“What would you think,” I remarked to my spouse the other day, apropos of nothing, “about us becoming vegetarians?”
“Not much,” my mid-western born-and-raised spouse replied, and why was I not surprised?
Today a flourishing array of new books extols the virtues of cooking real foods – and I’m not talking about Mama’s little Hamburger Helper here, folks. Nope. This is Real Food – as in pretty much the same structure as Mother Nature produced it.
So, could you call this new movement a “diet?” Not exactly.
We all know about diets, right? We vow to lose 10 or 100 pounds, then power down the last of the potato chips, packaged cookies and crackers – even your kid’s Cracker Jacks are fair game in the name of “getting it out of the house.” Warning: Don’t even THINK about dieting at Halloween time.
The day before “D- (diet) Day” we grab our best friend (because who else really understands us?), head to the Cheesecake Factory and order pages five through seven off the menu. When we finally drag ourselves away from the table and roll out the door, we seriously swear we’ll never be hungry again and THIS time we’ll stick to celery and carrots and be happy campers.
Well. That works until, say, lunchtime. By then the sugar-carb load we’ve ingested the past several days are a fleeting memory. We’ve now reached the bargaining stage: “OK, if I eat this (Mondo-Burger/leftover lasagna/Dongpo Pork take-out) I’ll run an extra 35 miles this week.”
Sometimes we tough it out and sometimes we’ve just gotta bake Christmas cookies in June because we know that Eggnog Snickerdoodles are the only thing that will fortify us for the big ordeal ahead of eating a sesame seed for breakfast before setting off for a climb of Yosemite’s Half Dome.
Of course such sugar binges result in excessive sugar comas, extreme guilt and utter rage for being born with “these” genes when other people can sail through life scarfing up pasta ’til the cows come home and never gain an ounce. People like my, er … our husbands, for example, who can give up a roll at dinner and lose 20 pounds.
Whatever. Time to buck up, Buttercup. Yes, go lie down, think it over, gird our loins and sleep for 67 straight hours.
So I ask you: Is this any way to run a life? No, I didn’t think so. That’s when I began looking around and learning some actual nutritional information. Could it be that all this roller-coaster ride of diet/no diet – not to mention fast food, packaged food and non-food food is – I’m just going to come out and say this – really not good for us? Hmmm …
We’ve all heard by now that consuming blueberries, for example, is healthy. Blueberries are antioxidants, which help our bodies fight “free radicals” and I’m not talking about students at UC Santa Cruz here. Free radicals invade our bodies causing damage or even death to the human cell, so who needs ’em? GO antioxidants!
But the catch? For our bodies to reap the benefits from blueberries, they need to be in their natural state – fresh little dark-blue balls of goodness. No, not the blueberries you get in Pop Tarts. I know; I was just as shocked as you are.
You start to realize, then, how years of consuming chemical food additives that enhance flavor and preserve a Big Mac through all eternity can perhaps play a bit of havoc with the workings of our bodies.
Thus, at my ripe old age, I’m seeing the light and realizing that mass-produced foods (and non-foods) might be doing us all in. And perhaps our mothers and grandmothers had the right idea when they cooked from scratch. Maybe it’s not all glamour and fun, but the damage to a culture and a nation caused by the Big Food Industry might be hitting critical mass.
So let’s raise a glass of Healthy Green Smoothie goodness and toast to healthier eating (and cooking) habits. And to being, maybe … a part-time vegetarian? Yep, I could live (and live well) with that.
