Going Cave Man

When it comes to food, we have it all wrong.  Our children are growing up in a fast-food, over-processed world.  They think that food comes from drive-thrus and in convenient pocket-paks, while money grows on trees.  Have we forgotten that it is the food that grows on trees, and that money should be squirreled away in our pockets?  The industrialization of the food industry helped to feed our masses as they fled the heartlands, flocking to urban areas in search of opportunity.  It meant that a son was no longer born into the certainty of living and dying on his father’s farm.   It meant that we could thrive where we wanted without fear of being without life’s essentials.  But at what cost?

I learned in my epidemiology classes that it takes a generation (20-30 years) to see the effects from the introduction of a new agent.  Coca Cola was introduced in 1886, Kellogg’s cereals in 1906, Wonder Bread in 1921, and McDonald’s in 1940.  What does this tell you about lifestyles of the Twentieth Century?  At the same time, we have hybridized our fruits and vegetables to make them last longer and conform to ideal standards of beauty (rendering them tasteless in the process).  We have pumped our livestock with hormones and carbs to maximize pounds per head.  We have freeze-dried, powdered, and boxed everything from meat stocks to baby formula.  Is it any wonder that we are a morbidly obese nation?  Nutritionally, we have done the equivalent of filling our car’s gas tank with water.  Now we are shaking our heads, wondering why Nature’s well-designed engines fail to run as promised. 

I have never been especially health conscious.  I do not—or rather, cannot—run miles each day.  I detest working out in a gym.  As I have gotten older, “genetically-programmed” arthritis hit my joints one-by-one.  It’s a vicious downward spiral:  if you can’t exercise, your metabolism slows to a crawl causing weight gain and an assortment of attacks on blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar.  I have tried many fad diets, logging years under Weight Watchers and Atkins plans.  Diets do not work; they are based upon eliminating essential foods rather than on using the power of nutrition as a sustaining concept.  I always come back to the idea that we are animals; it should never be bad to eat something that grows in nature!

I have begun a new outlook, and so far so good.  I have thrown all the carbs counters and points and exchanges to the curb.  With them I have also banned overly-processed, industrialized foods:  white flour, white sugar, white rice, Diet Coke, boxed cereals, and anything with high fructose corn syrup.  After that, I eat pretty much what I wish, reminding myself that everything good comes from a tree or a farm.  In the first couple of weeks I have already become more agile, noticing a bit of relief to the stiffness and pain I have nursed for years.  I am rewarded with a loss of about a pound per day.

Cooking “whole” is a challenge.  It takes time to shop regularly for fresh produce and to create foods from scratch that most people buy in convenient bottles, jars, and boxes.  Today, for example, I am making a batch of “chana aloo”—a spicy curry dish of chick peas and potatoes.  For the first time, I bought dried chick peas; I am now simmering a pot that I soaked overnight.  I am willing to bet that they will taste so much better than the mushy product that comes from cans!

I remember years ago trying to make a batch of homemade spaghetti sauce, consulting several cookbooks from the best authorities on Italian cooking.  I was amazed to find that every published recipe resorted to canned tomatoes and tomato sauce.  You cannot make fresh sauce from cans!  Now, I go to our local farm and buy a bunch of locally grown roma and cherry tomatoes.  I cut and season them (squeezing out the seeds and pulp), then roast them in the oven until their flavors concentrate.  I then steep the pulverized pulp puree with fresh basil and finally, toss with whole wheat pasta.  This is a delight unlike anything from a jar!

Scientists have yet to unlock all the secrets of heredity and disease.  I am guessing that there are those of us who are more susceptible to the downside of all the additives, preservatives, and pesticides found in today’s food products.  I am tired of taking a pill to fight each symptom when it may be possible to eliminate the causes by allowing my body to work the way it was designed.  It may take a bit more hunting and gathering, but in the end I am hopeful of a healthy result.