What is real food anyway?
A Primer for the JFJ (junk food junkie)
We have to focus on eating recognizable foods from now on. You may not want to go vegan or vegetarian but if you cut back on refined foods of all kinds and add some fruits and veggies and whole grains that is a great start.
Figure out what you can live without
I can not do without chocolate so I found a source for Healthy Chocolate that even diabetics can eat safely.
Fats
Read labels and try to cut out refined fats and oils of all kinds that will help. The problem with oils is that they are unstable and go rancid very quickly. They are unnatural for humans. Do you ever see oil plants or oil trees? Try to get your oils in fresh natural forms from the plants they come from. Eat an olive or a few fresh raw almonds or a piece of coconut or an avocado.
organic raw coco butter is being touted as the miracle food right now and it is much better than processed oils. The same is true for olive oil But even though they are natural oils they are still 100% fat. You just don’t need oil to survive, If you did you would find little oil bubbles growing on trees waiting to be eaten. But instead you find coconuts and olives…
So try to cut back at least a little if you are using them daily. Needless to say we have to stay away from the Trans fats and hydrogenated fats found in refined foods, that are so toxic to women’s organs.
EFA’s
Essential fatty acids are important for women over 40 for balanced hormones. Omega 3 and omega 6 can actually help reduce depression dramatically. Of course people who sell anti depressants are not likely to mention this.
Many years ago my psychiatrist just scoffed at the idea that dietary changes could help me, so I fired him! I am not saying he consciously wanted me to stay on his drugs and stay sick, just out of spite. This is just the way he was trained to think. Hey, he was set in his ways unlike you and me who can change when it makes sense to change.
You can get your essential fatty acids from plants too not just from fish and eggs. Greens, nuts seeds, beans even fruits all have traces of essential fatty acids. We have been told to buy fish oil. But you have to be careful about which products you buy. Many fish oil products are made from left over “drippings”, after making other fish products and have high levels of mercury. If you do decide you need fish oil make sure you investigate the source and get a pure, clean product.
You can also try eating freshly ground refrigerated flax seeds or hemp seeds, rather than taking flax oil. You can use that coffee grinder you don’t get to use for coffee anymore. Every body is different so you have to experiment to see what your body absorbs best. Please be sure to refrigerate all nuts, seeds and oils to keep them from going rancid. Another good source for essential fatty acids is spirulina, chlorella and other concentrated micro flora, water plants E 3 live is grown in lake Klamauth Oregon and is high in efa, as well as trace minerals.
Protein
In most parts of the world people eat far less protein than we “first worlders” do with better results. You might be fine on a vegan or mostly plant based diet but you may find you need some chicken and fish. Protein needs seem to vary from person to person. The problem with a lot of fish is the mercury level. With poultry the problem is that there are a lot of chemicals in the meat and it is hard to find really fresh meats. Organic “free range” chicken is a healthier form of protein and fat then chemicalized foul, pun intended. But even most of our organic meat is raised in cruelly small cages on large factory farms.
Spread your meals out to balance blood sugar and raise metabolism
If you are over 40 and have been eating a SAD (Standard American Diet) all your life or like most women, have been on and off diets since your teens you will need to do two very important things that will probably require more frequent meals. First you need to “repair” your metabolism. Secondly you will need to get enough trace nutrients back into your body.
Try to force down a tiny morsel of fruit or a protein shake or some whole grain cereal in the morning because you will be less likely to binge on junk food later. I hate breakfast but it really does give me more energy and jump-start the metabolism. I don’t believe in eating unless I am hungry but this is the one exception. If I start the day this way I am hungry every two or three hours and get my 5 or 6 small meals and snacks in instead of stuffing myself late at night.
Grains are for ruminants not for primates
Ruminants are people with hoofs: cows, horses, deer etc, who have several stomachs and have time to chew cud all day so they can digest strange things like glutton. Glutton is a protein found in wheat and a lot other grains including rye, oats, spelt, kamut, and barley. You can experiment and see if some of these are ok for you. If you are diagnosed with glutton intolerance you should avoid all glutton products. Many people can tolerate some of these grains in small amounts.
Most humans should stop making grains the basis of their diet. We are used to loaf shaped foods but sadly, we should not be eating bread and grain every day. Try eating brown aromatic rice, brown basmati rice, quinoa mixed in with salads as an alternative to wheat.
Cereals
You can add some ground flax seeds to steel cut oats for breakfast now and then. I have tried whole oats and they were terrible no matter how much “forbidden” honey I poured over them. Steel cut are doable now and then with some added fruit. Steel cut oats are preferable for your Glycemic index than rolled oats, or instant oats which are too refined have that simple carbs effect that refined white flour does. The rule is; the closer it looks to how it was when it was alive the better it is for your body.
We have all seen the special K and grape nuts commercials about how these products helps us lose weight. But again, this is marketing. Yes it is better than Hagen Daz for sure. But adding more veggies and fruits rather than relying on packaged grains may work better for your body. Although we primates have been eating a lot of grain for the last 5 or 10 thousand years many of us are actually allergic to it. I love wheat but I stay away from even whole wheat as much as I can. It’s amazing how fast that puffy bloaty feeling goes away!
Honey and Sugar
I love honey but unfortunately even raw honey acts pretty much like white sugar on the old, damaged junk-food pancreas, Honey doeshave nutrients not found in white sugar but that does not make it the best food for humans. Fruit is better form of sugar because it supplies tons of fiber, natural alkaline water and trace minerals. Many nutrition gurus say to limit fruit but to lose weight and fight candida but eating some of the lower glycemic index fruits is much better than eating cookies!
Milk, it does a baby cow body good, unfortunately we are not calves
Ah how I love cow milk, After all it has been 60% percent of my pizza-and -ice cream diet for over 40 years. But I have cut way back. I use non fat organic yogurt and cottage cheese, the occasional cheddar, and non fat ice cream when I can force myself to forgo the full fat versions.
…And guess what the best source of absorbable calcium is for us primates? Plants! I am not making this up. The marketing is very convincing. Milk is white like teeth and bones so it should be good for us, right? The milk lobbyists have been brain washing us for years about milk.
In reality “Third world” women have fewer cases of osteoporosis and osteopenia than “first world” women who are notoriously high protein and dairy eaters. Third worlders who have strong bones, cannot afford much meat and live on mostly plant based diets . See The China Study by T. Collin Campbell, for the facts. This is one of the most extensive nutrition studies ever done over a 20 year period comparing people all over the planet. Oxford and Cornell Universities funded this project.
Legumes: Although they are hard to digest they have a lot of good trace minerals we need. Soak beans over night and throw out the soak water before cooking to avoid gas. Beans are great in soups or put them in salad instead of always using chicken or turkey or fish.
Don’t eat white powders and other artificial things
Try to stay away from eating powdered things that look like cocaine: white sugar, white flour etc. Eat real whole foods in as close to the original form as you can stomach.
It is a hard truth for us J.F.J.s but that’s the bottom line.
Recommended Resources:
Fast food Nation by Eric Schlosser
Super Size Me by Morgan Spurlock
The China Study by Dr. T. Collin Campbell, PH.D.
The McDougall Program for Women
by Dr. John McDougall, M.D.
Sugar Blues by William Duffy
Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Fuhrman MD
Beyond the 120 Year Diet by Dr. Roy Walford, M.D.
Ultra Metabolism by Dr. Mark Hyman, M.D.
