I will speak from experience, observation, and medical research. Diets most healthy Mom's follow today are very high in fats and low in carbs. The one reason for the pound packing is a very simple but important thing doctors, guru's and those 'in the know' are not telling you. You must work like they worked if your going to eat like they ate. WORK, did you get that? Most modern Americans cannot understand that our culture is totally void of that idea of what real work it takes to put food on the table. In order to give myself and my children a REAL perspective of this we grow, not everything, but a lot of our own food. It is very hard to get up and out in the garden, shell nuts, or pick and peel fruit. From weeding to hoeing, to harvest and canning, WE WORK. Probably not as much as they used to in the old days, or even as much as we need to be to equal a good aerobic workout. I just want to at least put forth the effort to try doing things different. I am not saying we are better than anyone else or that we have it all worked out. I am just trying to make some changes in our home to impart an understanding of good old fashioned work being what it really is, a good thing. Our bodies actually need it. Here's a good example: I spoke with a woman from the Caribbean recently who said her family, before industrialization, would harvest and make their family's own Coconut Oil and other products from the wild nature around them. I am sure not many people here in our country even know how to do something like that much less would exert that amount of energy to do it. We go through the check out with bags of nuts, real butter, yogurt, cheese and Coconut or Olive Oils. All are very healthy for someone like my Caribbean friend who from sun up to sun down NEEDED those life sustaining oils to carry her and her family through each day in the tropical heat. They had no sickness or disease what so ever. It isn't only what you eat, it's how you obtain it. My family has been blessed to be able to work together on some projects but nothing even on that scale. In a manner of speaking we Americans don't 'have' to work very hard to put food on the table, and that is our diet downfall. I do purposely garden with my children to show them many life lessons. It's work, and it's supposed to be. It's also a time in their lives they are making memories about things that will help them understand bigger FOOD and LIFE pictures.
When we take for granted what ease of living can do, we suffer for it. I am just as guilty as the next guy, but resolved many years ago to change that. You should really think about not just the milk, cheese, or butter, but the "Who, What, How, When, and Where" also. Are you in that equation at all? That is really what it boils down to when diet is involved. Did you make that yogurt or butter? How many calories (or how much energy) would it take from you to feed your family a week supply of butter or yogurt if you or your family had to make it? Did you have to sweat for it? No one will argue that people through out time have had to work much harder without the ease of modern machines, to get food on the table. Whether you eat Paleo, Primal, or Makers Diet, you must recognize that many people are getting into eating the way of our ancestors, but NOT working like them. No matter your religion or beliefs, you cannot excape that fact. You do not have to be of any certain religion to look back on history and realize that WORK is the one single variable of the equation most of us are not putting in any more. All tribes of all peoples had to physically labor to provide food for their family and community. It was survival. It was also a good thing to bring people together and form bonds.
I believe the Bible when God said "cursed is the ground for thy sake" part of Genesis 3:17 and "In the sweat of thy face shall thy eat bread". Genesis 3:19a Don't think that little bit of 'for thy sake' was meaningless. It is hard work bringing food to the table, but it is for our betterment and overall health that it is work. I have learned that going to the store really gives us a false idea that anything we desire can be obtained with very little effort. After having milked cows, made butter and cheese, grown gardens and so on, I realize that nature has it's way and you don't always get a 'full basket' so to speak. Connecting to your food supply and having a real understanding of the work and enjoyment it is, is reward enough to keep at it even when it's not all peachy. Most people will spend thousands of dollars to be apart of a sports team, but not really think about the family team. That family or community team WORK is what is missing today from our diets, as well as a dose of reality.
When we shop at the stores, we are grabbing bags and bags of nuts that are full of 'good' fats, without having to exert any or very little energy to obtain that food. If you had to actually go gather, crack or shell them to eat them you would be burning calories to help offset the amount of fats you are getting, as well as spending precious time with people you love, or who are apart of your community. See it's a very important part of the food process to have to actually work to get it to your family. When you are not involved, not only may your health show for it in many ways, you may end up with having to choose from bad or worse options that you could have prevented by getting physically involved (dirty).
Americans seem to avoid dirt and sweat like the plague. We have gotten a little to big for our britches so to speak. Both sweat and dirt are so good for you. People pay big bucks for them both. Clay and mud baths, as well as sauna rooms are found all over the world. Scientists and researchers gather soil daily to discover new and various types of micro organisms that are beneficial right from
the dirt we work hard to avoid. Many Pediatricians will tell you that if children were allowed to
play outside they would be healthier and have better immune systems, therefore also reducing
their need for antibiotics. Why aren't we listening? Is dirt really that bad? No, and it is almost
crazy how germ-a-phobic we as a nation have gotten, because as we have become more germ-a-phobic, we have also become sicker. Go figure. Many pharmaceutical medicines have their "Genesis" or beginnings in the soil. Studies for years now have shown that the skin absorbs about 70% of whatever it comes into contact with. The soil is loaded with vitamins, minerals, and micro organisms
that build up our immune systems for a robust health.
At the time of the Revolutionary War, America was one of the tallest and healthiest groups of
people. We are now one of the shortest (a sign of poor nutrition), fattest, and sickest. The biggest change that we have had is to an industrialized (physically disconnected) diet. Also note that usually
with a change (decrease) in stature also comes a decrease in brain size. Hmmmm
Ok, so is anyone getting it? We were hard wired, as well as the earth's soil, to work in providing the foods we and our family eat. Yes, actual physical work that is good for us. I hope you are getting the link here that is so very obvious. If God said to man, paraphrased from Genesis, " I am putting you here, in the garden and you have to work and toil in it 'for thy sake', and while your there your skin will even be able to absorb vitamins and minerals from the soil. Also you will be exerting energy while working, in order to remain healthy, as you harvest the food you eat.", why are we to be going about it any other way?
I challenge as many of you as will listen, "get out and grow together". No diet guru, hospitals, or drugs needed. Before you or someone you love is another statistic. Remember it's what we were meant to do. It is hard, but SO worth it. You can start small, and just enjoy yourself. You don't have to grow/raise everything you eat, try a small garden. Learn as you go and be willing to mess up as you go. Find a friend or family member to do it with. Involve your children or grandchildren. You'll never forget the first time they say "Look what we did!" I LOVE working to grow and then harvesting that hard work with "them", my WONDERFUL CHILDREN! He who created us, put us in a garden, not a grocery store. I am not saying you cannot shop at grocery stores; this is a disclaimer so nobody can twist this message that way. I am just trying to encourage you to put your self where God originally put you, working in a garden, possibly with your family or those you care about and see if your overall health and happiness aren't the better for it.
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