View Full Version : Food lifestyles
Current threads in this forum got me thinking, but I want to be sensitive about how I put this, because it's not meant to be demeaning or cynical. Here goes: We have seen food trends from time memorial. We've seen combining for proteins, vegan, organic, non gluten, paleo, low carb, Cocunut oil!!....my point is, I realize that everyone is an individual and that different things work for different people. For some people, one lifestyle may make the difference over the other and that's great. But does anyone out there ever feel overwhelmed by it all? All the different kinds of diets and nutrition lifestyles? I love to hear good things. I like to know how something worked and something didn't, and why, but often I just wonder: Can't I just make bean soup and not worry about it too much? Now legumes seem to be on the oust with the latest food trends. It gets exhausting. Does anyone feel the same? Please know this is not criticism, it's a self expression and wonderment. I like to make chicken stock....with my non organic foster farms or cheaper chicken. I know....I've seen all the horror stories. I buy local, but commercial, non organic eggs. I don't make bread. Or baking. I buy bread if I need it, which isn't often, and just buy something off the rack. I like to make my own beans and grow my own veggies. I don't liked canned food so my "preparedness" stock is not too big. I eat beef....not organic, but hardly ever. I buy chicken. Not organic at 6.00 dollars a pound, but the l.00 a pound stuff. I like to make beans and pastry with "gasp!" Lard! The real stuff. from a pig, when I eat something like that. I don't like or eat fruit. I like white flour products and whole grain products. I like slow cook oatmeal but not pin oats. I like brown rice, but I like white rice too!Local food! Is it from 50 miles of where I live????? I like white pasta but I learned (here) that there is a great Barilla whole grain pasta that doesn't taste heavy and bitter, so I like that too! I like unhydrogenated peanut butter and real butter and sour cream and whole milk. I drink creamer in my coffee with white sugar and since I don't drink coffee more than twice a week, it's not usually on my radar to think of who grew it. And don't consume much of these at all. I mean really. Less than once a week.
I don't adhere to any particular lifestyle regarding food....but there's so much info coming in, sometimes I feel like I don't know what the right choice is. Sometimes I read all these things about this is the right way, the wrong way, the only way. I start to get a complex! I start to have self doubt about everything!! Anyone else ever feel this way? Hey. I am just a simple girl, but sometimes it all feels VERY complex, you know what I mean.
It IS complex, and this is amped up by our present society's apparent love of The Silver Bullet. There is no one perfect food regime that will (fill in blank).
Make bean soup! Drink coffee with creamer! Enjoy your life.
No, I don't feel overwhelmed.
My husband and I like to study, talk about, and learn about health. Nutrition is a part of that -- something that has interested us since we were teenagers. In areas where our emotional relationship to food wasn't as healthy (orthorexic tendencies for DH; emotional eating for me), we have healed that over time.
We were never really looking for The One True Way, nor were we ever looking for perfection -- even in our current lifestyle. We just learn as we go, and think about things and try things out.
For me, I started out with a fairly healthy diet at home. I went to university and learned a bit about nutrition, but mostly ate what the dorms served. It was similar to what I grew up with.
Then I met DH and he was doing a body-builder thing. Monotony, marco-nutrient profiles, and protein drinks/shakes. Blech. LOL so I just sort of kept on. Then I decided to go vegan. It wasn't for health, morals, or ethics. It just "felt" right. So, I did it. And, I loved it.
I loved the simplicity, how I learned so much about food (how to prepare it, trying veggies i'd never heard of and flavor profiles I'd enver experienced). Perhaps, though I wasn't too strict. I would still go out to dinner and choose vegetarian, even if it wasn't vegan. I never refused food as a guest. It sometimes caused me frustration with my ILs (not 'getting' what I could/couldn't have no matter how many times I explained it -- and in my head, not confronted to them), but i often ate it anyway.
During this time, DH had been lifting and gained a lot of weight. His friend put him on a "diet." It was essentially paleo, but I'd also learned of WAPF through a client. we started our process of buying local, organic, and fair trade -- as often as we could, farm-fresh. It was a cool learning process for us. We learned a lot about food sourcing, more about cooking and preparing. . . and overall really enjoyed it.
DH adapated his "diet" from the one his friend gave him to a more WAPF styled one because we were 'hanging' with these people, going to the same CSAs and farms that they go to, and overall, it was just what made sense to him.
During this same phase, I started to get into raw veganism (i have raw vegan friends -- most of them "loose" in that they'll eat fish, eggs, and dairy raw if they feel compelled to), and decided to shift my diet to high raw. I was about 80-20 in terms of that -- mostly because it was a new avenue to explore and learn about food and such. I really enjoyed this, too. My 20 was largely cooked beans and grains, as well as starches like potatoes and the like.
Over time, this didn't sit with me, and while I enjoyed a lot of recipes, I went back to more cooked foods and also left veganism behind. I felt better on a vegetarian diet (for a lot of reasons), and did that for several years until I got pregnant. Once pregnant, I followed cravings back into meat (oddly, mostly fish, and one steak. LOL).
After pregnancy, I went back to vegetarianism (i'd only eaten meat 5 times during pregnancy). It was no problem at all, really. Same diet as before, and healthy and the boy was healthy so I was happy. DH was still doing WAPF.
But, sometime in DS's first eyar, he started to hvae all kinds of weird gut and skin symptoms. we couldn't figure them *at all* to be honest. And when we moved to NZ, they got *much worse*. Our local WAPF chapter recommended a naturopath, and she quickly said that DH needed to go gluten and dairy free.
I thought it would be easier if we ate the same as a family -- so I did some research and discovered paleo. It seemed to make perfect sense in light of what DH needed, and we started a week later (had to clear the house of the food still left over).
It was really fun going paleo because we rediscovered our love of food -- the same excitement we had when we worked with the WAPF in our first community. we started to source our food particularly, and go seasonal, and discover foods we hadn't tried before (like my new-found love of liver pate!). It was a new area of discovery in terms of food, as well as in terms of science and also community. We really tapped into a new community, too. And that felt good.
Not to mention, we are *really* healthy.
More recently, we started intermittent fasting and juicing -- which has brought us more excitement and more joy in the process of discovering juicing. :) Honestly, for us, it's a really fun project.
With this, we are never terribly strict. I mean, I had cake today! And DS and I share sweets on a regular basis, too. I enjoy those things, and since overall I'm quite healthy and we feed ourselves and our son good foods, a few sweets now and again aren't going to hurt us! It's a treat. It's fun. It's nice. It's pleasurable. :)
I never feel stressed about letting a food go, or bringing one in, or changing over time. It's just on-going discovery. I love the way our diet is right now, and I'm sure it will change as new information and discoveries come in. But, I can definitely see this as sustainable.
For DH, his digestive issues are basically gone (he actually had to do a second protocol on top of smply changing diet), and the issues that I didn't even know where issues are gone too. It's amazing! I love it!
And you know, we are like this with movement, too.
I'm constantly learning more about yoga; DH is learning more about lifting; and we are also total nerds on posture, gait (walking and running), mobility, stability, etc. We LOVE this stuff. It occupies our minds a lot, and we enjoy it.
