Go Back in Time for Good Health

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away... people prepared their food from scratch.  They ate REAL food, not FAST food.  Sadly, it seems like a fairy tale to many people.  About a month ago, I was discussing diet with a patient and I told her to buy actual ingredients and food.  She said "I don't know what you mean!"  Her idea of grocery shopping was heading to the frozen aisle and grabbing pot stickers or a Hungry Man entree.  Snacks were string cheese and fruit snacks (which are mostly sugar despite their name).

While there does seem to be a movement for natural food that is locally grown, the majority of people are eating more and more prepackaged, "engineered"  food.  This is especially true with kids.  We have let mass marketing and convenience tell us that children eat chicken nuggets and french fries and maybe a side of apples.  This is true in every restaurant and in most homes.  Rather than fight to get children to try new things, parents simply feed them the same thing over and over again.  Then, we give them a gummy vitamin and think that makes everything OK.  We are raising children on chemicals and additives and expecting them to grow into healthy, strong adults.  It just doesn't make sense!

We can feed our families good food without spending our lives in the kitchen or spending our entire income on food.  It just takes a little planning.  We owe it to ourselves and to our children to eat better!  There are so many health conditions that are skyrocketing due to poor diet.  Type II or non insulin dependent diabetes is probably the most significant one.  This disease used to only affect older people, but now it is being found in children, and it is due to obesity and poor diet.  Diabetes is a fast track to many other health conditions.  Heart disease, stroke, blindness, neuropathy, poor wound healing and so many more problems result poorly controlled diabetes.  This is a big deal for someone in their fifties.  It is an early death sentence for a child!  They will literally be "old" by the time they hit thirty.

When did "I really like it" become the ultimate justification for something?  What happened to self control?  I am not saying to never eat a cookie.  I am saying "don't eat a cookie EVERYDAY".  Soda or pop is a huge problem too.  You should not be consuming soda on a daily basis.  It rots your teeth, it makes you fat and it is full of chemicals.  It is time we start using some restraint and some common sense when it comes to food choices.  When I was a kid, it was "eat what's on your plate" and "one pop on Sunday".  These are not bad things.  Lets start filling our plates with vegetables and wholesome food again.  Our lives, or at least the quality of them, truly depend on it!