc. it's fantastic!
Please use roasted cashews, not raw ones.
Raw legumes, including cashews, are dangerous. It's almost impossible to find them without aflatoxins or aspergillus mold.
Your body's fat is an organ that helps you deal with stress. Overwork your heart and you get an enlarged heart. Overwork your liver and you get an enlarged liver. Overwork your fat organ and you get an enlarged fat organ. And you can't reduce the size of ANY of those by changing your diet.
That theory that "what you eat, minus what you burn off, is what you gain" is based on the idea that the human body is a bucket. It's not. It's a garden hose. Your body sees this stream of nutrients passing by. Those it wants, it takes; those it doesn't want, ends up being contributed to the Metropolitan Sewer District.
But deliberately introducing poisons into your body is a bad idea. Raw cashews can kill if there is enough aflatoxin. If there's a lesser amount, you end up with sub-clinical illness - but you sure don't get healthier eating raw legumes.
Take consider The Law of 1900, which is another take on the same topic, posted about 7 hours before you posted this...
Posted by: Harl Delos | 10 July 2008 at 04:20 PM
Hello Nakedjen - delurking here - love your blog!
Killer raw cashews are very rare, this is far more common in peanuts, and there's probably more to be concerned about with the toxins that are present in roasted nuts, as the fats are transformed into toxic and carcinogenic compounds. Raw nuts are still the best option overall.
That recipe looks absolutely delish Jen. I will definitely give that a whizz.
Posted by: docwitch | 10 July 2008 at 05:14 PM
"Overwork your fat organ and you get an enlarged fat organ. And you can't reduce the size of ANY of those by changing your diet."
Hmmm... tell that to someone who struggles with anorexia and watch the response :) Body fat unquestionably can be reduced by changing your diet, in good and in bad and in extreme ways.
The recipe looks tasty! Excited to try it :)
Posted by: heather | 11 July 2008 at 07:36 AM