I've spent the last month learning how to stand properly. I'm taking a training on how to help other people reduce pain in their bodies through posture -- something that is part of yoga, but this gives me another tool to better understand and communicate it to my clients.
This year alone, DH and I have added our postural exercises, pilates, and more foam rolling to our daily fitness/wellbeing routines. I suppose that, to others, this would be overwhelming, but for DH and I -- it's an enjoyable process of self discovery as we find ourselves feeling better.
Two years ago, DH had incredible pain in his neck. It was "unbearable!" after acupuncture treatments, he happened to read an article on foam rolling. He gave it a try, and two weeks later, no more pain! Since then, he's been a devotee. I have just gotten into it, having seen him develop all kinds of health from the process (better mobility mostly).
For my own part, I had a lot of pain in my back, left shoulder and arm, and up through the left side of my neck. Postural patternign work has made a HUGE difference on that in just one month -- 90% of the pain is gone. I added in pilates to help facilitate my process in developing the proper posture, and it's been challenging, but I am still seeing improvement. I also added in foam rolling (and this is in addition to yoga, walking, and body weight exercises), and this is improving my posture also. I would suggest that I may be pain free in a matter of months! Amazing!
So for me, this is *exciting* and fun -- not overwhelming.
And honestly, if i want bean soup, I eat it. Hekc, there's ONE good mexican place here, and sometimes we go there and I eat the beans, the rice, the home-made corn tortillas, the cheese, the salsa, the guac, the meats, and finish with the desserts, etc. No pressure. That's part of life, too. It's wonderful and special. I never feel deprived or overwhelmed.
I guess I'm my own project. I like it.
ApatheticNoMore
2-24-13, 5:08am
What I am pretty disgusted about is what this society has done to food. That much of the grocery store is packaged stuff that isn't food at all, the same for restaurants. It's literally substances that are chemically engineered to appeal to you, engineered precisely to push your buttons to simulate nutrition. They might have about the nutrition of the box they come in, but they are engineered to taste like the real thing (one drop of natural flavoring will do it). That much of conventionally produced food especially animal products is hardly food at all (chickens fed arsenic, chickens that never see the sun, meat treated with chemicals to make it turn red after it has browned, cows doped up on hormones and antibiotics to fatten quicker, yea that's not food).
But if one agrees people should eat real food like people have for time immemorial (yea even after the dawn of agriculture!) then that will drive one to more organic and naturally raised food, and that I believe in. But then there's still a lot of sub-debates about what real food among all the foods out there to eat: mostly plants? should one eat dairy? wheat? legumes? butter? only olive oil? lots of red meat? and frankly I don't think this part is very clear cut.
I think on the one hand there's people spinning tales of what strict diet they hope will keep them perfectly healthy in thier truly old age (90s and so on), and I'm not sure they understand how rare that is, frankly what really old age usually is. And on the other hand there's food companies whose absolute garbage passed off as food contributes to making people not just not model thin (who cares) but more and more extremely obese. So that these people take dangerous diet pills to try to lose weight totally oblivious to the fact that they have been completely played by a corrupt food system (diet pills are still related to amphetamines, half a century, nothing changes). Diet pills that raise blood pressure and cause irregular heart beats and may stop your heart and mcdonalds and packaged meals, in what universe does that make sense (yea talking about someone I worry about :)).
As for fun I ocassionally have the desire to follow the food restrictions of various religions for a period of time: orthodox lent, ramadan, etc. which is no doubt quite inappropriate as I'm not of those religious traditions but then if that's the case why should anyone care how I eat?
goldensmom
2-24-13, 8:58am
Regarding foods, over my lifetime I've seen this is good, now it isn't; this is healthy and now it isn't; eat this, not that; drink this not that; eggs are good, eggs are bad' coffee is bad, coffee is good; and on and on it went and will go. I tend to be a 'real food/whole food' person but we eat just about everything in moderation and don't worry about it.
I think that if we focused on whole foods made out of real, unrefined, nonchemical, nonindustrial ingredients, and just eating what is necessary and not eating more because of palatability or cravings, there would be far fewer food-related illnesses.
Recent writings on the food industry have investigated how manufacturers and restaurants have sought to find the "bliss point" of manufactured foods, increasing sugar, salt, and fat to make customers want to eat more. And if there's any food people shouldn't eat more of, that would be it! Those huge restaurant and bakery portions, things that come in boxes... they are going to pack on the pounds faster than almost anything else, as well as do the 'invisible' things like contribute to arterial plaque, raise blood pressure, etc.
I find it amazing that a restaurant can take something like a salad, for instance, for which the bulk of the ingredients might have about 100 calories, and turn it into an 800-calorie event.
I think our obsession over which macronutrient/micronutient is going to make us healthy/lose weight/live longer is a diversion from the bigger picture of how we've increasingly failed to live integrated lives. If we live true to the earth, and in communion with others, by honoring the perfect way in which nature offers us our nourishment (and if we can avoid mucking it all up with our "advancements") I think we're good to go.
Yes, all this gets old after awhile ... I havelactose intolerance and GERD. I eat what works for me, with an eye toward health, sustainability, and justice. The end. And it will be different for each person, and each season in life.
Yes it is overwhelming. At least with my co-workers it's become kind of a joke - we're all on so many different types of diets it's entertaining to look and discuss what everyone is eating.
I really hate all or nothing stuff and I don't want to worry about what I'm eating all the time, or feel deprived.
Sometimes I feel guilty. Ethically, I think veganism is the way to go, but I'm not a vegan. I even had fish a couple months ago (have had fish once a decade or so) because I felt protein deficient - gasp! Don't tell my parents - apparently they gave my Celiac diagnosed sister a hard time for eating eggs. It's really hard to be gluten free and vegan and not spend all your time buying and making food. So I'm not.
For health reasons I do avoid all gluten. But I do other bad stuff - I don't bake from scratch - I buy the store bought sugary gluten free cookies because I have more money than time and motivation.
I eat sugar, drink coffee (sometimes with liquor), don't completely avoid dairy. I eat white rice sometimes.
On and on. Whatever, man. I just can't deal with being that finicky.
Yet another outcome of technology and media providing too much information IMO and also the fact that we are lucky enough to have infinite choices. I think one's perspective changes as you get a few years on you and have seen so many trends come and go. When I was younger, I truly believed that eating a certain way was the end all be all. Now I have come to realize that the old saying of all things in moderation is what works best for me. Anything of one extreme - paleo, vegan - doesn't make sense to me - but certainly works for some.
I read nutrition articles, but don't necessariy follow the latest recommendation as the be-all-and-end-all, knowing how frequently it has changed in my lifetime. Plus, I find that people who are "religous" about a certain set of dietary rules tend to be a bore. Eat what you want, don't preach to me.
