OVEREATING AND STARVING
The Paradox Of Our Modern Eating Habits
It is hard to think of our current society as starving
We seem to live in a time of plenty
There are plenty of supermarkets and food stores in every corner
Lots of restaurants and take out places at every price range
Fast food chains are boasting 99 cent meals and dollar menus
Schools offer free or low pay meals
There is food everywhere and in vast quantities
And 2/3 of the population is considered overweight
Starving???
Yes.
We are in fact starving.
Here is why.
I recently went into a local supermarket
Just to count how many isles are filled with nutritious food
And how many are filled with processed food
There was 1/2 an isle, a wall really, with vegetables and fruits
Another wall with different meals, many of them processed deli meats
Another wall with dairy products, many of them loaded with sugar
And dozens of isles filled with packaged, bagged, processed and refined foods
I also lingered for a while to look at what people put in their shopping carts
And it pretty much reflected the supermarket ratio
A couple of vegetables and lots of packaged boxes
Does that sound like you?
Even those of us who shop at health food supermarkets
Are still buying large quantities of processed package foods
So we are eating plenty of food
Plenty of depleting food
Food that doesn’t give us all the nutrients we need
Breads, crackers, chips, pastas, cookies
Animal proteins of low quality that are high in protein
But also high in sodium, sugar, preservatives, antibiotics and hormones
And we are eating far too little foods that are loaded with nutrients
Foods like dark leafy greens and other nutrient dense vegetables, whole grains, legumes, high quality animal proteins and other super foods
The result is a body that is over fed
While at the same time starving for the right nutrients
And so it continues to send us hunger signals
And we keep on eating the processed and depleting foods
And the cycle continues
I am not suggesting that we stop buying processed food
It is kind of impossible
We can however buy better quality processed food
And in much smaller quantities
And eat more natural and whole foods
Especially more vegetables
Vegetables are loaded with
Vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytonutrients
They are nature’s most nutritious food
One easy way of breaking out of the overeating/starving cycle
Is to make vegetables the main dish in every meal
Instead of the side dish
Fill 3/4 of your plate with vegetables
Make large salads as meals
Add steamed and stir fry veggies to your plate
Make green smoothies
And even snack on crunchy vegetables between meals
So go shopping!
And spend a lot more time in the vegetable isle
And a lot less time in the other isles
Or better yet visit a farmer’s market
For fresh local produce
And load up on those wonderful veggies
xoxo
Rachel
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