Say Bye to the S.A.D diet. Healthy Eating in 2022
Repeat after me; I am here to nourish this body. I am here to take care of this body. I am here to live a healthy, sustainable, natural, and organic life. The words we say to are selves reigns the most true. Say good things to yourself.
During these past 8 years, working as a nurse, I’ve noticed that healthy living is a journey not just a destination, and everyone’s journey is unique and personal to them. The innumerable patients I’ve cared for have shown me just that. However, not everyone truly understands what it means to be healthy or how to be healthy, or what’s even considered healthy. Luckily, I’ll be here to guide you on your journey to wellness. You’re not in this alone.
Firstly, let me give you the textbook definition of healthy - “in good health, indicative of, conducive to, or promoting good health, normal, natural, and desirable”.
The concept of leading a healthy lifestyle is one that can be applied to multiple areas of our day-to-day lives; but to keep it short I’ll say think about how it applies to the main three elements, Mind, Body, and Soul. Through exercise, you can strengthen the body. Through mediation and prayer, you can strengthen your mind and soul. Through appropriate food habits, you can actually strengthen all three.
In this post, I hope to enlighten you and bring awareness on how the Standard American Diet can lead to disease and how living a sustainable and organic life, and eating whole foods will help facilitate your body's natural healing capabilities. I’ll share my journey of healthy living and I’ll share pointers from credible easy to digest sources about health & wellness.
Living a more health-conscious life is not, nor should you believe it is, hard to live or difficult to obtain. The Universe has given us everything we need to live organically and sustainably; the problem is that in the minority and impoverished communities they are not taught about it. I believe the key to living healthy first begins with awareness of our health and living in tune with nature-becoming more mindful and grateful to its abundance in healing properties because, without nature, we as a human species would not be here. Unfortunately, the majority of the food we eat today is far removed from natural; it is laden with pesticides, herbicides, it’s genetically modified, and it’s nutritionally sparse. However, there is hope to turn this around when we become aware of what we're putting into our bodies and how it can cause DIS-EASE. I believe that the current diet of the western world has led to an increase in Cardiovascular Disease, Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Cancer, Metabolic syndrome, and Morbid Obesity of the American populace. I’m not alone in this belief either.
In the words of Ann Wigmore, “The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.” We become the food we eat, it’ll either break us or heal us.
In the time of COVID-19, an article published in Politico speaks about the relation of food-related diseases and their contribution to COVID-19.
Here’s another article published linking the western diet to the diseases mentioned above. https://www.everydayhealth.com/crohns-disease/diet/why-western-diet-making-us-sick/#:~:text=The%20Western%20Diet%20Puts%20a%20Strain%20on%20the%20Immune%20System&text=While%20some%20threats%20may%20be,and%20cells%2C%20causing%20autoimmune%20disease.
However, I strongly believe that with a holistic, nourishing diet, this can and will change! No matter how small those changes are, because, once you see the results you begin to want to do more. Remember a little goes a long away. For our sake, There’s no place devoid of health information; wherever you turn there’s new information popping up. But despite the many advancements in medicine and technology and the plethora of health information, there are still some people who just don’t understand it or it just isn’t accessible. Remember this is your health journey.
The western diet is known as the Standard American Diet. A diet consisting of high intakes of red meat, processed meat, pre-packaged processed foods, high in salt, low in other important minerals, GMOs, fried foods, high-fat products, refined grains, high-fructose corn syrup, and high-sugar drinks. Compared to a healthy diet that contains higher proportions of unprocessed foods, high intake of nuts, fruits, vegetables, whole-grains, lean meat, poultry, and fish. The American Diet is exactly what the acronym says it is, SAD, because to date the majority of food that’s available to Americans, are high in calories while low in nutrients; missing out on the key micronutrients needed to support a healthy body. The human body is intricately designed to fight disease but sad to say, no pun intended, with the current standards, the American population is making themselves susceptible to disease.
A favorite quote of mines by Hippocrates says “Let food be thy medicine, and medicine be thy food”. He also says, “In food excellent medicine can be found, in food bad medicine can be found; good and bad are relative.”
What’s considered A “healthy diet”? A healthy diet is one in which you are consuming nutrient-dense foods in the right quantities from all the food groups. There are many healthy eating plans available; search and find which one works for you, remember your journey to wellness is unique and personal. Also, head over to https://www.alimentarium.org/en/magazine/nutrition/what-exactly-balanced-meal for a more in-depth article on a balanced meal. Furthermore, nutrition is highly personalized, what may work for someone else, may not be good for you. Take time to become more aware of your body. Also, partner up with a health coach or a nutritionist to learn more. You can also start by listening to your body after you eat, how does the food make you feel? Do you recognize a pattern when you eat? For example, when I was in college, after I would have lunch I'd notice that I would be very nauseated not knowing what was going on, I assumed that something was wrong with me medically; come to find out it was the dairy that was making me sick; I was lactose intolerant and didn't even know it. Data shows that nearly 75% of African Americans are lactose intolerant. Let’s not forget about herbs and spices; they work wonders. Herbs are high in powerful antioxidants, which help to prevent free-radicals from accumulating in our body and causing disease.
All in all, the Standard American Diet, should no longer be STANDARD. We as people want access to better, healthier, nutrient-dense foods; foods that will aid in healing and not foods that aid in disease. We as unique individuals have the right to learn about healthier food options and should have access to a more sustainable diet. Big agriculture has done a great job with supplying food, but now it’s time for them to become more aware of the diseases they perpetuate by providing us with GMOs, mono-crops, high caloric, and low nutrient foods.
Disclaimer: Although I am a licensed and insured Registered Professional Nurse in the State of Illinois and Arizona, The Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on the Wellness with Aaron Site.
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“The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.”
-Ann Wigmore
