you call that food?!

Researchers are brilliant - they have become so successful that they have invented various compounds and things that could hardly count as food, but in fact are by the FDA and other governing organizations. Our ancestors ate real food, harvested and prepared in the ol' fashioned way, slow cooking...and it was good! Somewhere along the line we decided to strip real food of all nutrients, fortifying food to add nutrients lost from food processing, and package it as 'FOOD.' I read an NYT article my friend Jon sent to me and thought it has some really valid points. The whole thing is something like 16 pages long, so I will summarize the main points for you to save time.

1. Eat real food. (breakfast bars, non-dairy creamer...all should be avoided)
2. Avoid foods that bear health claims. (low-fat, reduced-salt...do not be tricked by these)
3. About foods with ingredients that are a) unfamiliar b) unpronounceable c) more than five in number or d) contain high-fructose corn syrup.
4. Get out of the supermarket and hit up farmer's markets. Go organic if possible.
5. Pay more, eat less. A very Japanese concept. Quality over quantity!!!
6. Eat mostly plants and leafy vegetables, especially leaves. Eat a variety of them.
7. Eat like people 50 years ago ate.
8. Cook, and if possible, plant a garden!
9. Eat like an omnivore. Diversity is key.

For the longest time Americans tried to stick to a low-fat diet regime...only to end up failing miserably and several pounds heavier. Pasta is low-fat, candy is no-fat...but the calories all add up. In addition, various foods strip out fat but replace lost taste with sugar and other additives...again, which all add up to an unhealthy chunk of calories or chemicals. As for fat: there is bad fat (omega-6) and good fat (omega-3) so in fact choosing the kind of fat we consume is the main issue at hand. (not just presence of fat) The worst kind is trans-fats...something surprisingly still relatively unknown in Japan but luckily is now gaining awareness. "Trans-shibo-san" Trans-fats are cheap to produce but take a toll on our health...margarine is one of the main trans-fat culprits.

Don't get me started on meal replacement bars, energy bars (a.k.a. glorified food), soy bars...you'd probably be better off eating 2 Snickers rather than one PowerBar. Though it was genius of the person to invent it, package it, and make loads of money. Pity to think I once bought such energy bars - what a pathetic waste of money...I could have used that money to buy real food like tasty exotic fruits and so on!

Enough with this health talk, I am going to indulge in a donut and some chocolate soon. Ha ha, no joking! 80% of the time I eat real food and the rest of the time I eat JUNK...hey, what's life without a little bit of unhealthy something?!