Ask Margaret #4

How not to eat well

I just heard a speaker saying that we have learnt how not to eat well. With all the different and often misleading information out there its not surprising. Are we paying the price as a society.

Never had we had more food and never have we been sicker. People are becoming sick and dying way before their time just by their lifestyle choices. We have come to rely on the so called experts to tell us what to eat and what to think. Many people are too afraid to change.

Some say that this resistance to change can be attributed to the micro-organisms in our body, what we eat nourishes these micro-organisms which outnumber the human cells in our bodies by 10 micro-organisms to 1 human cell. These organisms have to demand what they need to live and that affects our choices. They resist any changes that we try to make to our diet. Remember that your taste buds have been trained to enjoy high animal fat and sugar foods.

So what’s the answer?

You can start by adding in 1 thing at a time. Miso soup and sauerkraut are great ways to start. They populate the intestine with the friendly bacteria. Then you need to feed these bacteria with fibrous vegetables, greens, kale, spinach, asparagus and so on.

Start adding them and cut back on the sugar and refined carbohydrates which turn to sugar in your digestive system. Eating less meat is also a great place to start. Start with 1 meal a day and work on from there. There are great websites to give you great ideas and delicious recipes. You don’t need any particular equipment and if you stick mainly to fresh fruit and vegetables you can move forward. Even our Paleo ancestors ate 100gm of fibre in vegetables per day with a very little meat. So take back you heritage and learn to eat well.