Recently I discussed in part one  the importance of  how to eat real food. Now I would like to explain why I feel that grass fed meat and pastured animal products are better for you.

I have always believed that “you are what you eat” since what you eat can greatly affect your mind, your health and overall well-being. As in this video on how food can affect your mood. The speaker goes on to say that

Junk food equals junk moods.

I thought this was a powerful statement that really gets you to thinking!

Everything that we eat is made of nutrients, macro nutrients that are the building blocks of life for new cell growth. The human body is always in a constant state of Regeneration and this cannot happen effectively without proper nourishment.

It is sort of like our skin which sheds all day long; when we bathe we are actually exfoliating our bodies sloughing off dead skin cells releasing the new ones to come to the top. The same thing happens inside the body with our cells. The old go away and new ones are formed.

With such a constant pace of cell regeneration, which helps to fight off disease it is best if we equip our bodies with best nourishment. Empty calories or substandard food will only ensure that our foundation for health and wellness is weak.

Eating food that is pretty much factory raised does have issues that come with them. Much of the animals today are raised in factory's that are meant to make them fat for slaughtering by having them eat empty calories.

If you have not had the chance yet to watch the film Food Incthan I suggest you do so. You can read my official review of it here since it goes into more detail in a video manner about the horrible conditions on how our food goes from factory to plate.

Many of the animals are fed genetically modified craps that has already been sprayed with pesticides that can harm their digestive systems. Cows are supposed to eat grass and roughage but instead they are fed grains and corn to make them fat. Sugars from the corn increase the fat content unnaturally and can cause disease. Chickens are shut in doors and kept from the greens and bugs outside (their natural habitat) in close quarters with really no exercise what so ever. But fed grains and soy once again to fatten them as quick as possible.

If you are what you eat, then what do we hope to become by eating animal products that come from factory farms?

Right.

This is a scary thought and it is one that paved the way for the rebirth of the grass fed and pastured foods movement. A lot of consumers are now looking for safer alternatives by seeking out beef from cows that are grass fed, and allowed to roam naturally with minimal pesticide interaction. They buy farm fresh eggs where the chickens are allowed to roam free and eat grass, seeds, bugs, fruit that is more natural to them.

Grass-fed meat is lean and has a fat content that more closely resembles chicken or wild game. This actually helps to improve your cholesterol levels instead of raise them. While it is low in the bad fats associated with high cholesterol, it is very high in the good fats, the omega-3 fatty acids. All of the nutrition from the pastures they graze translates into lean cuts of meat and delicious milk that are nutritionally superior and much healthier for your family.

Pastured eggs are said to have about 20 times more omega-3 fatty acids than their factory farmed counterparts. The moment you crack open a pastured egg you can tell from the dark orange yolk that you are eating something rich and full of nutrition. They also taste infinitely better than other eggs. Once you try them you will find you be hard pressed to ever go without again.

As the saying goes, we are truly what we eat!

What are your thoughts on the whole Real Food Movement?

P.S. Stay Tuned for Part Three of the series on How to eat Real Food!

As I’m sitting here eating this gluten free chocolate chip cookie, I decided it would be a really great time to let you know about a really cool book that I have been reading.

The book is called In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan who is the author of the omnivore’s Dilemma, and may I add a New York Times bestseller.

I have had the book for quite some time now and never got around to finishing it until now and boy what an awesome book! Michael Pollan really delivers in this book. He gives some great insight into what Real Food is and how we can come to know  how to eat in a more conscious manner. Which is not only better for ourselves, but will greatly increase sustainability of the world we live in.

If you do not know exactly what real food is than you might want to take notes.

Just kidding:)

As the decades have passed mainly in the latter part of the 19th century we have been inundated by mass media and marketing claims that the food we are eating is really healthy.

I mean right, who would really have questions about food that is supposed to be good for us, I mean since most of the food we eat is sponsored and given kudos from some of the biggest health associations out there.

But as we all know not everything that always shines is  always gold.

Right.

I mean I may sound harsh but that is just the stark reality of the food that is out there.

So what really is a Traditional Food Diet (way of eating)?

And why have many chosen this choice?

Well first off traditional eating is mainly getting back to the roots of eating, the real core food of what true food is. It is pretty much cutting out all the junk, the processed crap and really eating yummy, healthy wholesome food.

Traditional food is how we used to eat about 50 to 100 years before we had all the commercialized way of eating.

Which is pretty much governed by the food scientists.

Yes there are food scientists that exist who’s job is to take and re-create new ways of making food. That has never existed on its own, but is taken from real food sources, stripped of all nutrient values and than enriched once again( bread) to try to make it healthy.

As more and more companies came into play so did the power and money. Big money was an issue and now not only were they telling us what was healthy for us. The food corporations started to really make us believe that many of staples that have existed for centurys was bad fur us.

Like butter…….

It was this marketing that made us believe that good old fashioned butter would make us fat and that fake butter in the form of chemical laden margarine was actually the better option.

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They started processing traditional favorites and using marketing tactics to make us believe that these new foods and products were healthier for us, but in reality the companies are taking healthy nourished food in its true form, and depleting it of it true potential all in effect to gain a buck.

They remove the healthiest parts, while adding chemical preservatives and flavorings to make it tasty.

Likewise during that time period when the food corporations were just getting started they had to find a way to make many believe that the lard, or grease from animal products would make them fat. Never mind the fact that fake oils like processed vegetable shortening is actually really what will make you fat.

Not to mention the fact that low fat and skim milk is not all that they claim it to be, in fact your body needs fat to survive. The brain is made up of fatty tissues and needs good fats to function at its maximum peak.

Good fats such as good oils like coconut oil, olive oil, and real animal fats.

Real fat foods that nature provides are almost always better and healthier for us than what can be made in a lab, where critical fat-soluble vitamins A, D, K2 are often lost or removed. While at the same time many of foods we eat today are packaged in plastic bags or tin cans with with BPA (Bisphenol A) liners that can leach toxic substances into our food.

That is why many today are going back to a more traditional way of eating, the real food way.

I am not saying you have to go all gung ho, and drastically change your life to eat the real food way.

What I am saying that every little bit helps. When you start to eliminate the artificial , processed , colorful , pre-packaged foods. And start shopping locally by going to the farmers market, natural health food stores and buying fresh produce you will have already started a new way a eating that is more healthy and delicious for yourself.

Clever marketing may have made us temporarily believe that scientists could engineer better foods but vast increase in degenerative diseases afflicting us over the past few decades has made many of us rethink this position. If food is to be our medicine than we need to give the foods we eat a vast deal more consideration and return to traditional foods.

Here are a list of resources that you should look into if you want to know more about eating real food and a traditional way of eating.

Weston Price Foundation – A great resource for learning about what traditional eating is and why it is so important. You should read this information great enlightening source of valuable material . Will leave you speechless.

The Nourishing Cook – Great Site for learning some real food recipes easily and ready for cooking.

How food Impacts Your Mood– A previous post examining the roots of how food can disrupt your mood.

P.S. Click Here for Part Two and my official review of In Defense of Food.