FAT AND STARVING TO DEATH
I'm two feet wide and I'm starving to death? How's that possible?
As ludicrous as it sounds - it's pretty simple really.....the food we eat in western countries is garbage. Even if you eat a reasonable diet including fruit and vegetables, you can still be suffering from malnutrition in this day and age. And there are many reasons for it....
1. Intensive farming, genetic engineering and over processing
Intensive farming and genetic engineering have created the perfect red, crunchy apple, in great quantities, but they have also bred out the nutrients. That combined with the over-processing of staple foods, has produced many foods that are literally nutrient-deficient. Our bodies are demanding more and more in greater quantities because not only can we not get the nutrients we need from our food, but many of the co-factors in foods that help us to absorb those nutrients have been removed. When a body cannot get the nutrients it needs, it assumes there is a famine situation and it lowers metabolism to cope.
Heritage varieties of fruit and vegetables are the only way to go, if you can get them. If you can't buy them, grow them. These are old varieties (pre-monsanto) that our grandparents used to grow and are far richer in nutrients. Don't be fooled by the organic label. Organic pretty-much means unsprayed - it doesn't mean nutrient rich at all. Free range eggs, meat and milk are not the 'hippy' buzzwords they appear to be. Results vary in different studies but across the board - a free-range egg has an incredible lead on nutrients over a battery or a barn egg. Two thirds more vitamin-A, two to three times the omega-3, seven times beta-carotene, two to three hundred percent more vitamin-E and the list goes on. Similar results are being found in grass-fed meat and dairy products.
What can you do? Start tracking down vendors who sell heritage varieties of fruits and vegetables - have a look at any farmers markets in your area. Switch to free-range meat, eggs and dairy. Make changes where you can.
2. Food preparation
Traditional foods and recipes are also something to consider. We no longer prepare foods in our kitchens the way our grandmothers used to and perhaps we need to. There was a certain old-wives wisdom in the way many foods were prepared. Ordinary everyday Indian dhaal for example could almost be termed a super-food - not only packed full of nutrients but also high in anti-inflammatories and the combinations of certain spices used in traditional Indian cooking are actually synergistic. Synergistic means that the combination of certain ingredients increases the advantages of others. Pepper and tumeric for example, will increase the anti-inflammatory properties of the tumeric. If you cook broccoli and tomatoes together - the vitamin C in the tomatoes will increase your ability to absorb the iron in the broccoli. Cabbage is goitrogenic (causing thryoid and metabolism difficulties) but if its fermented and vinegared like it is in sauerkraut - it becomes full of nutrients that we able to absorb more readily. We used to use cider vinegar in bread products....its interesting to know that starch and vinegar will also allow the nutrients to be absorbed more readily and will actually lower the glycemic index.
What can you do? Go back to cooking some good old-fashioned dishes. Cook your meat with dripping or lard. If you use soy sauce - buy traditional fermented soy sauce. Include simple traditional foods like chickpeas and lentils in your diet - research some recipes, experiment and find what works for you.
3. MSG, artificial sweeteners and other additives
MSG or mono-sodium-glutamate comes in many guises. Manufacturers now like to call it hydrolised vegetable protein, amongst other things. Sounds pretty benign doesn't it. Except that MSG has an interesting ability that few additives have. It crosses the blood-brain barrier without any effort at all. It has a direct degenerative impact on the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus drives every endocrine system in your body and MSG puts it completely out of whack. Suffering from a great list of thyroid-looking ailments but nothing shows up in blood tests? Could be a good idea to check your MSG intake and when you do......prepare to be appalled. It's in everything - pre-made sauces, stocks, sausages and meat products, chips and snack foods - anything with a smidgin of salt. And in America, they are even spraying the fruit & vege crops with it. MSG also increases insulin production causing diabetes of which a wonderful side-effect is....you guessed it!....OBESITY. If you are lucky enough not to be susceptible to diabetic conditions, your body is still awash with excess insulin resulting in pancreatic disfunction. And not only does MSG make you fat....it's addictive. Foods containing MSG will literally cause you to crave them - that's why it's there - to make you want to buy and eat that product more.
Artificial sweetners are neuro-toxic and appetite stimulants. They attack the nerve system. The diet industry loves them because they set up a vicious circle of comfort eating.
