The most unfortunate resistance to eating healthy is the idea that in order to do so you must suffer through steamed broccoli and tofu every night. In reality, a healthy, real food diet can (and should) include foods that are insanely delicious.
The problem is that we’ve lost touch with our sensory signaling, and we automatically think if something tastes good, it must not be healthy. Continue reading
If you’re a health conscious person (and even if you’re not) I’m sure you’ve heard about the benefits of consuming more fish on a regular basis. Japanese and Mediterranean diets, which both include a great deal of seafood, seem to grow people who generally have lower risk of heart disease, longer life-span, and overall good health. By our reductionist approach, we have attributed this health benefit to the occurrence of Omega-3 fatty acids found naturally in fish, and especially high in fatty fish such as salmon. So we have concluded that eating salmon is good for us, but is that the end of the story?
As more and more people learn that by simply including this delicious fish into their diets they can live to 100 without dropping dead of a heart attack, sales of salmon have soared astronomically. And when demand is high, companies look to how they can produce more of a product, faster and cheaper. The solution for large-scale food producers is to farm salmon (that term alone personally conjures Dr. Seuss images of fish growing on trees somewhere). Farmed salmon is the fastest growing food production system in the world, accounting for 70% of the salmon sold worldwide. What does that mean? Unless the salmon you are buying is labeled as “Wild Caught”, “Alaskan”, or “Sockeye” you are purchasing fish raised by fish-farming practices. So is that really such a bad thing? Is there a reason wild caught salmon is best? Continue reading
Sometimes salads can leave you wanting something more. This is NOT one of those salads. I’d even say its hearty enough to enjoy on a chilly freezing North Carolina Spring day (we’re waiting for you, warm weather!) It also results in my husband pushing his empty plate away with a “ooof, eskasa” (English translation: I explode)
Makes about 2 servings Continue reading
One of the most common complaints people have when switching to an organic/real food diet is the increase in their grocery bill. The truth of the matter is that healthy food is more expensive, often significantly more so. I truly believe that the universe has a way of balancing itself out, however, so in the case of food costs I’d like to pose the question, who is paying the price for cheaper food? Is eating healthy too expensive?
Oftentimes old adages lose meaning to us simply because we have heard them again and again. But as the saying goes, “you get what you pay for”, and I believe you really do. As consumers we understand this principle when it is applied to most of the things we purchase- clothes, cars, electronics, hotels. So why, then, do Americans have such a resistance to paying more for the food we eat? After all, what could be more important than the nourishment we give our bodies each and every day? To anyone who objects to higher food prices based on the claim that they can’t afford them, I would argue that as Americans what we really cannot afford is to continue eating cheap, processed foods. Continue reading
