Healthy Food
What we think and what we eat are two ways, we become the person we are; If we eat healthier food and think positive thoughts, it is generally can be assumed that we will be healthy and positive compared to someone who is doing opposite. Some times what we eat and what we feel tend to be connected as well. You may find yourself eating sugary and high fat food, when you might be stressed, angry or bored. I know, I have been there. If we are happy in heart as well in mind, we tend to eat better, exercise better, sleep better. Our health is connected to what we feel inside. If one goes out of balance, so does the other.
Here are a few ways to keep our life in balance, specially is health. As it is been said often, prevention is always better than cure. Let’s take care of our body and health as it is only one we got; Here are 7 simple ways we can start being healthier.
1. Avoid or limit Sugar. I have been sugar free on and off for past 1.5 year. It was very difficult in the beginning as lot of things I did not think of had sugar in it, such as medicines, baked goodies, some savory snacks too. I will write more in details about my sugar free experience in later post.
2. Eat locally grown, home grown and organic food and vegetables. There are lot of farmer’s market, local CSA, which is short for Community Supported Agriculture, which helps local farmers and people who want to eat healthier. For more information and finding location near you check out CSA link here .
3. Eat in season. Now we can have some vegetable and fruit such as tomatoes through out the year, which may seem natural but it was not so 10 years ago. You will know the difference when you eat organic, local and in season vegetable or fruit Versus what is mass produced, really try it once.
4. Eat less meat or no meat at all. While being life long vegetarian it is easy for me to say to be a vegetarian or even vegan, eating less meat has a few advantages for almost everyone for their health and environment as well. Check out Environment Benefit of vegetarian diet and Easy ways to give up meat for more information.
5. Limit your intake of processed food. What is processed food? According to About.com, processed food is food that have been altered from their natural state for safety reasons and for convenience. The methods used for processing foods include canning, freezing, refrigeration, dehydration and aseptic processing. While some processed food might be good such as freezing in season veggies, making clarified butter, many processed food are not so healthy or created equal such as canned foods with lots of sodium, refined flour bread and pasta, sugar laden cereal, processed meats, processed frozen dinners, chips, cookies, are to name a few. We can limit or reduce the amount of processed food we eat.
6. Say no to GM, or Genetically modified food. There is lot of controversy about GM food, on good and not so good sides both. One thing is for sure, in US, we are eating over 70% of food that is genetically modified and worse of it all is, we are not told of which ones are GM food so we can make a choice weather to eat GM food or not. I believe in Europe there is GM label so people can choose before buying. In Asia, many countries are saying no to GM for people (some are GM crops using it for animals or clothing still). Top Genetically modified food are soybeans, tomatoes, corn, potatoes, rice, sugar cane among other non food crops such as cotton. There is no best way to know right now which is GM food for sure but I hope it changes for better in near future for us and next generation. For more information on buying non-GM food, check out Non-GMO shopper’s guide . (This is not not an affiliate link, no links on this post are aff. links)
7. Cook at home, now with food tv, cookbooks, videos, and food blogs, there are so many resources to help all of us, great, simple meals in minutes. Check out some good recipes for you to try it at home.
Cucumber Sandwiches and Tomato basil cream Pasta from Lauren of Vegan Yum Yum blog.
Burrito Bowl and Brown rice Dosa, aka Crepe from Vaishali of Holy cow earth vegan blog.
Mezgaldi Onion bake and Pesto baked potatoes from Kay of Kayotic Kitchen Blog.
Asparagus Risotto and Pea and Mint soup From Sala of Veggie belly blog.
Spicy Black eyed peas and Eggless Chocolate cake from D and K of Chef in you blog.
Hope you enjoyed this information. Do you think we are what we really eat and why? How do you stay healthy? Sure, would love to hear your opinion.
Zengirl
Image source: healthylegacy.org
I like this very much. I am trying to eat healthier. These recipes looks great! I will make a one or two things from here this week!
Zengirl,
I like it, I am posting it from my health blog, I am zealous health freak, so this comes timely from me. Please check out my new blog. Eating less sugar is something I wish I can work on, I have a sweet craving always. I am curious how do you stay sugar free, I will look forward to your sugar free post.
.-= Mgirl´s last blog ..Spring cleaning your eating =-.
This ties in nicely with my post today and is in perfect sync with what I needed to read right now! Thanks zengirl!
