Food Matters

Shortly after I returned to Memphis from Kansas City (while I was still quite ill), my husband encouraged me to watch the documentary Food Matters.  I had watched it 2-3 years ago, but since I was not yet back to work and did not feel well enough to leave the house much, I had nothing better to do than to watch it again.  I remember being intrigued at the information it presented the first time I watched it.  The second time though, I watched with a completely different perspective, and it literally became the catalyst for a major lifestyle change.  If you have not seen it, I would highly recommend it!

For those of you who have not seen it, the documentary focuses on the link between diet and disease.  It promotes whole, organic foods, as opposed to the highly processed items that have become standard fare here in America.  It also provides information about the power of holistic healing (through vitamins and supplements).  At the time, I had just started the B12 supplements and had not yet experienced any dramatic improvements.  BUT, the documentary peaked my interest, and I wanted to know more.

Those of you who know me, know that I am a researcher.  Meaning, I rarely believe what I see/read/hear from one source.  I like to dig deeper.  In order for me to begin to believe something, I need to see many documents that all point to the same thing and/or reach the same conclusion.  So, I started watching other documentaries, as well as devouring book after book on the subject of nutrition.  Much to my surprise, I found the same basic principles running through every single source, be it book, article, or documentary, and I began to believe.

While each source differed slightly in its focus, the broad ideas remained the same.  These included the link between highly processed food and disease, the benefits of eating whole foods, the benefits of eating organic, and the benefits of a more plant based diet.  As Michael Pollan so simply said in his book In Defense of Food, Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.  This all sounded great, and I was totally geared up to change my life.  But I had one question.  Where do I begin?

I used to believe that I led a fairly healthy lifestyle.  As mentioned in an earlier post, I am a vegetarian and believe that I already tend to eat more fruits and vegetables on a daily basis than the average American.  We buy whole grain bread, exercise regularly, and don't smoke.  And while I do have a serious sweet tooth, I always felt that I was good about moderation when it came to sweets.  When I began looking through my fridge and cabinets though, I realized that I was wrong.  I was shocked at the food labels on soooo many of the products in my kitchen.  Even the foods that I thought (and that many people are led to believe) are healthy, are, in fact, loaded with things like preservatives, additives, chemicals, excess sugar, etc.  I quickly became overwhelmed with the fact that I was literally going to have to start from scratch (no pun intended!) when it came to food, and was really lost about how to do it.

So, I continued reading and stumbled across a book that gave me the tools that I needed to get started...