Confused by my title? So am I. Lol!
They say to eat something because it's good for you but at the same time it's bad for you.
It was brought to my attention this past weekend that on a certain t.v. show, it was mentioned that you should eat Gouda cheese because there is something in it that can help prevent cancer. I went online to check it out and it's vit. K2. You can get K2 in a vitamin, my vitamins have K2 in them. K2 is also made from the bacteria living in our own digestive track. Of course our soil has been depleted of so many vitamins and minerals that we do need to supplement a bit even if we are eating whole foods. Going back to the Gouda thing, it is dairy and dairy consumption is linked to a variety of health problems and cancer. Last I heard eating lots of vegetables, fruit and exercise helps to prevent cancer.
Then you have the mercury and DHA issue. Last year on that same show they were saying how mercury is poisonous to the body and no mercury is good for you. At the same time they are telling you to consume fish(most fish/shellfish contain mercury) for the DHA. Do I really have to consume mercury to get DHA? Personally I think consuming mercury to get DHA would defeat the purpose. I'll get my DHA elsewhere, from algae like the fish do. Why don't they tell people about getting DHA that way?
Then there are those people that take what they hear from the t.v. or radio and apply it to their lives before reading and doing research on their own to back up what they hear. Always do your research first.
Spices and herbs are great for you too. Ginger, tumeric, oregano, etc. are all wonderful for you and when you add these wonderful spices to your food or diet that's great! I see plenty of people that take the time to add these things but continue to consume foods that have no fiber, are high in saturated fat and cholesterol.. They are on medications and continue to have the same health problems because they aren't eliminating bad foods from their diet. I guess what I'm saying is there is no one food or magic pill to prevent disease. It's about our complete diet that helps prevent disease. If people would just eat more of a plant based wholefoods diet they would be building a better, stronger machine to fight against disease.
Food is thy medicine!!!
On that note.
Below is a beautiful pic of a yummy meal we had recently.
Tofu Picatta with shitake mushrooms, served along with gf pasta and broccolini. The picatta recipe I always use is from VCON because it's the best!
Enjoy your day!
The people you described who fall for all the fads and don't know how to research for themselves and follow good nutrition, and are chronically unhealthy? That's my in-laws. I can't even have a conversation about food with them because they're so ignorant, and because they're my in-laws I can't openly complain about how crazy it makes me!
ReplyDeleteGuess I just got that off my chest, didn't I? Betcha didn't plan on getting a comment like this :D
I totally agree - it drives me crazy. My other pet peeve on this kind of stuff is when shows trot out "experts" that say organics are no more nutritious than conventional produce. But they never say anything about the chemicals or pesticides.
ReplyDeleteSarah- lol! Vent all you want I just did in this post! I ditto you regarding the in-laws. Although since I've been in the family they eat more veggies and they have been drinking morning fruit smoothies for sometime now but still consume alot of dairy and meat throughout the day. When my father-in-law diets he does more of an adkins thing I notice, will cut down on carbs but still eats animal protein. It concerns me because he is pre-diabetic and all of that animal protein is hard on the kidneys.
ReplyDeleteChow- Yeh I know. Like ingesting chemicals is so good for you! hah!
ReplyDeleteGood points!...just like they tell people to eat dairy for bone health and prevent bone loss, when it can actually contribute to calcium deficiency and bone loss...deep leafy greens are the best source of calcium, especially nettles, but they never say that. Arrgh!
ReplyDeleteThat is a truly beautiful shot of the picata.
well said! I agree with you ... x 100! haha! It tears me up seeing people take loads of pills and meds and fill their bodies with junk. I don't GET IT! At least I am on the right path, and proud of it :)
ReplyDeleteRose- that's another great example. Also, dairy has virtually no iron and can interfere with iron absorption which could be very damaging to little kids. We are always told to go to an animal source to get our nutrition, like iron. If someone is low in iron the doctor doesn't tell them to go eat their leafy greens, brocolli, legumes, molasses, etc., they tell them to eat red meat!
ReplyDeleteI am sure broccoli have vitamin K...
ReplyDeleteTo me the secret of health is variety, it also works well for the mind :-)
Pretty crazy. I agree that people don't know how to research for themselves anymore. I do it all the time! I feel sick n I have to serve milk to the toddlers I teach twice a day because it's part of their meal plan and it's "healthy". It's not even organic, which would make me feel a little better I guess. It just makes me think about how different I will raise my kids and how they won't be aloud to eat school lunches unless they drastically change!
ReplyDeleteit's sad with all the conflicting information out there. a few weeks ago we had my mom & sisterin town because they wanted to go shopping - my mother was talking about my father's high cholesterol. i suggested he cut out a lot of animal products, especially red meat, milk and eggs and strongly suggested he eat vegan or mostly vegan for a few weeks to see if that might help. my mom and sister (who are both oncology nurses) said "oh no, that won't work - it's all hereditary! he just needs to take more fish oil and eat more fish." i tried to explain how fish wasn't a good thing and you would have thought i was talking about vampires and werewolves. **sigh**
ReplyDeleteyour tofu picatta looks amazing, JoLynn - and that broccolini is calling my name! mmmmmmm!
Sigh, it's true... One of the biggest reasons so much of the country now struggles with healthy eating is because we're bombarded with all of this misinformation. Even for the most attentive listener, it's damned confusing!
ReplyDeleteJessy- sorry about your dad.
ReplyDeleteCarissa- that's got to be hard serving kids foods that you know aren't healthy. The school lunch program is so messed up.
Bittersweet- If we just take the time to research on our own we can make an informative decision about not only our health but everything else.
It's always crazy what these shows suggest for people to do. Very contradictory!
ReplyDeleteOn a different note, that picatta looks amazing!