As I've gotten older, I just listen to my body more, and give it more of what it wants. For me, that's meat in moderation both in portion size and frequency, and a lot more fruits and veggies, most of which are fresh or freshly cooked, some dairy (mostly cheese and yogurt), rice and beans. Processed and frozen food just doesn't taste that good to me compared to what I cook. Not to say I don't use it for time convenience, its just never a first choice. My downfall is white flour products and sweets. I really just haven't acquired a taste for 100% whole grain bread, even though I've tried over the last 30 years. We do eat 100% whole wheat pasta, and brown rice.
I know that when I eat primarily from the garden (and in my soil I focus on creating nutrient dense food), I feel so much better and have much more energy. It makes me realize what is actually possible- and makes me realize how when I make those sub optimal choices, that I just don't have the same vibrancy.
I read nutrition articles, but don't necessariy follow the latest recommendation as the be-all-and-end-all, knowing how frequently it has changed in my lifetime. Plus, I find that people who are "religous" about a certain set of dietary rules tend to be a bore. Eat what you want, don't preach to me.
As I've gotten older, I just listen to my body more, and give it more of what it wants. For me, that's meat in moderation both in portion size and frequency, and a lot more fruits and veggies, most of which are fresh or freshly cooked, some dairy (mostly cheese and yogurt), rice and beans. Processed and frozen food just doesn't taste that good to me compared to what I cook. Not to say I don't use it for time convenience, its just never a first choice. My downfall is white flour products and sweets. I really just haven't acquired a taste for 100% whole grain bread, even though I've tried over the last 30 years. We do eat 100% whole wheat pasta, and brown rice.
I know that when I eat primarily from the garden (and in my soil I focus on creating nutrient dense food), I feel so much better and have much more energy. It makes me realize what is actually possible- and makes me realize how when I make those sub optimal choices, that I just don't have the same vibrancy.
(Bolding mine) A lot of people are beginning to believe that--if anything--whole grains are worse for you than refined ones as they contain non-soluble fiber that can irritate the digestive tract. Grains in general are just insulinogenic filler, and far from health food, IMO.
Otherwise, I agree--eat what works for you and don't beat people over the head with it. Whole foods cooked from scratch are nice, and I aim for that and a low carbohydrate profile, but I'm not above tucking into a bag of Cheetos or a bowl of rice noodles once in awhile, either.
I like Zoebird's comment about not seeking The One True Way. I will add to that: I am highly skeptical of One True Ways that have scads and scads of details, although some General Approaches such as:
Eat like those in the Mediterranean
Avoid packaged/processed foods
Eat heavily of veg & fruits, minimize proteins and carbs
etc.
make sense to me
Eating the wide variety of choices we have in moderation is great. Moderation is the key.
Miss Cellane
2-24-13, 1:59pm
Back in the 1970s, I recall reading an editorial in the Philadelphia Enquirer that stated that any mother who fed butter to her children should be put in jail for child abuse. Margarine was the only possible healthy spread to feed your child. Butter was a death sentence.
Boy, how that thinking has changed.
I've stopped trying to keep abreast of the current food fads. What I do is this:
Only eat food I like. No forcing myself to eat something just because it might be "good" for me.
Try to buy whole ingredients as much as possible and cook food myself, so I know what is in it.
Eat a variety of food. Chicken one day, beef the next, vegetarian for a couple of days, then some fish. Oatmeal at breakfast, whole wheat bread at lunch, rice for dinner. Fruits and vegetables by color--a banana (yellow) at breakfast, a salad (green, plus red tomatoes) at lunch, peas (green) and sweet potato (orange) and blueberries (blue) for supper. Just not all yellow or green or whatever all day long.
Reduce oils and salt as much as possible.
I figure people have been eating bread and milk and eggs and oats and vegetables a long time. Until I see signs that one of these foods is bothering me, I'll keep eating them.
fidgiegirl
2-24-13, 2:08pm
I do believe "moderation" is hard to define for many people. We have the recommended government servings, but then we have 24 oz. or even 1 liter pops in all the convenience stores, we have food marketers going crazy on us, we have the restaurant portions that Rosemary talks about . . . it's hard to know what moderation really is. So then if one (including me) feels one is moderating, they are really overdoing. For example, I just finished my second piece of toast from a delicious GF bread that has about 50 grams of fat per slice - :|( - and put butter and jam on it!
I was at a fundraising dinner for our school district foundation on Friday night and could only eat a handful of the items on the buffet due to gluten. Since I was questioning the staff about what would be safe to eat, then others inquired about what was up. I was chatting about it with someone in the buffet line and another man asked "if you don't know you've had it, do you still have a reaction?" I thought this was supremely rude. Just because most people can eat most foods and be fine, and I do get that the stay-away-from-x-y-and-z food culture we're in is crazy, that doesn't mean that some people don't have legit issues when they eat certain foods. So I just said to nosey man: "Correct," served up my delicious seafood stuffed mushrooms, roasted veggies and ham and moved along to my table.
awakenedsoul
2-24-13, 3:09pm
I feel really lucky that I can afford good food. I don't really eat out much anymore. I'm also one who believes, "Everything in moderation." I also eat what I have, (so it doesn't go bad.) Today that meant cooking a rack of lamb and boiling some organic potatoes. Delicious! I had some homemade lemonade with meyer lemons from my tree. Because I grow most of my own produce, I eat a lot of seasonal fruit, which feels sensible to me. The one thing I've done is to stop buying junk. I used to get a huge bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos and a box of gummy bears at Costco every month. I think that's why I was having aches and pains. Now I bake my desserts or buy truffles. I was really addicted to the junk. I'm lucky in that my body is lean and I'm very healthy. I also eat every couple of hours. If I go too long without food, I get cranky.
I like Michael Pollan's advice - "Eat food. Mostly Plants. Not too much". And his definition of "food" is real food, not processed stuff. His book, "In Defense of Food" is well worth reading. He talks about the rise of Food Science and how it has Beene so deleterious to our eating habits and processed food manufacturing over the years. Without going into too much detail, it has to do with food scientists trying to extract from food the individual components that are good and bad without taking into consideration the effect of how they interact when eating the whole food. Example - taking beta carotene in a supplement has nowhere near the benefits of getting it while eating a carrot.
I've been roughly following Dr. Joel Furhman's Eat to Live diet of mostly fruit, vegetables, nuts, and beans for the past few months and feel wonderful - so much better than I did before when I was eating more dairy, meat and simple carbs. I've enjoyed exploring new recipes and ingredients to make it interesting. Through all the years of reading different diets and the flip-flopping over what is and isn't healthy, I've never heard that fresh fruits and vegetables were anything but healthy so for now I'm going to stick with it as much as I can.
goldensmom
2-24-13, 6:57pm
I do believe "moderation" is hard to define for many people.
Good point. I pay no attention to shoulds and recommendations, moderation for me is half as much as I want. I don't eat things that don't agree with me and what agrees with me has changed over the years so I adjust. Too much reading, too many books and articles confuses and wearies the mind.
I used to get a huge bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos
Last week there was a fascinating article about how things like Doritos, ie junk food are products of food scientists who know how to make flavors addictive.
Personally, I don't like veganism or paleo or what have you being called "extreme" -- largely because i've practiced both and neither felt at all "extreme."
