Health & Fitness
Chemical Soup
Many processed foods are really "food-like substances" that serve up a chemical soup that can have harmful effects. PLUS my favorite smoothie recipe.
Lately there have been a plethora of documentaries about the impact of food. Food Inc, Food Matters, Forks over Knives. The most recent is call “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead”. This follows an Australian man on a 60-day journey across the US while on a juice fast to loose weight and see if he can cure himself of disease. It is an enjoyable movie. But that is not the point of this article.
Another movie was Processed People. It talks about the impact of the processed food that has become the mainstay of many people’s diets. This photo is a label that might be a Processed Persons breakfast. Can you guess what it is? How many ingredients are there?
While researching information for the Politics of Eating segment of our Conscious Vegan course I came across an amazing and frightening article about the 50+ ingredients in a popular brand donut (a homemade donut should have only 8 ingredients). So I went out to see for myself and took this photo. Yes indeed, 50+ ingredients, most of which are not really food at all. Combine that with a nice cup of coffee with a popular non-dairy creamer and it’s 12+ ingredients you have started your day with a chemical soup that offers you very little to actually provide you fuel to accomplish your goals for the day. Want to learn more? Here is the link to the KK article and another to a resource on just what all those chemicals are and what their health impacts are. Why not start your day with a fruit/veggie smoothie instead? It is packed with flavor and the nutrients you need to stay energized and alert throughout your morning. Here is my favorite recipe:
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Smoothie Recipe
1 cup liquid (OJ, coconut water, apple juice, or watery fruit such as grapes watermelon) Fresh squeezed is best.
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1 banana (you can peel and freeze bananas if you like or they get too ripe
1 cup berries, fresh is best but frozen will do
1 cup other fruit of your choice
1 handful of greens, kale, lettuce, spinach, chard etc. (optional)
½ cup pecans (raw) or almonds (raw and soaked overnight). (Keep a week’s worth of almonds rinsed and drained in the fridge.)
Blend well then add:
1-2 cups ice
Blend again and serve or pour in travel bottle and take it with you.