The Magic of Eating Healthy

By:  Velinda Peyton

This morning I stumbled across a video of a woman who has a food channel and was sharing dessert recipes. Her recipes were made with canned fruit, which is sugar laden, inexpensive boxed cake mixes, full of chemicals and little nutritive value if any, whip cream, which is sugar and fat, and lots of butter, all high saturated fat.  As I’m watching this video I couldn’t help but think that these were recipes for heart attack, diabetes and a multitude of other health problems.  As I logged off, I noticed she had over nine thousand likes!  I thought, “why do people eat like that, do they care about their health”?

When I was in college I was fortunate to work for a vitamin company.  This company made vitamins, held health seminars, sponsored books on holistic health and worked with some of the best nutritionists in the business at that time.  For me, what I learned  from working there was more beneficial than my college classes and has positively shaped my life and health since.

When I first started working there I was skeptical of vitamins and the holistic world.  But what do we know at 19 years old?  That changed quickly as I was exposed to the wonderful world of holistic health.  So here’s what I learned and have studied since those early days of my life education.

Health is not only about the food we eat.  As in the word holistic, it’s about the whole body including your physical, mind and emotions, spiritual, social and financial health.  The more we take care of ourselves in all areas, the better our overall wellbeing and life.  However, this topic is about what we eat and should not eat.

What we eat affects our body overall…holistically.  It starts in our digestive system which nourishes our whole body with what we eat.  So how do you think you will feel if all you eat is junk or unhealthy food?  Eat healthy, avoid unhealthy food and it will make a significant positive difference in how you feel…for the rest of your life.

WATER:

Filtered water is best.  Dehydration can cause a multitude of symptoms from headache, muscle cramps, dizziness, dry skin, etc.  Our body needs water to hydrate every cell and keep us functioning properly.  Don’t underestimate the importance of water.

The Food We Eat:  If you want to truly be healthy, here’s what I suggest.

SUGAR:

No one is more of a sugar addict than I am, however, I care more about my health than any food I crave.  Cut out as much sugar as possible.  Sugar is actually bad for our bodies causing weight gain, heart disease, predisposing us to diabetes, premature aging, as well as a multitude of other negative health conditions.  The magic with cutting out sugar is that after a while you won’t crave it anymore.

JUNK FOOD AND PROCESSED FOODS:

Everyone knows that junk food is bad for us.  Junk food and processed food (including most canned foods) have little to no nutritive value and add excess sugar, saturated fats and chemicals to what we eat.  The most important thing to remember is that food is to nourish the body and these food do not do that, instead harm the body with ingredients that are bad for us.  Junk foods include sodas, chips, canned soups, and anything instant.

HIGH FAT FOODS:

Foods that contain high fat content like fat in meat, full fat dairy products, cakes, cookies, etc. are contributing to high cholesterol, heart disease, weight gain, as well as other problematic health conditions.  Some foods, like bacon and sausage, (some people are going to hate me for this) are not only high in saturated fat, but also have nitrates and little food value.  Alternatives are low-fat meats, fish, low-fat dairy products (better non-fat), and healthy fats like avocados, nuts and olives.

GRAINS:

White products like white bread, white rice, white flour, most cereals and anything made with these products are unhealthy or lack nutrients.  Instead eat whole grain products, oatmeal, quinoa, brown rice and other healthy carbs.

HEALTHY CARBOHYDRATES

Beans, lentils, vegetables like corn, sweet potatoes and fruits like bananas and apples for example. Most fruits have some carbohydrates.   

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES:

I’ve never met anyone who craves vegetables!  However, they are one of the healthiest foods we can eat.  Vegetables are low in fat, high in fiber, vitamins and minerals.  Fruits are also very healthy as they provide vitamins and minerals, water, fiber, and natural sugar.  If you need to eat sugar, it’s best to get it from fruits and healthy carbohydrates.  Some fruits are very high in sugar such as grapes and bananas, however the health benefits are out-weigh the sugar (which is natural) as long as you don’t overconsume.

ALCOHOL:

Alcohol in any form is still alcohol and has harmful effects on the body including high blood pressure, stroke, heart disease and more.  Do you really need it?  

The magic of eating healthy is not only do you feel and function better, but once you are used to eating healthy and the benefits you will experience overall (holistically), you won’t want to go back to eating an unhealthy diet.  Like anything in life that is good for you, once you experience it, you don’t want to go back to the bad.

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