“You are what you eat.” If only I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard this phrase. For a long time I paid no attention to this saying, and I think most people today also don’t pay much attention to it. But I’ve discovered that it’s completely true. You are what you eat. In today’s ultra-mechanized, fast-paced, and quantity driven world, where are we to find the truth about what we eat? The answer is simple. The truth is, if you eat it, then it’s going to affect you and your health in either a negative or positive way. At some time in our lives we all have health issues, and what we eat greatly contributes to our health. This brings me to another one of my favorite things people say, “well, I’m gonna eat whatever I want, because I’m going to die anyway.” Do you really want to cut your life short, or live a life weighed down by the garbage you put into your body? Today there are so many options for you to eat healthy. Organic food is getting cheaper and easier to find, especially as more people jump on the organic bandwagon. Companies are taking notice and creating more products, and the more people that buy, the more prices are lowering. You can find organic food in almost every grocery store in the USA. Below are my steps to help you find better health through the food and drink you consume. But beware the “organic” label, many companies use it just to sell their products. So what is a person to do? Research the products and companies that make them, find out if they are really organic. Buy from sources you know and trust, purchase from local food and product producers.

Fact: Did you know that food is a huge contributor to your health? Don’t laugh, so many people either don’t know this, or if they do, they turn a blind eye, and for me, turning a blind eye is the worst. Also pleading ignorance is about as frustrating as it gets. Oh yeah, “Ignorance is bliss!” So, if you realize your diet is affecting your health then why are you eating those twinkies and sucking down beer and soda every day? Let’s think for a second of who your eating habits are affecting…. your CHILDREN, yourself, and everyone you hang out with. Because if you are eating unhealthy then your friends and family are much more likely to do so. I know, there is a huge stigma for eating healthy in today’s world. It’s almost as if to eat healthy is doing a huge wrong against the American way of life. Guess, what, it’s not. It’s a huge injustice to you and your family. Do you want your kids to grow up obese, with no chance of kicking the habits you’ve shown them? After all, they are YOUR bad habits that you are pushing on them.

So, what foods should you be eating? Well, instead of saying what foods you shouldn’t eat(because you really know what they are), let’s focus on foods you should be eating.
“Noooo, don’t say it”, yep, you got it: fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes. Purchase organic foods. But why? Because if you don’t you will be putting harmful pesticides in your body, along with genetically modified ingredients. Don’t worry, you don’t have to buy everything organic, but you need to know exactly what you should be buying organic. If you have a smartphone a great app to help you make your fruits and vegetable choices is Organic Diet Buddy by Smart Foods. Organic Diet Buddy even tells you how to tell if it’s ripe, how it’s grown, what pesticides are used, and the nutrition facts. ODB says these are must buy organic fruits and veggies: apples, apricots, bell peppers, blueberries, carrots, celery, cherries, grapes, kale, lemons, limes, lettuce, mushrooms, nectarine, olives, peach, pear, potato, radish, red beet, spinach, and strawberry.

If you eat meat, eat it sparingly. A good rule of thumb is to purchase farm raised, grain-fed, free-range meat and poultry. Support your local farmers and buy from local sources. That way you can take a trip to their farm and check out their facilities and see how they raise their animals. After all, what they eat, is what you eat.

Cost of raising meat. Did you know “It takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce just 1 pound of meat, and even fish on fish farms must be fed up to 5 pounds of wild-caught fish to produce 1 pound of farmed fish flesh. And in regards to energy consumption “It takes more than 11 times as much fossil fuel to make one calorie from animal protein as it does to make one calorie from plant protein.” So, how much water does it take to raise a pound of meat? “It takes more than 2,400 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of meat, while growing 1 pound of wheat only requires 25 gallons.” Want to learn more facts about the cost of raising meat. Just click here.

Don’t diet, change your diet. Dieting doesn’t work, I mean, what do you do after your diet is done and you’ve lost your targeted weight? You reward yourself with eating how you used to eat before the diet. Before you know it you are back to your old weight, you get angry with yourself, and then decide to go on another diet. It’s a vicious cycle and hard on your body. So instead of dieting, change your diet to change your life!

Right now, the Paleolithic diet is gaining a huge amount of popularity. This diet says the best way to eat is how our ancient cavemen relatives did. This involves eating mainly vegetables, fruit, nuts, grass-fed pasture raised meats, fungi, and roots. This diet excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.