The reason being is that the label is usually applied as a form of social policing -- attempting to keep us from something that is different than what the other may do. This pressure is no different than the pressure that some foodies (depending on type) put on others, such as an evangelical approach to veganism or paleo. It is social pressure to be "like" rather than being 'different.'
In my own mind/heart, I actually do not find either diet "extreme" seeing as I have lived (or am living) both. Neither was is a "do without" even though, notably, whole groupings of food are off the list. Each one was a process of self exploration and expression that brought deeper self knowledge and awareness, understanding, and health.
For years, I struggled with gas/bloating. During veganism, I discovered a modest lactose intolerance. Tummy aches after eating were gone, once I decided to forgo milk (i can handle small amounts of raw butter and raw cheese, but these days I rarely eat cheese). I still had gas/bloating, and it was when we went paleo and decided to no longer consume grains that it went away entirely.
And it was intermittent fasting -- another thing that people consider extreme (I only eat food between 11 am and 7 pm) -- that has helped me overcome emotional eating, a process i've been working on for over a decade. These days, due to the fasting and what I eat when I am in the 'eating window' -- it is nigh-on impossible. . . physically impossible. . . to emotionally eat. I can find other avoidance tactics (and sometimes do), but this process has really been broken wherein there is no desire to eat when feeling emotions that I don't want to feel!
To me, this is not at all 'extremism' -- it's a process of discovering health, sometimes serendipitously. I don't advise other people on diet, but I will share what I'm doing and the benefits that it brings me over time. And what health benefits it has brought my husband -- who is healing gut issues, no longer having orthorexic tendencies, and even helping to relieve anxiety!
To me, that's powerful and exciting -- not "extreme."
As for fun I ocassionally have the desire to follow the food restrictions of various religions for a period of time: orthodox lent, ramadan, etc. which is no doubt quite inappropriate as I'm not of those religious traditions but then if that's the case why should anyone care how I eat?
Orthodox Lent (actually, it's about half the year, four longer periods such as Great Lent, with most every Wednesday & Friday) is nothing more than going mostly vegan, with some shellfish/fish thrown in. Essentially just take away meat and dairy. Don't eat past fullness. Take the money you save from eating more simply to help those in need. That is all. :)
Try it if you want, it doesn't offend me. :)
Gardenarian
2-25-13, 4:02pm
Yes, I feel confused! I have no idea what I am supposed to eat anymore! My health is not great and I have always tried to eat well - lots of veg, fruit, beans, no alcohol, sugar, caffeine.
I even feel like our water (treated with chlorine and chloramines) is unhealthy, but who knows what's in the water filters?
DD has a little eczema and a mild sensory disorder, and people keep telling me to take her off gluten, dairy, use supplements, etc. I'm considering going to a naturopath for her because I do want her to have optimal health, but I'm really not sure what that is any more!
One thing I'm pretty sure about - sugar is pretty bad.
That's about the only firm conclusion I've reached in all these diet controversies! (And it's the one thing DD can't live without...)
A naturopath is a good place to start, as they do focus a lot on nutrition and will work with you to figure things out. The protocols that my husband is on due to our naturopath has really helped him.
Elimination diets can also help you determine where sensitivities may lie. It's not easy to find all of them, to be honest. Allergy testing can work, but often only goes so far.
I also agree with Tradd. No religious person I know is offended to have a non-religious try out aspects of their way of life. One of my orthodox jewish friends loves it when people adopt an aspect of her way of life to "try things on." She sees it as a compliment and an opportunity to share some of the special things about how she lives. For example, I did hair covering for a month to honor an achievement of hers. It was actually harder than it sounds, but then by about day 10, it was second nature. :) We also did a kosher-keeping time as well, that was fun.
I have kept ramadan with friends of mine, and another friend of mine took me through the major hindu festivals that her family celebrates (even making smaller altars at my house!).
It can be a lot of fun. :)
I DO know what you mean. I've been thinking lately that we Americans have turned food/health/nutrition into a sport. Sometimes it feels full contact (like when everyone at a family dinner chimes in about how unhealthy the food you're eating is!). I think it's great that there is so much research being done--though I read recently that scientists are now releasing information after preliminary findings, where they used to wait until many years and more detailed research.
Anyway, I love food, and I do love to talk about it and health. BUT I also know my limits. I know when it's gone from, "gee, this is fun," to "yikes." There are many different ways of eating for many different types of people. And sometimes one way of eating is right for you at one time in your life and not for another. It's cyclical, I think.
I hear ya, Tiam. Glad you posted this as sometimes I feel like I'm on a crazy train to foodopolis! (Especially online)
Miss Cellane
2-27-13, 2:52pm
I DO know what you mean. I've been thinking lately that we Americans have turned food/health/nutrition into a sport. Sometimes it feels full contact (like when everyone at a family dinner chimes in about how unhealthy the food you're eating is!). I think it's great that there is so much research being done--though I read recently that scientists are now releasing information after preliminary findings, where they used to wait until many years and more detailed research.
Anyway, I love food, and I do love to talk about it and health. BUT I also know my limits. I know when it's gone from, "gee, this is fun," to "yikes." There are many different ways of eating for many different types of people. And sometimes one way of eating is right for you at one time in your life and not for another. It's cyclical, I think.
I hear ya, Tiam. Glad you posted this as sometimes I feel like I'm on a crazy train to foodopolis! (Especially online)
Re: the bolded. It's gotten to the point where I don't enjoy inviting a group of people over for dinner, which is something I loved to do. My own family is fine, they will pretty much eat anything and if they can't eat a specific dish, they just don't eat it, without making a fuss.
And I don't mind cooking for vegetarians or vegans or someone who's avoiding gluten or soy or eggs or whatever. But when you invite 5 people over for dinner and 4 of them have special requests, it starts to be less fun choosing recipes. The last get-together I had there were guests who could not eat salt, soy, gluten, peanuts, or dairy. Plus one person was eating Paleo and one was on Weight Watchers and one was a vegan. While one or two of these wouldn't have been much of an issue, it starts to get difficult finding something that everyone can eat. I ended up with two main dishes, one vegan, one not, and a variety of side dishes, plus salad and homemade bread and butter, in the hopes that everyone could find enough food so that they wouldn't go home hungry. But I cooked a lot more food than I normally would have, to accommodate all the medical issues, and it was more work than I had thought it would be. And I don't think there was much except the vegetables and salad that could be eaten by everyone. Apparently, the days when you can put a lasagne or pot roast, salad, bread and wine on the table, followed by ice cream and cookies, are gone.
I hear ya, too....it DOES feel like a hobby or sport or something sometimes, with a tinge of superiority at times from those who think their way of eating is THE way. Ugh.
The latest thing I heard from a friend of a friend is how BAD, I mean TERRIBLE soy is for you, unless it's fermented. Has anyone heard this?
Gardenarian
2-27-13, 6:47pm
Apparently, the days when you can put a lasagne or pot roast, salad, bread and wine on the table, followed by ice cream and cookies, are gone.
Yep.