Some additives are not necessarily fattening by their action but they can encourage a nervous and anxious disposition which for most people means comfort eating. Others have a degenerative action on internal organs causing serious inefficiency. Red dye no3 for example attacks the thyroid, Yellow dye no6 attacks the adrenals and the kidneys. Others are actually destructive to the nutrients in the food they are contained in. Sulphites for example, otherwise known as preservative 220 destroys thiamine. Without thiamine, you can't effectively convert sugars into energy. 220 or its relative 221 is found in an incredible range of foods from meats and sauces to sweets and dried fruits.
What can you do? Get educated. Keep up to date with the numbers and new names that are used for certain additives and keep an eye out for new research on the subject. Read labels and check what's in your food. Cut out preservatives and colorings where you can. Stop using artificial sweetners full stop - they are not the gift of the gods they pretend to be. If you crave sweet - turn to natural sugars. Cut out MSG where ever you can. Go find a local old-fashioned butcher and if he doesn't add MSG to his sausages - support him.
4. Fats and oils
In the eighties, the 'diet-powers-that-be' told us to cut out animal fats and to only eat a very minimal amount of foods such as eggs, advocados, butter and nuts. The problem with that is the fact that these are the healthy fats that your body actually needs to do what it needs to do. The sugar industry must have been ecstatic because without these fats the body turns to simple sugars - it craves sugar. We were told to cook with oil which was never meant to be used at high temperatures and to make matters worse, many of the cooking oils on supermarket shelves are toxic because they are rancid. The thing is - there are a great many nutrients and vitamins that are fat soluble which means you can only process them if they are dissolved in fat first. And fat, as a source of energy is far more efficient for the human body than sugars or glucose.
What can you do? Switch to butter. Start cooking with dripping instead of oil. Include high quality fat-rich foods like advocados and nuts.
LIVE LIFE
Watch what crap you put into your body and try to get active - everybody should exercise regularly. Big and small alike. But don't go screaming down to the gym and half kill yourself working out everyday because that's not fun either and it doesn't take long before you run out of steam. You don't have to. Everybody has something active that they enjoy....some of us have yet to discover it - but it's there. Gardening, swimming, dancing, belly dancing, hooping, martial arts, walking, cycling, bowling....it's all activity. And that's all it's about - getting active. Just pick something you think you would like to do, like going for a walk or a swim. There is nothing worse than choosing an activity that you can't stand - it's a mistake that many of us make. Go for baby steps to begin with, if you're not used to being active, and build up. And try all sorts of things till you find something you can be passionate about. Something very rewarding that I can recommend is Tai Chi for any level of fitness.
Stop feeding the stereotypes! And keep in mind big people are sometimes amongst the worst perpetrators for that. When someone says something derogatory about large people, the loudest to laugh are usually the biggest - and that's not usually because they think its funny - its usually to hide embarrassment. It's a shocking thing to hear someone say 'black and lazy' - it should be no less shocking to hear 'fat and lazy'. And its should be no more acceptable either.
The other thing I hear far too often is a big person saying things like 'I've always wanted to learn to dance, I'll wait till I lose some weight.' Why wait? Big people play squash, go swimming, dance and have as much fun as anybody else - if they choose to.
And parents....WATCH WHAT YOU SAY! The mother that is constantly freaking out about her weight or the father that thinks it's funny to make jokes about a child's body - its not funny and not helpful and all of it contributes to children doubting their worth.
Honestly folks there are crazier things to get worried about. Freaking out about how we look all the time is draining, demoralising and it belittles the gift of uniqueness that you personally offer to the world. Be thankful to your body for it has served you well so far. Focus on treating yourself like the special thing you are and the things that make you happy. There are many beautiful things to pay attention to in our lives.
ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING
The other thing I hear far too often is a big person saying things like 'I've always wanted to learn to dance, I'll wait till I lose some weight.' Why wait? Big people play squash, go swimming, dance and have as much fun as anybody else - if they choose to.
And parents....WATCH WHAT YOU SAY! The mother that is constantly freaking out about her weight or the father that thinks it's funny to make jokes about a child's body - its not funny and not helpful and all of it contributes to children doubting their worth.
Honestly folks there are crazier things to get worried about. Freaking out about how we look all the time is draining, demoralising and it belittles the gift of uniqueness that you personally offer to the world. Be thankful to your body for it has served you well so far. Focus on treating yourself like the special thing you are and the things that make you happy. There are many beautiful things to pay attention to in our lives.
