Eat More Nutritious Food

There seems to be plenty of opinions on what is healthy nutritious food, and what is not, what will help you have a healthy weight and what will not. Do you find it a little confusing sometimes?

Here's are five general principles for you to use, but not always so easy. It takes time to plan and prepare nutritious food, but it does get easier, as habits and taste buds adapt.

1. Eat Foods in Their Natural State

Eat foods in their natural state as you would if you hunted or gathered it yourself. In other words, if it's in a can or box, you would never have gathered it that way. You could gather a blueberry, but not a blueberry pop tart. That way you save yourself the loss of nutrients through overprocessing, and the additional artificial colouring, flavours, preservatives, sweeteners, etc.

It's hard to do it all the time, but try eating more raw fruits and vegies. Did you know that this natural food has its own digestive enzymes included, before you cook them. That means the actual food helps to digest itself. If you cook it, then the enzymes are destroyed, and your body has to make and provide the necessary enzymes to break the food down instead. No doubt about it, our society is showing a lot of signs of digestive problems. Give your body a break and eat more food raw, and supplement enzymes when you're not.

If you want to learn more about enzymes, check out: http://enzymeuniversity.com/

2. Eat Different Colors of Food

Eat as many different colors of food as you can in a day. You might call it "Nutrition for Dummies". Does that sound funny? Well, in researching which foods had which vitamins, minerals and nutrients, I started noticing that similar color foods, often have similar nutrients. So how do you get all the different nutrients, if you don't know what's in each food? Eat different colours, and try to eat all the different fruits and vegetables available in your part of the world.

You probably do this naturally to some degree. Do you like to eat a plate that is all white? How about all green? Not likely, we like to make our plates pretty, by arranging diffent colours. Without knowing it, we're providing different nutrients at the same time.

When I was younger, we kids fell into the trap of having a favorite vegetable, and asked mom for corn every night for supper. I didn't realize I was developing a food allergy from over eating the same food, and that's why I had to have a nap after every supper. I was missing out on a variety of nutrients and didn't know it.

So next time you're at the grocery store, look at all the vegetables available. Do you know what they are called? Do you have any idea what to do with them? Any recipe ideas. Try something new this week. Make it a research project, and find out what to do with it.

3. Avoid antibiotics, growth hormones, pesticides, herbicides and chemicals in the meat you eat.

This means eating range fed animals, not grain feed. Did you know they are higher in omega 3 essential fatty acids, which can help improve learning.

Have you had an antibiotic or hormone treatment today? If you've eaten meat today, you probably have. Antibiotics and growth hormones are regularly given to animals.

The little critters we try to get rid of with antibiotics are becoming increasingly resistant, due to misuse or over use. Do you want an antibiotic if you don't need it? Antibiotics can destroy the healthy balance of friendly bacteria in our digestive system that help us digest and absorb the nutrients out of our food.

Did you know that the chickens we usually eat are ready in 21 days, because of the massive amounts of growth hormones they are given. This has been linked to why so many young girls start menstrating at 8 years old instead of 12 to 15 years of age.

A video has been prepared online that gives more details, in an entertaining fashion. Kids enjoy it too. It also links you to sources of organic, range fed, chemical free meat. This is a must see. The Meatrix

4. Avoid pesticides and herbicides in the fruits and vegetables you eat.

That means choosing organic whenever available. They are not always more expensive. In my area, they are often the same price and sometimes even cheaper. Organic farmers give a lot of attention to soil quality, so that they won't have to add extra chemicals. As a result, organic foods are often found to have more vitamins and minerals then their counterparts, so even if you do pay more, you are probably getting more nutrients dollar for dollar. But even if you're not, at least your body won't have to give extra energy trying its best to get these unwanted chemicals out.

5. Eat food ripened on the vine, not picked green.

You might have to grow your own, or go to your local farmers' market to get food this way. Most, if not all, of the fruits and vegies in the grocery store are picked green for shipping. This includes organic foods as well. Organic means no chemicals, not vine ripened.

Is there a problem with that? In my opinion, this is one of the most critical health flaws in our food system. At the end of ripening process, the plant gives essential sugars to the fruit or vegetable that is growing. You've probably tasted this. Have you notice the flavor difference between a tomato picked green and one ripened on the vine? It's the same thing with blueberries. I love picking them in the wild. But when they first turn blue, they taste awful - no flavour. It takes 2 more weeks and then they are delicious. The plant has given the fruit the remaining nutrients. Again - "Nutrition for Dummies". It doesn't just taste better. It's incredibly more nutritious.

Does it really matter that much? You bet. Scientists have discovered that every cell in our body communicates what is needs. It might say - feed me, defend me, repair me, multiple me. How does it do this? It arranges 8 vital sugars in different configurations to communicate what it wants. The scary part is that the vast majority of us, if not all of us, usually only 2 of these 8 essential sugars necessary for cellular communication. This is true, even if we eat organic.

These essential sugars are also called glyconutrients. They are a class of nutrients separate from vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fatty acids.

This one lack of nutrition today, could be linked to a number of disease states as the body's own defenses and processes are not functioning properly. Not getting all the nutrition we need has also been linked to learning challenges. Hummm.... So until we grow our own food all year long, or our food suppliers start routinely providing us with these 8 sugars necessary for all life processes, we might want to consider supplementation.

More Tips for Your Children's Health

Our children are becoming increasingly overweight, unhealthy and diabetic, and this is closely related to what they are eating and not eating, and a lack of exercise and activity.

I found this helps in our family.

- Once a week, I plan my menu, including snacks.

- I see what I already have in my frig and cupboards, and then make a grocery list of what I'm missing.

- I post my menu where I can see it, and cook accordingly.

How has this helped? When I do it, I don't have to throw out the yellow brocolli in the bottom of my frig that I forgot to cook. I don't have to waste time wondering what on earth I'm going to make for supper that night. I can vary the foods my family is eating, and I know if they are nutritious of not.

Here's another tip. Use hunger on your side, not against you. Do you want to introduce new foods, and fear the noses will turn up? Try to introduce them when your family is hungry. Everything tastes better when you're hungry, and you'll eat a greater variety. Try sauces and dips until your family gets used to the new flavor, then they might eat them without the sauces and dips.

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