Eat Real, Well

The number of substitute foods on the market today is astonishing. Through the ingenuity of science we can now create low-fat, low-sugar, low-sodium, and low-calorie foods in amounts not found at any other point in history. I have respect for how these inventions have challenged modern eaters to make better choices. However, I hold fast to the food principles found here under the Eden Tree. While commercial food producers have raised the amount of conversation on the topic of healthy eating, their solution to the healthy food need continues to leave the hungry human lacking. There is absolutely no substitute for a healthy, plant-based diet.

The big problem with our broad range of substitute foods is that while they fly the banner of changing a person’s diet for the better, no real change is being offered at all. A doctor tells us we need to lower our salt intake. Instead of simply choosing not to eat foods high in sodium, we opt instead to eat low-sodium substitutes. Why is this bad, you ask? Because nature abhors a vacuum, and you can see this clearly in our processed foods. If you take out the excess sodium, you have to put something else in. What gets added is a list of scary ingredients that are hyper-processed or derivatives of things the human animal was never designed to eat.

Flip around a container of butter substitute. How many of the ingredients on there can you pronounce, or spell, or define? Wild, isn’t it?! If your doctor tells you that butter isn’t a good choice for you, how about simply not eating butter anymore. There are a tons of delicious, easy recipes that don’t require a single pat of butter.

I realize this is an unpopular idea. We don't like abstinence unless it's empowering. We're conditioned to think of abstaining from certain food choices as restricting our food joy. What could be more empowering than a healthy body that runs well and feels good!?! 

Food should be food. For whatever reason (allergies, food irritations, health concerns, etc.), when a food becomes unhealthy for you, don’t modify it. Get rid of it! You can’t improve nature. You can take things away from it and you can add things to it, but you can’t invent a better potato. You can invent a way to cook potatoes in a healthy, nutritious, delicious way.

When you look are your diet, and make a list of things you want to change, find a REAL solution for your new food choices. If you need to cut back on fat. Choose not to add butter or oil to your veggies, and steam them instead. Don’t default to a cooking spray that promises to be ‘fat-free’. It's not a real food. If you know dairy causes you to have an upset stomach, leave animal milk behind and try a plant-based variety made from almonds, soy, or coconuts.

We live under the boughs of the Eden tree, where everything, absolutely everything, we need to be nutritionally satisfied and sustained, grows and flourishes.Choose what's real and choose a healthier you.