The last pot luck I went to I brought baked potatoes, as it was the only thing I thought no one would object to (no Paleos in this crowd.) Luckily it was outside on a chilly day and plain hot baked potatoes tasted like ambrosia.
Gardenarian
2-27-13, 6:49pm
The latest thing I heard from a friend of a friend is how BAD, I mean TERRIBLE soy is for you, unless it's fermented. Has anyone heard this?
Yes - one of my friends drinks soy milk every day because she says it helps with her menopause symptoms; my dh follows Dr. Mercola and thinks it's poison. I have no idea.
?
awakenedsoul
2-27-13, 9:52pm
Miss Cellane,
What a shame. I would love to have that kind of a meal. People always act surprised when I tell them that I eat everything. (Well, I don't really like fish, but I will eat everything else.) Because I'm lean, they always seem to assume that I'm a vegetarian and that I don't eat any sugar, fats, etc.
I notice many of the people that have rigid diets look to me as if they want approval for being gluten free, or whatever. I just let it pass and don't comment. I think it's rude to be so difficult over food. It's just one meal...
catherine
2-27-13, 10:04pm
I went to a pot luck recently and we were all asked to lay out a list of the ingredients next to the dish. It is getting pretty crazy.
sweetana3
2-27-13, 10:22pm
None of that is required at any of our potlucks, be it church,quilt group, local, etc. Dont even see it in bake sales. We do mention nuts as an ingredient in bake sales.
I suspect if we did there would be even less participation.
fidgiegirl
2-27-13, 10:26pm
Well, I'm skipping a potluck on Friday because I don't want to be seen as "difficult," even though I will become sick if I eat gluten. That's my sad way around it. :(
Miss Cellane
2-27-13, 11:14pm
Miss Cellane,
What a shame. I would love to have that kind of a meal. People always act surprised when I tell them that I eat everything. (Well, I don't really like fish, but I will eat everything else.) Because I'm lean, they always seem to assume that I'm a vegetarian and that I don't eat any sugar, fats, etc.
I notice many of the people that have rigid diets look to me as if they want approval for being gluten free, or whatever. I just let it pass and don't comment. I think it's rude to be so difficult over food. It's just one meal...
Well, there are people who really can't eat certain foods. I have a nephew who is very allergic to dairy, wheat and soy. I don't cook for him, ever. His parents (he's 13) are in complete charge of his food. And if someone has a peanut allergy, they have a peanut allergy. And there are gluten intolerances and gluten allergies and celiac disease. And I have a dear friend who is so allergic to fish that the smell can make her a little sick.
While I may grumble a little under my breath about having to accommodate a medical issue, I'm not going to be the one to send a friend to the ER because I fed them the wrong food. It's the other people--the people who are just jumping on the current bandwagon of what to eat or not eat and those who follow diets that completely eliminate whole food groups because they think it is healthier but six months later have changed to a completely new, healthier diet, that make hosting so difficult. It seems that nearly everyone these days can't eat some normal, common foods. And since there is no way to tell if someone has a genuine allergy or is just following the latest health guru's teachings, I have to treat everyone's food needs equally.
I enjoy the challenge of coming up with a vegan meal that the meat-eaters among the guests will enjoy, or finding a good recipe for gluten-free bread for a friend who hates all the store-bought GF breads out there. Easy enough to eliminate peanuts or strawberries or chocolate from a meal. But when you have to eliminate soy and dairy and gluten and meat, but you have to include meat for some people, and avoid green peppers and all fat, well, I'm at the point where I'm going to plop a platter of raw veggies on the table and throw a slab of steak at the meat-eaters and point them to the grill.
I love to share meals with friends. There's something special about sitting down at a table and sharing a meal and talking long over dessert and coffee. But the current state of diets (diet as in a way of eating, not a weight loss program) in the US makes that very hard these days.
And people keep talking about about food. Not about how good the food is and how delicious, but how yet another food is "bad" and you shouldn't eat it. Or they are trying to lose weight and they go on and on about the calories or the carbs or whatever it is that they are currently counting. I get the feeling that they can't just sit down and enjoy the meal they are eating--they seem to need to justify every single bite they take. Or squeal "Oh, I'm being so bad, eating this single tiny bite of brownie!"
Boy, I'm grumpy tonight. But I don't like how I've moved from enjoying cooking a meal that people will sit down and enjoy to worrying over every single ingredient in every single dish and hoping that everyone will find enough food they can eat.
And awakenedsoul, you are welcome here anytime. Currently, I'm testing carrot cake recipes to find the perfect one. I could use another taste-tester.
When I was on Optifast (not ever recommended) many many years ago, I could eat nothing. I still went out with friends and did all the normal social activities. I just had my glass of tea with me and it was never a problem. I wanted and needed the social aspects of meals and simply accomodated my own needs and let others enjoy themselves. Since eating was "out", I just did not let it become the issue.
The "I dont want to eat" has almost drowned out the "I cannot eat" isues.
When we go to a potluck I take a main dish that I will want to eat, because I am somewhat picky and not a big fan of a lot of what I'll call 'traditional potluck fare.' But I don't ask that anyone else cook for my food preferences. As a former vegetarian, I usually bring something vegan because I know how limited the options are, and I do love colorful veggie fare. And because I have a mild wheat allergy, it's always gluten-free as well (often, there are fewer GF options than vegan, because pasta is a popular potluck item). I never complain about the food that's provided.
When we have people over, I always inquire about food sensitivities or preferences, and most people are up front about whether they avoid an ingredient or absolutely cannot eat it. There is a difference. Usually when we host, everyone is bringing something to contribute. But I can see how a potluck would be a real minefield for someone with a strong food allergy or intolerance, especially gluten, because it is in so many foods that people might not think about - soy sauce, all sorts of dressings and condiments, even some spice blends and commercial soups/broths.
Miss Cellane
2-28-13, 9:00am
I think the problem comes with someone with a genuine medical issue, like fidgiegirl. At a potluck, she'd have to ask about the ingredients in most, if not all of the food there, because gluten is so omni-present in processed foods today. And even if you cooked from scratch, there's gluten in soy sauce and a lot of salad dressings and a number of foods that you wouldn't suspect. And just the hassle of tracking down the contributor of a dish and then basically demanding their recipe is difficult, because some people don't like to give out their recipes and would not want to list their special "secret" ingredient, even if that's what might make the questioner ill.
And once you have to start asking about every single ingredient in every single dish, there's going to be someone who will label you "difficult" instead of realizing that you just don't want to get sick, again. And I can see how it wouldn't be fun to go out to eat and have people make derogatory comments about you all.the.time.
That's why I've heard of potluck hosts doing what Catherine describes--asking people to put a list of the ingredients next to their contribution. I'm not a huge fan of the idea, because somehow it seems to turn a private home into a restaurant or something, but it does save people with medical issues from having to ask about each and every ingredient, and it might also alert someone with an allergy to the presence of an allergen in a food that usually doesn't contain that ingredient. I'm thinking of an incident where someone made a home-made salad dressing that was really good, but one guest got violently ill, because the salad dressing had an artificial sweetener in it, and no one thought to ask "Hey, does this tart and tangy salad dressing have Equal in it?"