A great diet to reset your system and to get rid of those nasty toxins in your system is the Raw food diet. All foods are made from raw, whole foods, and are also uncooked and unprocessed. Believe it or not, you can make some tasty dishes(I just went to a delicious raw food restaurant, and loved it.) I’ve read articles where people have cured their diseases, bald men have grown back their hair, and people have lost all their unsightly fat just by doing this diet.

Another healthy option, that is quite easy to live with, is the Mediterranean diet. This diet is heavy on fish, and depending on the type of fish it can be loaded with mercury, and we all know that mercury kills. So be careful of where you buy your fish, and of what type of fish you buy.

By far the best diet to get rid of toxins, lose weight, and jump start your health, is Juicing. It’s not the easiest to do, but your body will thank you. I juice two times a day. I love it and have so much energy because of it! Only use organic fruits and vegetables – that is if Organic Diet Buddy says so. Click here for Dr. Mercola’s great resource to juicing.

Genetically Modified Foods – if it’s not natural, don’t eat it. Read the truth about GM’s. None of the diets I have highlighted here use Genetically Modified Foods, what does that tell you?

I believe that Vegan and Vegetarian diets are the best way to become healthy and maintain a healthy lifestyle. It’s also the best thing for the environment and for our cute, snuggly, friendly animals we love so much – this is a proven fact. Recently I watched a very uplifting documentary film where they take 3 meat eaters from New York City and change their diets for 6 weeks. Along the way the 3 test subjects are taught everything they need to know about being vegan and the affect eating meat has on our bodies, our land, and on animals. The film is called Vegucated. You can watch if for free on Netflix, or, your Amazon account. But what about getting enough protein? It’s not the amount of protein we need to get every day, it’s the quality of protein we are putting into our bodies. Typically, a person weighing 150 lbs should eat 55 grams of protein per day. But there are many factors. Just know that you will get plenty of protein if you are eating a healthy diet filled with nuts, seeds, legumes, vegetables, and firmented soy products, whole grains, free-range eggs and some dairy products (milk, cheese and yogurt). Click here to read an article about getting enough protein while being vegetarian.

How big are your meal portion sizes? If you eat 3 meals a day, each meal should only be the size of your fist. But the best way is to eat 6 small meals a day. This helps your metabolism to maintain a high fat burning level, and keeps you feeling full. Don’t worry, your body will get used to it.

Drink water! Our physical bodies are basically water, so make sure you remain water by drinking lots of water. Here’s a handy water calculator to see how much you should be drinking. Make sure the water you drink is void of contaminants. Use filtered water, and Britta filtered water doesn’t cut it. Reuse your plastic gallon jugs and refill spring water at the grocery store, or purchase a Mercola water filter. Nikken makes a great water filter too.

If you are sick and can’t seem to get better you may have an intolerance to MSG, gluten, lactose, eggs, shellfish, and fish.

Most people don’t realize they are allergic to Monosodium glutamate (MSG). What is MSG? “Monosodium Glutamate, better known as MSG, is a form of concentrated salt added to foods to enhance the flavor. This salt version of glutamic acid is an amino acid the body can produce on its own, but the MSG we find on store shelves is processed and comes from fermented sugar beets. Because this kind of MSG is processed, it can cause many adverse reactions, including skin rashes, itching, hives, nausea, vomiting, migraine headaches, asthma, heart irregularities, depression and even seizures (Natural News).”

Okay, you’ve gone and twisted my wrists long enough. So, I’ll do it, I will tell you what you need not eat. Stay away from all fake foods(so basically most everything at your typical grocery store like margarine. Also stay away from all processed foods, any meat, dairy or milk product raised with hormones, sodas, coffee, Genetically Modified foods, fruit drinks(they are full of sugar, corn, bleached flour, white rice (it turns to sugar which turns to fat), fast food restaurants, cooking oils – corn, vegetable, good oils to cook with are Grapeseed oil, extra virgin olive oil, and virgin coconut oil, and stay away from basically any ingredient you can’t pronounce.

If you have any kind of health issues related to food, including allergies, addictions, food intolerances, or, if you can’t seem to loose weight the Emotion Code and the Body Code can help you with all these issues.

Remember, you can do it, just believe in yourself, and make the changes to your diet to bring about the healthiest version of you!

written by: Travis S. (HL Staff Member)