EAT LIKE A TRUCK
Written By Sherry Fernandez
“There are no new fundamentals. You’ve got to be a little suspicious of someone who says, “I’ve got a new fundamental.”
WE ARE LIKE A DIESEL TRUCK
My husband and I are the founders of a construction supply business. The company delivers supplies to customers, as well as transports product among their several locations, and as a result, has a large number of trucks. Some of these trucks use gas for fuel, and some use diesel. Once in a while a driver will accidentally put gasoline in a truck with a diesel engine. That truck will immediately begin to run poorly, then breakdown and then need to be repaired.
We live in a society where people use all kinds of “non-foods” for fuel that is not fuel our bodies were intended to use. When we eat things we were not designed to eat, we will immediately begin to run poorly, then breakdown and need to be repaired (if possible). Our breakdown looks like heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer’s, auto-immune diseases, cancer, anxiety, stress and depression.
Processed food is more than what we think of as junk food. Generally, we think of fast food, or sugar laden foods, as processed foods, and they are. However, many of the products that are promoted as health food, or weight loss foods, are also extremely processed: granola bars, energy bars, shakes, fruit juice, Gatorade and most commercial yogurts.
A FEW RULES TO GETTING THE RIGHT FUEL
Eat only food that has a parent or grows from the ground. If you do not recognize every ingredient as a real and whole food, neither will your body.
Eat vegetables, fruits, meats, nuts, eggs and dairy. Humans have been eating these things for thousands of years.
Before you reach for that cupcake, energy bar, or weight loss product, ask yourself if you have ever seen one of those hanging from a tree or plant.
Plant based food should typically look like it did while it was alive, or at least recognized as such.
You need more protein than you think you do. At least 80% of your body weight is the number of grams you need in protein. If you are over fifty years old, carry a lot of muscle mass, or are actively trying to build muscle, you need one gram of protein for every pound of body weight. Mankind has been eating meat since the Ark hit Mount Ararat. Meat, including red meat, in proper portions, is part of a natural and healthy diet. Avoid meats that are cured with nitrites, nitrates, sugar, and other chemicals. If you are not using animal protein you will need to supplement with branch chain amino acids (BCAA’s), which are essential, and not found in plant protein.
Sugar is your worst enemy and is extremely addictive. Refined sugar that is added to food is easily the leading cause of obesity, and contributes to heart disease, cancer, high cholesterol, arthritis, auto immune diseases, Alzheimer’s, lethargy, anxiety and depression.
We can have sweet without refined sugar. Sugar that occurs naturally in food won’t harm you, or your waist line.
Fruit is the food group that requires the least amount of processing and is often naturally portion controlled. A normal sized apple, banana or orange is the perfect amount.
Eliminate grains. Grains are a weight gainer and they take a lot of processing before we can consume them. There is a second lectin, in addition to gluten, both of which makes wheat difficult to digest. That is why many people find that grains cause bloating, digestion problems, inflammation, and have even been liked to depression. Grains are also lower in nutrition than other carbohydrates, like fruit.
Artificial sweeteners can cause weight gain, metabolic syndrome and a host of other medical concerns. Perhaps the biggest problem with artificial sweeteners is that they perpetuate our addiction to “sweet” and stimulates ghrelin, which makes us feel hungry.
Read your labels. If you do not recognize every ingredient as food don’t eat it.
Eat food you like. It may seem like so many things are now off limits, but the world is full of beautiful, real food that will make us happy and heathy. It’s a mindset. Soups and stews. Curry’s and stir-fry’s. Smoothies and omelets. Exotic fruits, of which, you may have never heard. Find new foods, new recipes, new ways to prepare, instead of feeling deprived, because you can’t eat junk. Make food an adventure.
FOOD IS THE SOLUTION, NOT THE PROBLEM
Cleanses have become quite trendy but remember the truck. The procedure to repair a diesel truck that has been filled with gas is to flush the fuel system with clean diesel. It is literally repaired with the fuel it was designed to use. The solution to many of our physical, mental and emotional problems can be improved, or cured, by filling ourselves with the nutrient dense fuel we were designed to eat. If you eat the food you were designed to eat you won’t need a cleanse.