Before the turn of the century, not many people had problems with their weight, most people were naturally thin due to the foods they ate. There were no pastas, processed foods, and many of the products we find on our supermarket shelves today. In fact, grocery stores were the local general store of the day, where one could purchase a small variety of staple foods that helped complement one’s diet and table. Many people grew their own vegetables and raised animals for food. His diet consisted mainly of meats, vegetables, green leafy vegetables, and nuts. Even fruits were not so plentiful, since there was no transport of food of this type. Without any kind of refrigeration, the food transported would have spoiled.
In today’s modern times, we have so many foods plentiful in our supermarkets, that we don’t even stop to think about the effects of what we eat. People have been programmed for years to believe that a healthy diet consists of a certain percentage of the daily intake, within certain food groups. But let’s take a look back in time, during a time when flour was first invented.
In the year 1890, a Swiss inventor devised a way to process wheat for commercial production as what we now know as “white flour.” This new production process removed all of the oil-rich germ and fiber-rich bran naturally found in wheat. This rendered the white flour completely devoid of micronutrients.
Thirty years later, a large part of the population had developed a very severe deficiency of “B” vitamins. The American people, who now used flour as a regular staple in their diet, were dying by the millions. Only a generation had passed since the introduction of white flour, during which its constant use brought rampant disease and death. The US government then required the flour to be fortified with certain vitamins and nutrients, which were removed in the original processing of the flour, to stop deaths and disease.
Now, let’s take a look at the widespread and common diseases in our society today. Diabetes has become a common disease that affects many people in our current society. I’m sure you know one or two people who have been affected by this terrible disease. But have you ever stopped to think about the root cause of diabetes and how it has come to affect so many people? And what about inflammatory diseases, such as psoriasis, arthritis, eczema, asthma, or autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn’s disease, lupus, and even multiple sclerosis, to name a few. Could this all be the result of a population’s diet gone awry in the last 100 years?
When you look at the amount of sugar we consume in our modern diets, it’s no wonder we suffer from so many diseases. I don’t mean just table sugar, but consuming carbohydrates that break down into sugars. Foods like pasta, white rice, breads, potatoes, beets, wheat, corn, and other natural foods that are high in sugar. They are all a form of carbohydrates and all of these foods break down into sugar when digested. Sugar is basically a generic term for simple carbohydrate molecules. Now be aware of all the processed foods that contain carbohydrates and pure sugar. Even complex carbohydrates will eventually break down as sugar in our digestive systems, but at a much slower, natural, and normal rate.
Is it any wonder that with all these carbohydrates and sugars consumed, diseases like diabetes and obesity exist in such large numbers today? To live a long and healthy life, it is imperative that processed foods, carbohydrates, and sugars be kept to a minimum.
Optimal health and weight come from a natural diet of fresh vegetables, plenty of leafy greens, seeds, and nuts, plus a small amount of meat or fish and the occasional fruit. Such a diet can rid people of many of these common diseases without medication or keep them at bay. Drugs only mask disease and do not address the underlying problem and root cause: our modern diet.
Our farm animals were once allowed to graze on pastures with food that is their natural diet. Today, these animals feed on grain, corn, and even the ground up waste products of slaughtered animals, instead of their natural diets. The meat of today’s cows and chickens has the components of an altered carbohydrate diet that we in turn consume. Therefore, to obtain optimal health, it is best to buy organic meats. When buying fish, wild is always a better option than farm-raised fish. Once again, these farm-raised fish are fed some of these same “cheap” grains and corn, in order to mass-produce them for human consumption.
How many processed foods, carbohydrates and sugars do you consume in your diet? Would it be difficult for you to prepare a fresh, healthy meal every day, without relying on pasta, rice, flour, sugar, potatoes, corn, pretzels, snack foods, or some kind of prepackaged food? It’s an important and thought-provoking question for anyone who wants to stay healthy, lose weight, and keep disease at bay.