So now a recipe which might have been altered due to the pantry contents or even made by someone else has to be written out and analyzed with all brands stated prior to bringing to a potluck? So we also have to leave the containers on the table for each purchased item so the contents are available? What about the recipies made from other packaged products (bottled sauces, starches, etc.)?
I dont know anything about gluten, vegan, etc. I do know about nuts. I buy whatever sweetner is midrange in price and it changes. Would not even be able to tell someone what I am using unless I am at home. I use sweetner (instead of sugar) in my pasta salad dressing. I cannot even tell someone what type of oil is in my cabinet. I knew when I bought it but hubby may have purchased the last bottle.
My husband does not eat any meat from four legged animals. If he is not asked, he makes do and does not make an issue of it. He has had a lot of salad and veggies at barbeques. He has even brought his own food to grill. It is his issue.
I think I used to be more like this, eating certain ways for reasons of health or environment. I am vegetarian but I am relaxed. So if there is only meat somewhere I eat something. However dealing with families who do not have enough food on a regular basis and being on a tight budget myself makes me sometimes shake my head. At home I eat what we can afford to get, I struggle with my kids not eating regular meals because they are all teens/young adults so they really have their own schedules and lives. Right now I am seeing more of my kids saying there is nothing to eat and then going to get fast food and then I am throwing something away.
On the sensitivity, I got the reputation of us being difficult many many years ago with my daughter's peanut allergy and my other daugthers dairy issues. I invited people over and cooked a lot. For a pot luck I would bring a large main dish and a dessert, even if I wasn't asked to, just so I knew that I could safely serve my kids. Now I have a fructose intolerance. I don't eat with other people often so it is not a big deal, but high fructose corn syrup lurks in so many things like gluten often does. A very small amount will make me sick along with any grapes, apples, pears, etc. I know that none of us who have a food who makes us sick likes it, we would rather go happily along with other people eating, sigh
The thing that puzzles me is that growing up back in the 50s-70s, I don't recall anyone discussing issues with food other than occasional gas (and for that there was Alka-Seltzer). We ate whatever was put in front of us and a lot of so-called bad things like white bread, cakes, pasta etc without a second thought. I can only speculate that our food has somehow changed and in doing so is not well-tolerated by some people.
Celiac disease has been around for a long time, but I think that diagnosis is easier now than it was 50 years ago. And increased awareness along with the ease of the blood test probably make physicians more likely to order the test for patients with ongoing digestive issues. Food allergies have been increasing sharply over the past couple of decades, and the cause of this is only speculated, not known. I think there is also more awareness about food quality and the diet/health connection, that results in people avoiding foods that are everyday fare for some (I, for instance, would rather go hungry for a few hours than eat fast food).
My aunt was allergic to wheat, but I don't remember her avoiding it. Likely that she thought it too difficult in her wheat-centered family (immigrants from northern Europe). It contributed to her asthma and respiratory ailments - which ultimately caused her to die suddenly at the age of 39.
Miss Cellane
2-28-13, 2:11pm
I've read that wheat has changed significantly in the last 60-70 years, as it was bred for certain characteristics. Faster than the human digestive tract could alter to keep up with the changes. That's a current theory on why gluten intolerance and wheat allergies are becoming more and more common.
Because if you look back through history, a large portion of the human race has survived on bread for ages. So it's odd that suddenly, bread is the enemy. But it makes sense if the genetic content of the wheat has changed so that some people can't digest it well.
As for food in general, I think it's the pervasiveness of food additives. High fructose corn syrup is "natural" in that it is derived from corn. But it doesn't exist, by itself, in nature. And I suspect there are other additives that are similar, but we just don't hear about them much.
Consider the artificial sweetener. Some people love them. Other people can't eat them at all because their digestive tracts go haywire when they do--no matter now "natural" the artificial sweetener is. Others think they taste bitter.
Add in that our ideas of nutrition have changed. My grandmother would let her kids eat dessert, even if they hadn't finished their dinner, because Grandma would have made the pudding or cookies or ice cream, and she felt that the eggs and milk in the pudding were healthy and it was worth letting her kids eat it. The sugar wasn't even on her radar. Now, we are faced with a constantly changing list of foods that are healthy and foods that aren't.
And then there are those who are looking for the Magic Bullet--an eating plan that will allow them to live forever, or at least longer than anyone else they know. People will try some odd things in an attempt to be healthier.
All of which means that the dinners my mother prepared, with the best nutritional info she had, would not pass muster today. Pot roast with gravy, mashed potatoes with milk, butter and an egg, vegetables with butter and salt, salad with bottled dressing and bread and butter, and homemade brownies for dessert. Whole milk for the kids and black coffee for the adults.
miradoblackwarrior
2-28-13, 3:08pm
Hi, all--
There's a book out there called "Wheat Belly" which addresses all of the above. Back in the 70's, the genetic makeup of wheat was tinkered with, producing a "wheat" that was easy to grow and store, but reacted to the body in such a way that people got fatter and fatter, resulting in diabetes, heart disease, etc. I'm still reading it, and, I gotta tell you, I gave up wheat (or, should I say, I'm trying to give it up). I wasn't looking to lose weight or anything, at least at the time, but I am growing more and more wary of the food that we put into our mouths.
This book opened my eyes, and I suggest it for your reading lists. I feel better, and I think I am losing weight. I certainly feel less bulky, and I'm a big girl!
Susan
ApatheticNoMore
2-28-13, 3:20pm
Wheat has been bred to have more gluten, but really if you're celiac, truly ancient wheat like eikhorn, emmer, and spelt would have too much gluten! (any is too much for celiacs). I often try to avoid wheat and suceed for periods of time, I don't think it has any impact whatsoever on my weight, but maybe on joint soreness (then again eating some wheat doesn't cause this, but if I'm eating it days in a row then yea ...). I've never been tested for celiac, maybe should be someday if it's just a blood test, but I'm not sure how I'd find a doctor that would be willing to do the test, maybe a naturopath.
Gingerella72
2-28-13, 3:44pm
All of which means that the dinners my mother prepared, with the best nutritional info she had, would not pass muster today. Pot roast with gravy, mashed potatoes with milk, butter and an egg, vegetables with butter and salt, salad with bottled dressing and bread and butter, and homemade brownies for dessert. Whole milk for the kids and black coffee for the adults.
Actually, among "real foodies", what you just described is perfectly healthy (with possibly the exception of the bottled salad dressing). Real food. Not chemical cocktails made in a lab.
Gingerella72
2-28-13, 4:22pm
There is a blogger, Amber at Go Kaleo (http://gokaleo.com/), I've started following that is very anti-diet-dogma. She preaches not drinking the diet industry's Kool-Aid and doing your own research to find what works for your unique body, and refusing to feel shame or guilt over it.
One of my favorite of her posts:
"How to tell if your ‘healthy diet’ has crossed the line into disordered thinking:
1. You make fun of, or hang out with people who make fun of, people who make different dietary choices than you do.
2. You use your valuable free time to visit other people’s blogs and argue with them about their dietary choices.
3. You’ve completely eliminated foods from your diet that you enjoy eating, and that you have no intolerance to, because your guru has told you they aren’t ‘optimal’.
