In spite of illness, in spite even of the arch-enemy sorrow, one can remain alive long past the usual date of disintegration if one is unafraid of change, insatiable in intellectual curiosity, interested in big things, and happy in small ways.
–Edith Wharton, the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in Literature
As a society, so often we hear, “that’s so good for you, this helps your heart, this can help with digestion…” all the time. No wonder we’re confused and overwhelmed! We’re literally inundated with information about fad diets, food, what to eat, what not to eat, but nobody really tells us why.
This book might help:
I asked for this book for Christmas five years ago, and my subconscious must have known at the time where I’d be in life five years later.
Dr. Bowden says: “You may be puzzled by the almost complete absence of grains on my list of 150 healthiest foods on the planet. In fact, it may seem like nutritional heresy. After all, aren’t whole grains supposed to be nutritious and healthy?”
He then introduces Loren Cordain, Ph.D., a renowned scientist doing groundbreaking research into the original human diet:
In 1999, he wrote a 100+ page paper called “Cereal Grains: Humanity’s Double Edged Sword.” Some of the highlights of his paper: The natural diet of humans is food that could be hunted, fished for, gathered, or plucked.
As the population of the world increased and the supply of wild game became more limited, it became necessary to provide an alternative or supplementary means of nourishment-and about 10,000 years ago, agriculture was born. Agriculture has made it possible for humans to live in cities, and literally, for civilization to flourish. Eight cereal grains (wheat, corn, rice, barley, sorghum, oats, rye, and millet) now provide 56% of the calories and 50% of the protein consumed on earth. Without these crops, the planet could not support 6 billion people. So here’s the double-edged sword: On the one hand, without cereal grains we would not have cities, civilization, industry, or the planet as we know it. Take away rice, wheat, and corn, and half the people on earth will not eat.
He then proceeds to talk about how grains are a nutritional compromise, and “whole grains” aren’t any better than refined.
Much to my surprise, after grabbing the book from the bookshelf (okay, so Seth had to do that) and dusting it off, it completely supports the Paleo Lifestyle and is jam-packed full of useful knowledge (consider it a dictionary of foods). The next time someone says that something is good for you, now you can look and see why it is, and how it fuels your body!!
Eggplant! One of my favorite vegetables, so versatile, meaty and can take on just about any role you need it to (fries, pasta, meat…). One of my favorite ways of making it, is just plain roasted with a little oil, kosher salt/pepp, and that’s it. I typically roast at high heat, usually around 425 degrees, and it tends to brown quicker.
I used to cube it and roast it, but had minimal success. Now, I just slice it real thin, and decide what I’m going to do with it after it’s done. Slicing thin seems to be so much more consistent for me than other methods:
Fun Eggplant Ideas:
Brussels sprouts are one of my favorite vegetables, although I didn’t realize it until about 2 years ago. For the most part, my love of them was roasted with a little oil, kosher salt/pepp, and that was it, until I tried this recipe: http://www.wholeliving.com/150865/roasted-brussels-sprouts-and-grapes-walnuts
Not only is this recipe so flavorful, its gorgeous, and it set me out on a journey of cooking sprouts in new ways:
I *think* Fall has settled in, here in San Diego, and this is the perfect time of year for roasting vegetables. When I first made it, I didn’t measure anything. The addition of thyme (I didn’t have fresh, so I used dried) is probably my favorite flavor 🙂
Here are some fun facts on Sprouts:
Source: The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth, The Surprising, Unbiased Truth about What You Should Eat and Why, Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S., 2007
Stage 1 lipedema and hypermobility syndrome.
How will this effect my type 1 diabetes? No idea. How will my type 1 diabetes effect these 2? No idea.
I can tell you that I’m completely overwhelmed by the new demands of another chronic lifelong, daily management requiring, disease. I’ve known for so long that I didn’t feel good and something wasn’t right, but not until recently did a doctor actually listen.
Now, I get fitted for compression clothing and wear that everyday for the rest of my life, skin brushing everyday, and hoping that decongestion therapy and lymphatic drainage massage will start my lymphatic system pumping again. Along with supplements that I hope will provide some relief. If not, not sure what then. Now I’m a “lymphie” in addition to a T1D.
Lazy pancreas, lazy lymphatic system.
Lindsay’s health: zero, Life: 3.
livinglikelinds 