You Are What You Eat II

There is good news. There are simple things that you can do and choices that you can make that will help to eliminate the guesswork and ensure that you are doing the best for your body.

Choose organic foods when it comes to:

fresh produce

grain products such as breads, rice flours and pastas

wild caught fish

meat and dairy products including cheeses, butter, yogurt, and ice cream

(If a good selection of organic food is not already available at your favorite supermarket, then ask the manager to bring them in. Chances are that when other people see them, they will begin to want them too. Or you might want to look into a local service that offers weekly or biweekly service of organic produce and other items to a central location or right to your door.)

Whenever possible, buy locally. Food that is grown and produced within 100 or 200 miles from where you live is ideal. Again, if local food is not available where you usually like to shop, then speak with the manager about your concerns. Alternately, you might enjoy visiting a nearby weekly farmers market where you will find a variety of locally produced goods.

Eat simply. Avoid processed and precooked convenience foods. With a bit of planning, most of us can find the time and inspiration to put together simple nutritious, flavorful meals. There are endless recipes and tips available on the internet as well as some great cookbooks out there. A helpful tip: stick to the periphery of the grocery store and avoid getting sucked in by those ‘convenience’ foods!

Read labels! Avoid foods with lots of additives and preservatives. Avoid sugar. Good food tastes good. It doesn’t need sugar. When it comes to food labels, less is definitely more!

Supplement. Our food is compromised. Our environments are toxic. Our lives are busy. And our bodies are struggling to keep up. Regardless of how healthfully you eat, it is nearly impossible to get all of the daily requirements for vitamins and minerals from our food. These days, it is more important than ever to include high quality supplements in your daily regime. And not all supplements are created equal. There are so many products available it can be hard to know where to start. A good quality multivitamin, naturally sourced calcium, essential fatty acids, and some food for your immune system will lay a great foundation!

The good news: We have some control! By making wise, healthy choices about the foods we eat, we will be able to ensure that our bodies will have the strength and resources to handle the toxic load we are forced to carry and stand up to disease and the adverse effects of aging.