4. You experience stress, shame or guilt when you eat (or WANT to eat) something forbidden by your diet.
5. You’ve alienated your real life friends and family by constantly criticizing their dietary choices, and you are ok with that because your ‘real’ family is your group of online friends who share your dietary philosophy.
6. You believe that your diet is the one true ‘optimal’ human diet, and that anyone who makes different dietary choices than you simply hasn’t heard the ‘truth’ yet.
7. You focus on diet to the exclusion of other healthy lifestyle choices like regular exercise, proper sleep, stress management and sunlight, and believe that eating the ‘right’ diet can make up for not practicing those other lifestyle choices.
8. You believe that if you just eat ‘right’ all your health problems will go away, and that if someone is still experiencing health problems on your diet they just aren’t ‘doing it right’.
9. You believe, because you’ve been taught by your guru, that the entire medical establishment is out to get you.
10. When your diet is not producing results you keep on doing it because you’ve convinced yourself that you can’t eat any other way.
Your diet doesn’t have to consume your life, produce stress and shame, and alienate your friends and family. There is another way. Diet is just one aspect of a healthy lifestyle, and if your diet is producing negative emotions in your life, it is not promoting health.
My thoughts about food and nutrition have radically changed in the last couple of years. I used to blindly follow conventional nutrition dogma that low-fat and low-calorie anything was healthy, no matter the source. So I drank skim milk, ate low fat cheese, soy products, margarine, Egg Beaters, felt guilty if I ate over 1800 calories a day, and patted myself on the back for making healthy choices. Then I accidentally stumbled across something that said whole milk is healthier than skim because of what is done to make skim milk, well, skim milk. It turned my whole world upside down because it went against everything that has been programmed into my head for the last 25 years. That led to reading about how soy allergies are on the rise because of the prevalence of soy in everything (including food that soy has no business being in, like chocolate and Coke!) and that, too, blew my mind. I started delving into how insidious our industrial food supply has become and how we, the consumer, has been totally duped into thinking all of this crap is healthy.
And in hindsight, how in the world were we convinced that something like margarine is healthier than butter? Margarine - a highly processed concoction of chemicals that have to be made in a lab, versus butter - a totally natural food that can be made in your own kitchen and that mankind has eaten, without harm, for centuries. Thanks to the oil industry which lobbied the USDA to hawk the nutritional value of their "vegetable" oil (which is just a concoction of soy and cottonseed oil) based on faulty science claiming that saturated fat causes heart disease (it doesn't). They didn't give one snit about the health of the nation - they just wanted to sell more oil. And so it is across the board in all of our industrialized food.
The only dietary dogma I follow now is eating real food as much as possible. I eat butter. I drink whole milk (and would drink raw if I could get it). I eat bacon, and saute vegetables in its drippings. I eat as much organic produce as I'm able to source. I eat whole eggs. I eat bread and other grains (organic when possible). I eat meat, as locally and sustainably sourced as I can get, but if it's not always grass-fed and organic, I don't freak out and skip it. I make as much food from scratch as I can, but don't feel guilty or ashamed if we eat out once in awhile.
If you check out Go Kaleo's blog, be sure to follow her on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/gokaleo?fref=ts) too - a lot of very interesting discussions about health and nutrition take place there.
Very sound advice; I can't argue with it. Or with "...not drinking the diet industry's Kool-Aid and doing your own research to find what works for your unique body, and refusing to feel shame or guilt over it."
To serve a satisfying dinner for a lot of guests with varying food needs and choices I do a build-your-own meal such as burritos. With all the side choices provided there is always something for everyone. Can't eat the gluten in the burrito shells? That's ok, just put your ingredients on the rice or the spinach. There's refried beans, salsa, mango, fresh chopped tomatos, spinach, cheese, sautéed onion & peppers, sautéed chicken, even fresh strawberries & blueberries that you can put on a burrito shell with a smear of cream cheese.
Dishes that are made are cooked with the least amount of ingredients possible for ease of creation and for the comfort of my guests.
I really, really hate the idea of a guest should just eat what is put in front of them. As a host I would feel just awful if a guest felt they had to eat something they didn't like just because they were a guest. Hence the build-your-own concept :)
I hear ya, too....it DOES feel like a hobby or sport or something sometimes, with a tinge of superiority at times from those who think their way of eating is THE way. Ugh.
The latest thing I heard from a friend of a friend is how BAD, I mean TERRIBLE soy is for you, unless it's fermented. Has anyone heard this?
Soy is BAD? Yes and No. There are millions of Japanese here that seem to be doing just fine :) For me personally, it is just evil! As a vegetarian I've eaten a fair amount of tofu and soy milk over the years. Not too often but enough for me to realize that the plant estrogens were creating very heavy periods the months I was happened to have a tofu meal. In the land of tofu, I do my very best to limit my soy intake.
I'm also someone who had very bad reactions to the hormones in the Pill so it makes sense and I should have made the connection years earlier!
This could all be good news for me during menopause...we'll see :)
I've had more than my share of soy over the years, but it's a highly-processed, thyroid antagonistic, and often GMO product with a huge environmental impact, plus it tastes like putty. Other than that... http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/big_standart/pardon.gif
Yeah, soy gives me diarrhoea (even fermented soy). For me the taste of soy milk shouts 'THAT'S NOT FOOD' - I liked the way you put it Jane - 'tastes like putty' - too right!
...oh darn, I can hear my dog drinking out of the toilet as I write this...
ApatheticNoMore
3-1-13, 3:32pm
I may be unusual but I pretty much avoided soy even in my vegetarian years. Maybe why I did pretty much ok as a vegetarian (but I think somewhat better as an omnivore).
It all seemed so fake (I was like: fake meats? you have got to be kidding me! I'm avoiding meat! yuck meat-like!). And it wasn't anything I grew up eating (other than soy sauce in a stir fry) so it was strange and untrustable. Of course I ate legumes, wasn't avoiding beans, just never trusted the soy thing is all. I do have miso soup sometimes, it's fine, no problems. I use soy sauce sometimes, also fine.
I've never had overt problems with soy, and I'll eat it occasionally (black soybeans in recipes, tamari...) My problem with a vegetarian diet was the high-carbohydrate/low quality fats and proteins part. I was pretty much hungry all the time. For years. There's that "slow learner" thing again. I finally read about insulin production and related issues and changed things around accordingly.
I may be unusual but I pretty much avoided soy even in my vegetarian years.
Me too--I agree that the answer to eating vegetarian isn't to try to come up with lousy meat replacements--if you go to good vegetarian restaurants, their dishes are fantastic--creative, balanced, tasty--but you won't find any Smart Dogs or Tofurkeys there. Who would want that??
