Let’s get real about what we eat … literally!

Think about the last thing you ate. Was it healthy? Organic? Low fat? Locally grown? Vitamin enriched? Zero trans fat? All natural? Sugar free? Whole grain?

Who cares …  really …

What I want to know is was it real? What you last put in your mouth … was it real food?

Was it prepared by human hands? Did it contain more food value than packaging? Did it consist of ingredients that grew out of the ground? Were the ingredients intact in their original form when the food was prepared?

Real food does not have food labels.

Real food will go rotten if it is not properly stored.

Real food comes with its own compostable packaging.

Real food has not been fortified. It naturally contains vitamins, minerals, enzymes, proteins and oils.

Real food comes from a farm, not a factory.

Let’s take a step back for a moment. I’m not the first one to be talking about this subject. Hundreds of books have been written about ‘returning to real food’ from as far back as the 60s. Go back another 50 years before the flower children and guess what? … nobody had to talk about eating real food because real food was the only food that existed! All food was organic. No worries about chemical fertilizers and pesticides because these atrocities did not yet exist on planet earth. Food ‘preservatives’ came in the form of drying, fermenting and in cold climates freezing outside during winter months.

Where did we go wrong? When did we start treating food as a commodity rather than a basic human right? Why do we allow marketers to tell us that a concoction of dried corn mush laced with glucose and preservatives is part of a healthy breakfast? Who decided it was ok to feed cow parts to cows? Why are we so afraid of breast milk? Why do our dogs and cats eat better than our children? And why … please tell me why … do we insist on wrapping everything in plastic, foil, tin, cardboard and cellophane?

Your body deserves more than protein in the form of a sweetened white powder! Your children deserve more than cellophane wrapped snacks that don’t rot even after being in a land fill for 40 years. Take a look at your cupboards, fridge and shopping cart. Just because a food label says a product is organic or trans-fat free doesn’t mean that it is health enhancing. Take a look at your garbage. Just because you recycle pop bottles, tin cans and cardboard doesn’t mean that your body benefited from ingesting their contents.

Wake up people! We have to realize that satisfying cravings and satiating hunger is not why we eat. Our bodies are biological, organic, and finely tuned. They require a daily source of intact, unadulterated, pure, life enhancing substances to perform the thousands of processes that keep us in good health. Our bodies are energized by real food. Our bodies are repaired by real food. Our bodies resist aging when fed real food. 

We have to start using common sense when it comes to feeding ourselves and our families. Science only knows what has been studied, and most studies are done for marketing purposes. In other words we don’t know what we don’t know and everything always changes.

We’re all in this together. What I eat affects you as much as it does me. If we all cut at least some of the crap from our diet, not only will we cut down on health care costs, but we may just be able to save our planet and that’s enough incentive for me! How about you?

So if you are ready to get real about what you eat; if you are ready to adopt a low crap diet; put down that cola, squeeze an organic orange into a glass of mineral water and read on.

Quick. Simple. Enhealthing.

This is an excellent soup to keep on hand in the fridge. It tastes just as good cold as it does hot. I like to make this soup when I’m feeling a little run down and in danger of succumbing to a cold or flu. The energizing and warming properties of ginger nicely complement the flu fighting properties of garlic and onion. Carrots are rich in beta-carotene and selenium, two strong anti-oxidants. This soup will keep for several days in the fridge and can be reheated or frozen for later use.

Carrot Ginger Garlic Soup is gluten free and low alkaline forming.

Diabetics should be aware that cooked carrots may trigger insulin.

Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion roughly chopped
4 cups roughly chopped carrots
4 cups water
3-4 cloves garlic, diced
2 inches fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Lightly sauté onion in olive oil until onion turns translucent
2. Add carrots, water, garlic, ginger and salt
3. Simmer until carrots are very tender, approximately 15 minutes
4. Remove from heat and use a hand blender to blend into a smooth, thick soup. (If you don’t have a hand blender, you can puree in a regular blender, or use a potato masher.)
5. Serve hot or cold, seasoned with fresh ground pepper.