.-= Amit Sodha – The Power Of Choice´s last blog ..How To Be A Fat Bastard And Run The Marathon =-.
Zengirl,
A good reminder that we all should try to eat more healthy. My biggest challenge is the sugar. I love sweets! Can’t wait to try the Asparagus Risotto!
.-= Betsy Bargain´s last blog ..No Owe ‘Em Poem =-.
Some great tips, Zengirl. Processed foods are something that everyone– vegetarian or not– should cross off their list because of the huge quantities of sodium and other mysterious ingredients they contain. And I couldn’t agree more that eating less or no meat is a win-win– for us, the planet, and the animals. 🙂
Thanks for linking to my recipes. We eat homecooked food almost every day of the year, and even in these stressful times I am trying to make sure that Desi and I eat healthy, homemade food every day because we need to watch our health now more than ever.
.-= Vaishali´s last blog ..Kaipakya Theeyal =-.
Hi Zengirl,
Great tips. I dunno when will I quit sugar, because I’m a big fan of ice cream. With good food habits, we will get healthier from both heart and mind. Especially this organic food is a great thing to have. But unlike your countries, still we are unable to get organic food.But my mom cultivate some vegetables in our garden( a small garden and very little amount of vegetables) She only use cow dung as fertilizer. So we get a chance to have some healthy food, time to time.
.-= vikum´s last blog ..What can we learn from weaver bird and firefly? =-.
This article got me going on a web search and research. Especially on meat.
Mostly I summarize from Wikipedia here…
According to the UN the meat industry contributes 18% of the green house gases. Also, a few scientists for the world bank went and researched the industries that exist for supporting the meat industry like farms that grow food for cattle, corn being the biggest. These scientists put the number as high as 51%.
The awareness has increased, even a city Ghent in Belgium has Thursdays a Vegetarian day. Just because of its effect on the Environment.
So, yes, we are not only what we eat, but what we eat also affects everything we know!
Megan,
I am glad you like the post. I think these recipes are great, healthy and simple enough to make. Please do make some and let me know how it turned out.
Mgirl,
I like your new blog on health, I liked the idea of spring cleaning your diet idea. Although I do not have severe sweet tooth, giving up sugar was not that easy. I will write about it in detailed post soon, so look for it in coming month or so as you know I am into slow blogging 🙂
Amit,
Thanks for stopping by and your comment. We could all improve out eating and health no matter what stage we are at, I have not done marathon, but I like walkathon (where you walk for a cause), they are much easier, have you tried those?
Betsy,
I am usually good at eating healthy but with 2 kids and eating on run, has make me put extra effort to be more healthier so I can keep up with my with kids energy 🙂 I know, Zenguy has a big sweet tooth and he can not imagine giving up sugar too.
Let me know how Asparagus Risotto comes about, and I hope you and bargain guy like it.
Vaishali,
Processed food and refined flour, with packaged snacks and frozen items can ruin one’s diet and health if you eat it everyday. I am glad you are keeping healthy and positive attitude during your stressful time. It is very important, as we need it more than ever.
I love all your recipes, just picking two only was tough!!
Vikum,
Giving up sugar was not easy for me as well but it gets easier after sometime as I get used to fact. I am glad your mom is using gardening and using natural fertilizer. We have a small garden and we too use organic compost that we make at home, it is still work in progress. When I eat well, I feel better and when I feel better, I tend to eat better, both goes hand in hand for me.
Kamal,
Wow, interesting facts. I did not know green house gas number is at 51%, that is high! You are right being aware is first step, and then we can take small steps towards a huge change!
I see a great post here as you have a hidden writing talent in you, start your blog 🙂
What we eat and think are two things that makes us “who we are”.
Glad to visit your blog! I’m definitely checking out the non-GMO shopper’s guide, and lots of those recipes look yummy!
.-= Wendy´s last blog ..One Small Change April =-.
i agree with you that its hard at the beginning, i just realized that all healthy food is tasteless while all unhealthy food is really tasty, the good point is, i am getting used to tasteless food 🙂
Wendy,
Thank you for visiting and your comment here. I hope GMO guide and recipes were useful. Let me know how the recipes turned out, if you make it.
Farouk,
Thank you for stopping by and your comment. I was talking about eating without added sugar and getting used to it. I do not think healthy food has to be tasteless at all. One can have healthy and tasty meals in one with spices and herbs.