The alarm jerks you out of bed. Stumbling from the shower, you dress in haste and then grab a ‘breakfast on the run’ cereal bar on your way out. Facing packed public transport or a snail paced car journey, you breathe in germs and toxic fumes which pollute the air and ultimately our bodies. Settling at your desk in an environment that bombards you with electro radiation, you stare into your computer screen, still trying to persuade your body to respond to another day. If your body is lucky, you hydrate it with a few glasses of water, which is negated by drinking numerous cups of sugar/caffeine laden coffee or soft drinks. A muffin packed with fat and sugar, but looked upon as a health food may be grabbed half -way through the morning, to give your blood sugar levels a quick, short-lived boost. Lunch may or may not happen, depending on the work load, and at best is a fast food meal eaten at your desk. At the end of the day you are faced with another arduous trek home where you flop on the couch with a take away or frozen dinner.
If you can relate to all or part of the above profile, you may be heading for serious health problems. When we are young we think we are invincible and that our bodies will keep performing regardless of what we feed them. As cases of serious illnesses increase at younger ages we know that this is not the case. The old sayings “You are what you eat” and “Eat to live not live to eat” should definitely be the rule rather than the exception. Cancer thrives in an acid medium. Refined and processed foods, high protein and high fat diets are acidifying and also lead to obesity and possible diabetes. The human body is a complex and wonderful ‘piece of machinery’. Just as high performance cars respond well to high performance fuel, so the body responds to a simple nutritious balanced diet. The secret is eating a variety of ‘super foods’: Vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds, legumes, protein, dairy
This results in the body receiving different vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. A perfect meal is a small amount of protein, organic red meat, pork or chicken or fish, salmon or trout, that are not farmed if possible, are great sources of omega 3 oil but deep sea fish are good too, accompanied by 3-5 serves of vegetables or a mixed salad. Pick a variety of colours, dark green, light green, yellow, orange and white. Steam the vegetables and forgo sugar/salt laden sauces and dressings. Good salad dressing is extra virgin olive oil mixed with Balsamic vinegar, crushed garlic and black pepper. If need salt use small quantity of Himalayan salt. This meal followed by fruit and maybe some organic yoghurt is ideal. Eating for optimum health should be based on simple unprocessed foods and as much raw food as possible. Simple snacks of nuts (not too many if watching your weight 6-8 nuts are fine) seeds, fruit and raw vegetables provide nutrients that are essential for health and energy. Before you put food into your mouth think about what benefit that food will be to your body. Will it provide nutrients for energy and vitality or empty calories in the form of fat and sugar that will clog the arteries and slow the body down. There is only one person who can look after your health and that is you. Make the decision today to switch to natural, nutritious food that will provide fuel for your body and mind to perform at its peak now and in the future.