And Did I Mention... Read the Labels...

Really, amuse yourself sometime. Read the labels on your food purchases. Read the ingredients. You will find corn syrup, salt, sugar, strange fats at the tops of the lists of most processed foods. From ketchup (even though it counts as a vegetable!) to salad dressings to "natural" fruit juices. Yesterday I was in a bread store selecting some mass produced bread for my sister. I eyed the high-fiber version, thinking that would be good for the family. Then I read the label. Corn syrup! As often when one thing is added or promoted something ugly rears it's head! The low sodium things have excess sugar/corn syrup. The low sugar things, have excess salt. The organic food movement has brought "cane juice", organic sugar, "sea salt". I find them easier on my body, though I still prefer to cook/make my own things the best.

"Sea salt" may not be that much closer than iodized salt to things like Celtic sea salt as far as properties. Myself I prefer to get my sugar for the day out of organic raisins or sweet corn... those are the things I use to sweeten my foods. As far as "processed" sweeteners, I think brown rice syrup or barley malt suits me best. I never use them in my own cooking.

I've lived for years without sugar in my kitchen... well when I had a kitchen! The other day, I wave of information came out on email lists about drug resistant staph infections. A friend of mine said he had combated an infection with herbal medicines. He discovered it was imperative to eliminate sugar from his diet. It took him a year to heal. What intrigues me is if he had to eliminate sugar from his diet to heal, how much does mass consumption of sugar impair our immune systems?

I feel the difference in what I eat. It's proportionate. If I'm burning a lot of calories with exercise and down an ice cream... I probably won't notice it. But if I start having ice cream every day, I find it wears my body down. I find if I have been away from processed foods and sweets, they taste horrible when I try them. Yet if I eat them a few days in a row, I get used to them.

My approach is to avoid processed foods. I can whip up a vegetarian stir fry from scratch (fresh produce) in about 40-60 minutes, and that will be enough for a couple of days. It feels good, whole, tasty.

Experiment with yourself. If you are feeling great, no need to change anything. Love what you eat, and eat what you love.