I was wondering around my favorite book store again today and ran into two books that piqued by curiosity. The more I garden, the more I’m able to go out into my own back yard and pick fruit and veggies and know where they’ve come from, the more I hear about cancer related illnesses, obesity, and diabetes-the more I crave learning about food. I’m not saying I’m going to turn into a vegetarian by any means. I’m the first to admit that I love a good grilled steak with an ice-cold beer on a hot summer day but I do want to be able to look at a nutritional label and know what I’m reading. I do want to learn a healthier way of eating and stop “hitting” up a fast food place simply because it’s on the way. And even more so, I’m excited to learn a healthier way of eating so I can hopefully pass these values on to my children as they grow up and have families of their own.
Just wanted to quote a few entries from these books:
4 lbs of pesticides for every American are used every year in the US, more than 1/5 of the world total for all pesticides and 1/4 of the worlds herbicides…Yet crop loss to pest for some crops is double what it was before this chemical storm.
Our diet is literally killing us. Around 365,000 deaths and many more suffer every year from diet-related illnesses.
In a study an average of 200 chemicals and pollutants, including a number of pesticides-many known to be carcinogens or developmental toxins-were found in the blood of umbilical cords!!
Populations that eat a so-called Western diet-generally defined as a diet consisting of lots of processed foods, lots of added fat and sugar, lots of refined grains, lots of everything except vegetables, fruits, and whole grains-invariably suffer high rates of the so-called Western diseases: obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
Virtually all of the obesity and type 2 diabetes, 80% of heart disease, and more than a third of all cancers can be linked to the “Western Diet”!!!!
Listen folks….This is serious! I know ignorance is bliss but this is our lives, our innocent children’s lives, and I think it’s time for America to take their lives back. I am throughly enjoying these books and I think if you would take some time and read them with an open mind, you would too!
Schrocksters Live 
This is extremely interesting! Good luck on your new family diet plan and keep sharing your experiences along the way.
You would really like the books I think, Mary. That one quote I took a picture of and posted to your page was from the Food Rules book. After thinking about it overnight I had to go back and buy it yesterday. 🙂
I cant tell you how much my eyes have been opened from doing the Daniel Fast… now day 9, I have not ingested any refined sugar, meats, processed foods, or dairy products, and I feel so much better! It’s as if I can feel inflammation expelled from my body every day. I also have had no urges for sweets (If you can possibly imagine that!) Eating whole grains and complex carbs has taken away my “addiction” to sugary sweets and fatty foods. I do crave meat, and I plan to reincorporate that into my diet on a limited basis after the fast is over, but dairy will be few and far between, and that also goes for processed foods. It’s been a great experience eating foods that grow from the ground in their natural state.
Jacq, that is so interesting! I really think you would enjoy these books that I’m reading. They follow almost the same exact principles as far as food goes. Even with what you said that you plan on reincorporating meat back into your diet. In the book he says, nothing wrong with eating meat but that it shouldn’t be the main course of your meal but rather a side.
We went to the store today and what it boils down to is we can’t go totally organic, never eating a processed food, etc but we certainly are going to try our best to cut out as much as possible. We plan on buying our fruits and veggies from a local farmers market here down the street, we also have a farm right down the road we’re going to look into purchasing our organic eggs from, and we’ll just go from there on the rest. I really look forward to learning how to eat better, cook better, and feel better! Thanks for your input!!