Our world bombards us constantly with food advice, right? It is truly overwhelming to try to figure it all out. One expert contradicts another. Where do we start?
The following categories define my own beliefs about poor food choices. Yes, you’ll find plenty of advice here that contradicts advice from popular authors, speakers, and medical professionals. You’ll also find advice that seems almost impossible to implement in our daily lives.
That’s okay! For the moment, begin to educate yourself. Learn to think “outside the box,” and challenge your current views on nutrition. Even if you end up disagreeing with me, you’ll be a lot more sure of why you eat what you eat.
As for implementing it all? We’ll tackle that in a future “step.”
Unclean foods
- God has listed specific foods that we should and should not eat in Leviticus 11 (also Deuteronomy 14).
- Do the dietary laws in the Old Testament apply to us today?
Commercially processed foods
- Why is Processed Food So Bad? (One reason here)
- Why Junk Food is So Tempting…
- Dangers of Genetically Engineered Foods
Refined sweeteners
- The Double Danger of High Fructose Corn Syrup
- Sugar-Free Blues
- Sugar: The Sweet Thief of Life
- Replacing Refined Sugars with Natural Sugars
White flour and white rice
- Lower Your Grains & Lower Your Insulin Levels
- A Beginner’s Guide to Carbohydrates
- Wheaty Indiscretions: What Happens to Wheat, from Grain to Storage
Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats
- Know Your Fats
- Trans Fat: What Exactly Is It, and Why Is It So Dangerous?
- Surprise! Saturated Fat Really Is Good for You!
Rancid vegetable oils
Pasteurized, homogenized milk products
- What Started Pasteurization?
- What is Processed Dairy?
- Microbe-Phobia Is Destroying Our Food
- Milk: It Does a Body Good?
Factory-produced meat and eggs
- The 6 Dangers of Common Beef (and How to Avoid Them)
- What Is a Factory Farm?
- Pastured Poultry
- Don’t Be Chicken of the Egg
Improperly prepared seeds and grains
Non-organic fruits and vegetables
Caffeine
Fluoride and chlorine
Synthetic vitamins
Chemical-laden home and body care products
Microwave ovens
Wow! Did you read all those links? Congratulations! You are now well on your way to understanding good health!
Which are the worst? Where should you start? If it were me, I’d start in this order:
- Commercially processed foods
- Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats
- Refined Sweeteners
- Pasteurized, homogenized milk products
If you conquer these top four villains, you’ll have eliminated the majority of unhealthy foods from your diet. The other problems can be replaced more easily at this point.
Go to your cupboard with a permanent black marker. Put a big X on any food product that contains something harmful for you. Read all labels! You probably can’t afford to go “cold turkey” and eliminate all those foods from your cupboards today. If you did, you’d have nothing to eat for supper, then you might be tempted to eat out at McDonalds! However, after you mark each harmful substance, you’ll begin to be disgusted by your own pantry — a very healthy first step toward being motivated to eat right!
Step Two – Better Food Choices…