And personally, as a person-who-avoids-meat-most-of-the-time-but-stopped-calling-herself-a-vegetarian, I also think it's very rude to make a host feel uncomfortable about what they serve. I'm not talking about genuine allergies and sensitivities--I'm talking about druthers. I remember when I was hard-core vegetarian, my nephew got married and DH and I traveled to MN to spend time with my brother. We were going to go out to eat, but there happened to be a very bad snow/ice storm in MN (fancy that). So we decided to stay in. My brother said, "I have some frozen filet mignon--I'll just grill them!" I don't know if he knew of my vegetarianism, but I didn't think that that was the right time to tell him.
The generosity and great company of my brother was far more important than sticking to my vegetarian principles. I do remember that that steak was delicious.
I like the points that Gingerella72 posted. Very sensible. I was also struck how many of those could be used to describe religious choices as well.
I definitely see both sides of this issue since I am married to someone allergic to all nuts and who had to severely restrict his food choices for several years while on dialysis. Of course there are legitimate reasons to be "picky." And those reasons should be respected. Pickiness by choice is a different matter, but I believe choices should be respected as much as possible as well. Of course, it's all in the delivery; when people are rude about their chosen way of life, it can be very off-putting, because any kind of rudeness is off-putting, no matter what the topic.
It can feel wearisome, as Miss Cellane talked about, when just trying to have friends over for a simple dinner. The more people you want to invite, the more you restrict your selection of "OK" food. Dhiana's method of "build your own" meals is smart and easy to adapt for lots of situations.
Kara
I have to admit I enjoyed fake hot dogs and hamburgers almost as much as I have always enjoyed the real thing. I also liked seitan and soy meat analogs, particularly at Bamboo Garden (vegan/kosher/Buddhist?) in Seattle. I would have liked it even better had their ethos not proscribed onions and garlic as well as meat.
I find it no difficulty to arrange special meals for people -- even when we have 5 or more "conflicting" diets. IN fact, I find it a lot of fun. . . a nifty challenge!
I don't know. For me, it's just fun.
Also, as a paleo person, I find myself eating "wahtever" when I go to people's homes. I have friends who are vegan, and they might feed us gluten, sugar, and soy all at once. I'm cool with that. For me, it's no big deal to eat "off diet" sometimes. It's not like it's once a week. And for the record, potatoes are included for many paleo people. Some might even include rice!
This weekend, I'm going to a yoga workshop in nelson. I'm going to be eating all kinds of grains because it's pot luck and veryone brings grain-based awesome salads. It's nice. Seriously. It's, like, two meals. I ain't gonna die. :D
Also, we do pot lucks as 'recipe builders" as well. Everyone brings copies of their recipes so that you can take them home. We ask for four or five to be written out so that people can take them home. This is a "nifty/steal" way for people to be aware of all ingredients while simultaneously getting the reicipe to try at home if they wish.
Food allergies and elimination diets are big here, so it's not at all unusual to have to dig around for unique recipes. :)
There is a blogger, Amber at Go Kaleo (http://gokaleo.com/), I've started following that is very anti-diet-dogma. She preaches not drinking the diet industry's Kool-Aid and doing your own research to find what works for your unique body, and refusing to feel shame or guilt over it.
One of my favorite of her posts:
"How to tell if your ‘healthy diet’ has crossed the line into disordered thinking:
1. You make fun of, or hang out with people who make fun of, people who make different dietary choices than you do.
2. You use your valuable free time to visit other people’s blogs and argue with them about their dietary choices.
3. You’ve completely eliminated foods from your diet that you enjoy eating, and that you have no intolerance to, because your guru has told you they aren’t ‘optimal’.
4. You experience stress, shame or guilt when you eat (or WANT to eat) something forbidden by your diet.
5. You’ve alienated your real life friends and family by constantly criticizing their dietary choices, and you are ok with that because your ‘real’ family is your group of online friends who share your dietary philosophy.
6. You believe that your diet is the one true ‘optimal’ human diet, and that anyone who makes different dietary choices than you simply hasn’t heard the ‘truth’ yet.
7. You focus on diet to the exclusion of other healthy lifestyle choices like regular exercise, proper sleep, stress management and sunlight, and believe that eating the ‘right’ diet can make up for not practicing those other lifestyle choices.
8. You believe that if you just eat ‘right’ all your health problems will go away, and that if someone is still experiencing health problems on your diet they just aren’t ‘doing it right’.
9. You believe, because you’ve been taught by your guru, that the entire medical establishment is out to get you.
10. When your diet is not producing results you keep on doing it because you’ve convinced yourself that you can’t eat any other way.
Your diet doesn’t have to consume your life, produce stress and shame, and alienate your friends and family. There is another way. Diet is just one aspect of a healthy lifestyle, and if your diet is producing negative emotions in your life, it is not promoting health.
My thoughts about food and nutrition have radically changed in the last couple of years. I used to blindly follow conventional nutrition dogma that low-fat and low-calorie anything was healthy, no matter the source. So I drank skim milk, ate low fat cheese, soy products, margarine, Egg Beaters, felt guilty if I ate over 1800 calories a day, and patted myself on the back for making healthy choices. Then I accidentally stumbled across something that said whole milk is healthier than skim because of what is done to make skim milk, well, skim milk. It turned my whole world upside down because it went against everything that has been programmed into my head for the last 25 years. That led to reading about how soy allergies are on the rise because of the prevalence of soy in everything (including food that soy has no business being in, like chocolate and Coke!) and that, too, blew my mind. I started delving into how insidious our industrial food supply has become and how we, the consumer, has been totally duped into thinking all of this crap is healthy.
And in hindsight, how in the world were we convinced that something like margarine is healthier than butter? Margarine - a highly processed concoction of chemicals that have to be made in a lab, versus butter - a totally natural food that can be made in your own kitchen and that mankind has eaten, without harm, for centuries. Thanks to the oil industry which lobbied the USDA to hawk the nutritional value of their "vegetable" oil (which is just a concoction of soy and cottonseed oil) based on faulty science claiming that saturated fat causes heart disease (it doesn't). They didn't give one snit about the health of the nation - they just wanted to sell more oil. And so it is across the board in all of our industrialized food.
The only dietary dogma I follow now is eating real food as much as possible. I eat butter. I drink whole milk (and would drink raw if I could get it). I eat bacon, and saute vegetables in its drippings. I eat as much organic produce as I'm able to source. I eat whole eggs. I eat bread and other grains (organic when possible). I eat meat, as locally and sustainably sourced as I can get, but if it's not always grass-fed and organic, I don't freak out and skip it. I make as much food from scratch as I can, but don't feel guilty or ashamed if we eat out once in awhile.
If you check out Go Kaleo's blog, be sure to follow her on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/gokaleo?fref=ts) too - a lot of very interesting discussions about health and nutrition take place there.
Gingerella,
Have you looked at real milk.com? Click on "real milk finder" in red font, towards the upper right hand side of the screen. It will show sources of raw milk by state. Raw tastes way better than pasteurized.
Gingerella72
3-3-13, 2:53am
Yes, I know about realmilk.com. I know of places in my state that I could buy it, but it comes down to whether or not I want to drive 100 miles to do so. There isn't anyplace within reasonable driving distance from me.
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