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What could be more important than what we put into our bodies? Yeah, yeah that's how all these preachy "health" posts begin. But really, stop and think about what you eat and absorb, and ask yourself on the most basic level if it is fit for a human being.
How many levels of processing is required from the food's raw materials to get it to the form that you call it food? Does it have engineered chemicals designed to glue it together? What do these chemicals do to the human body? Ask why do you eat what you eat? Is it for comfort, convenience, conformity, value, or genuine nutrition?
If we're honest with ourselves, we all have food vices or desires that may push us outside the realm of human food. It's also the nature of our society of unlimited colorful packaging and intense marketing -- not to mention the addictive quality of Doritos and Diet Coke.
Then there are genetically engineered crops that replace raw human food substances with laboratory manipulated strains, now proven to have harmful health effects on lab animals. These GMOs are said to already represent around 70% of the average American diet with not much thought about whether they are safe for human consumption.Indeed, it is increasingly difficult to eat like a human in our society . . . but it is possible. Clearly, one must want to eat healthier in order to make changes, but that simply entails giving profound thought to the questions outlined above. The fantastic reality is that it is empowering to determine your own diet based on health, and you don't have to make dramatic changes overnight.
Here are simple ways to begin eating more like a human:
1. Cook more with raw materials: Load up on flour, rice and beans, fruits and vegetables, and trusted meat or fish (preferably from local sources). Bake a couple loaves of bread and prepare bulk meals and snacks from these foodstuffs at least once a week. It's easy and makes the week of eating more convenient and healthy.
2. Limit processed foods: Really, who doesn't love Doritos? But when you examine the ingredients, there is a dramatically small amount of human food in them. And the so-called "corn" is genetically modified to begin with. Do your best to limit food purchases to items with minimal processing and chemical additives. Simple organic potato chips usually only have three ingredients, making them a better choice for a treat.
3. Read labels: If you can't pronounce it, it probably was not meant for human consumption. If you use your smart phone to Google many of the chemical additives while in the grocery store you'll find many that should be represented by a skull and crossbones. Part of reading labels is getting more informed about what exactly you're ingesting.
4. Avoid fast food like the Plague: From admitted meat glue at Taco Bell and silly putty in McNuggets, does anyone believe that fast food is not pure poison? One blogger Mom took a meal from McDonald's and filmed it over several months. It did not decay one bit or become infested with bugs -- even mold didn't want to eat that crap. It is NOT human food. Avoid it at all costs.
5. Drink more naturally: Drinks are the most underestimated culprits of bad health. Again, the less processing and chemicals in your drinks the better. In moderation, even beer and wine is healthier than Coke or Gatorade as they are made more naturally. Drink more water and test the quality of your tap water. Fresh juices are cheap and easy to make when fruit is in season.
The hardest part to all of this is simply remembering that you're a human being that requires nutrients, not chemicals. You have the ability to choose real food over poison, and it can be just as enjoyable and infinitely more rewarding. You're a human, start eating like one.
