Shake The Hand That Feeds You

The fact is in North America, we have the highest rate of diet related diseases: diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Up to two thirds of premature deaths can be attributed to poor nutrition and physical inactivity! That’s astounding!

As well, in Canada and all of North America, we spend the lowest percentage of our income on groceries and meals (9.9%), we spend the least amount of time preparing the food we eat, and we eat more calories each day; compared to other countries in the developed world. And unsurprisingly, when polled, we have the lowest rate of enjoyment of our diet. We seem to have forgotten to enjoy all of this food we’re eating!

In France, on the other hand, people spend a higher percentage of their income on their diet, they spend more time preparing and enjoying their meals (and usually enjoyed with family and/or friends), and they eat far fewer calories each day compared to North Americans. The most important fact is a very high percentage of people polled had a high enjoyment of their diet.

So…does this mean that the more we eat = the less we enjoy our food?

Not quite. This paradox comes down to our relationship with food. Food is much more than the number of calories we eat, or the grams of carbs or protein we eat each day. The better quality the food you eat, the less you’ll want to eat of it each day. Low quality food (processed and highly manufactured food products) tends to spark a craving for more food. Why? This is mostly because our body is still looking for the nutrients that had been removed through processing. High quality whole foods are very high in nutrients, taste incredible, and are much more satisfying. If you’d like to lose weight, have more energy, AND enjoy what you’re eating – eat a diet high in whole foods.

One of the fastest ways to increase the abundance of fresh, nutritious, whole foods in your diet is to shop at your local farmer’s market. Head to your local Farmer’s Market each week and buy your produce directly from the wonderful farmer who grew it for you. This is the freshest food you can possibly buy. In most cases it was picked that morning and is still warm from the sun. You can “Shake the Hand That Feeds You”.

Growing your own food gives you even fresher food to add to your diet, and you can gain a higher appreciation for the time and effort the growers put into the food that ends up on your table. Even a window box full of herbs will improve your diet immediately. Every time I weed my garden, or find a plant is not quite producing the produce it should, I think about the incredible quality the farmers at the market can produce. A lot of work goes into the food on our plate and a higher appreciation can increase your enjoyment of your meal…and therefore slow you down and reduce the amount that you eat.

Lisa Kilgour, registered holistic nutritionist and co-host for the TV show Fit For A King, visits a local farmers market, talks about and compares North American diets and eating habits, to those of Europeans - specifically France. She encourages you to "shake the hand that feeds you" stressing the importance of buying local, fresh, organic produce.

For more information, visit www.FitForAKing.co

KFC Double Down "Healthier" Than an Egg? What!?

According to CTV.ca -

"For anyone watching their cholesterol, Canadian researchers say eating a single egg could be more harmful than munching the current king of fast food indulgences.

According to a new report published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology, one egg yolk can contain more cholesterol than a KFC Double Down sandwich.

Compared to the 150 milligrams of cholesterol contained in the now-famous sandwich comprised of bacon, cheese and sauce sandwiched between two pieces of deep fried chicken, researchers say a single egg can contain between 215 and 275 milligrams. A Big Mac contains just 75 mg of cholesterol, while a footlong meatball sandwich from Subway packs 90 mg."

It's not just CTV.ca. The Toronto Star and the Toronto Sun have published similar articles calling this incredibly unhealthy sandwich "healthier" than an egg. A nutrient-packed, incredibly healthy, whole food egg.

The way I see it, there are 2 BIG problems with this article -

1. Using only dietary cholesterol as a way of judging if a food is "good" or "bad"

2. Considering dietary cholesterol as an issue when dealing with heart disease risk 

Let me start with the first point, using cholesterol as the only comparison....I need to simmer for few minutes before I start into a "cholesterol isn't bad for you!" rant. :)

Many clinical studies, including one by The Harvard School of Health, found that eggs do not raise blood cholesterol in healthy individuals AND has even been shown to raise "good" HDL cholesterol! The KFC Double Down, on the other hand, is FULL of transfat. Transfat has been found, in pretty much every study ever it's been in, to raise cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease. 

One is a nutrient-packed whole food and the other one of the most unhealthy fast foods ever created! I'm quite impressed that the writer of this (well, these) articles had the guts to compare such different foods.

I think the biggest problem with this article is the way that we're looking at food and health in general. We're trying to put everything on a "good" or "bad" list. Even worse, we're trying to put single components in food onto a "good' or "bad" list, opening the doors for manufactured foods that are "healthier" than their whole food components. Some of these articles even list egg white substitutes as the healthier option if you're going to eat eggs! How is that possible!? ....I'll get into this topic in more detail in my next post...:)

Back to cholesterol - Why is the consideration of dietary cholesterol an issue? Because it is an essential part of our diet. Our bodies use cholesterol to make Vitamin D and hormones. It also uses it to repair arterial damage. 

...wait, I thought cholesterol clogged our arteries?!

Yes, it can, but one of it's main roles in our body is to repair damaged to our arteries - caused by free radicals, heavy metals, and transfats...just to name a few (many of which are in the manufactured foods that have the "Health Check" symbol"). As well, our liver manufactures about 80% of the cholesterol in our body, and it's well-proven fact that the cholesterol in our diet has a very small affect on the amount of cholesterol in our bloodstream.

Instead of trying to reduce the cholesterol in your bloodstream through medication or dietary "products", ask yourself, why is it high? What am I eating that might be causing my body to raise the cholesterol in my bloodstream? Eating a diet that balances YOUR body (a diet unique to you) is the best way to keep you healthy and keep your cholesterol where it should be.

For the full CTV.ca article, click HERE - did I mention, a similar article, bashing the egg marketers even more is posted in their "Healthzone" section !

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and eat an egg in protest.