Don't Wait for a 'Reason' to Pay Attention to What You're Eating

We've now learned very clearly that we can't blame our 'genes' for our current or future health.  What we are doing right now will decide our health in the next 5, 10, or 20 years. This isn't some mystical, vaguely probable statement.

What you are eating, and how you are living right now WILL determine if you live a healthy life or not... and could determine how long you live.

Growing up in a Mediterranean country influenced my eating preferences in such a way that I consumed more veggies and grains than the Average American. If there wasn't' a protein, a carb, a veggie dish and a salad at the table, my table was not complete. I did indulge in sweets, ate a lot of cheese and yogurt, and occasionally would include fried foods to my diet.

As I got older I tried to curb the sweets and fried foods.  I have never been into rigorous exercise, preferring walks and dancing. Then stress took over for a few years.  I got divorced, lost a sister to cancer, a brother in law two years later, got laid off after 14 1/2 years, and opened a Cafe in 2010 that needed my full-time presence 6 days a week.

A life lesson awaited me. I no longer have the luxury of dilly-dallying about what I should or shouldn't eat.  It's all very clear, very black and white.  I don't cheat because I can't afford to. My food, like your food, is my medicine.

Had I been on my current diet all those years, and taken the right supplements, I feel in my heart that I would have avoided this specific experience.  The lesson would have come packaged some other way.

Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for the learning and tremendous eye-opening experience. It has now given me the ability to be of service to others going through Cancer, or wanting to do whatever it takes to help prevent it. A gift.

But please don't wait to have such a reason to take a good look at what you eat, and what your diet may be doing to your body and immune system.

“The amount of antioxidants that you maintain in your body is directly proportional to how long you will live.” -  Richard Cutler M.D., Director Anti-Aging Research, National Institute of Health (NIH).

We know the things that lower our Antioxidant levels, and hence our immune system's ability to fight disease:

  1. Smoking
  2. Stress
  3. Foods high in fat
  4. All simple carbs (flour, sugar, white potatoes, etc..)
  5. Inflammation
  6. Exercise (you need more antioxidants than the average person if you exercise regularly)

7. Exposure to toxins

“Scientists now believe that free radicals are causal factors in nearly every known disease, from heart disease to arthritis to cancer to cataracts.  In fact, free radicals are a major culprit in the aging process itself.  By controlling free radicals, antioxidants can make the difference between life and death, as well as influence how fast and how well we age.”- Lester Packer, Ph. D.- Head of the Packer labs at the University of California at Berkeley.  Dr. Packer, author of The Antioxidant Miracle, is regarded as the world’s foremost antioxidant research scientist.

If you are not including 6 - 7 servings of a large variety of organic high-antioxidant fruits and vegetables in your daily diet, limiting fats and protein, and avoiding simple carbs entirely, you are not reaching the optimal disease prevention state of health.

This may sound like a tall order, and because I know there may be days when I may not reach my goal, I take bio-available, pharmaceutical grade supplements that support my antioxidant and essential vitamin levels. 

There was a time when humans ate to live. Those days are gone for most of us. Unfortunately, we've taken the 'eating for pleasure' too far. We are now surrounded by foods and food products that have very little to do with nutrition and good health. We are lured to create recipes that tantalize our taste buds and deal our bodies bolts of stress and inflammation.

Sugar, cream, butter, white flour, vegetable oils, frying, meats, canned foods, preservatives, food coloring... all stress the body, all lower antioxidant levels.

“Antioxidants can cut your risk of heart disease up to 70%, diabetes 40%, lung cancer 30%, and breast cancer 20% studies show. Many leading authorities now urge all adults to take a daily supplement."  USA Today, January 18th, 2004.

Don't wait for symptoms to make a change, don't wait for a call from your doctor with test results, make the choice to eat your way to good health now.

I live what I preach

Please make the decision to start the path to optimal health today.  This website is dedicated to helping you do so. Every recipe here follows the optimal disease prevention diet.

If you decide you need help of any kind, contact me. Whether it's meal planning, supplement questions or recipe requests!

Is your good health worth the sacrifice of convenience, habit and indulgence?