Mom was right, you DO need to eat your greens!

I kind of take for granted that most people out there are, at least slightly, concerned about their health, so I am always taken aback when I meet people who have absolutely zero regard for it. Most people are more concerned with their waist size than their health but I don't mind that because it makes my life a little easier when I'm encouraging people to be healthy. People are usually willing to make compromises when it comes to health and food, if it means they can buy those skinny jeans they've been eyeing out;) So, by default, they end up being healthy even though that wasn't their aim. But what about those people who, not only couldn't care less about their health, but also couldn't care less about their waist size?

They do exist! As a real foodist and an exercise scientist, it shocks me, I admit. It doesn't happen often but, now and then I come upon a person who has absolutely no concern for their health or their waist size when it comes to food and I am stumped. I honestly don't know how to help them. I understand having one or two foods that you absolutely do not like and no compromise will be possible. For me, if I was going to pick one vegetable, it would be brusselsprouts! It's not that they're disgusting. For me it's more the association. When we were kids my mom would make us eat our veggies. What mom doesn't;) For some reason though, the one vegetable I associate with LOOOONG hours spent at the dining room table trying to choke it down, is brusselsprouts. The memory comes back when I see a brusselsprout and so I choose to just avoid them! 

So I GET that. But, when I meet people who, very proudly, tell me that they don't eat, nor have they EVER eaten, a single fruit or vegetable, I just stare at them in abject horror. I am speechless in that kind of situation. Either these are people who just really don't care how they die, or when they die, or how they feel while they live, or they are honestly completely clueless about food and nutrition. I think it may be the latter in most cases. Going back to the brusselsprout story, I GET how much you hated vegetables as a kid. I hated green beans and peas, along with brusselsprouts, but I eat them now and I enjoy them too. I COULD eat brusselsprouts if I had to, without gagging;) But I just choose not to because I eat so many other veggies that I don't actually NEED to eat brusselsprouts. But to carry that hatred over from childhood to adulthood, for ALL fruit and vegetables is just plain silly, and a bit reckless.

I'm reminded, in this kind of scenario, that people really do just see food, as something to be eaten. And, once it's been eaten, it magically disappears, doesn't do anything to your body, and doesn't affect your health. I've studied food for so long that it IS easy to forget that most people don't know anything about food. They honestly think that, eating ONLY meat, potatoes, bread, pasta and desserts, for your whole life, is fine. That's what they like, so that's what they eat. They even go as far as to remove the lettuce off their burgers because it's a vegetable!! I call them Tastebud Pleasers because that's ALL they're thinking about. They don't think about the food AFTER it leaves their tastebuds but, honestly, how can you not?

It's the same as people who randomly pop pills into their mouths for every ailment, and sometimes to prevent a POSSIBLE ailment! It is exactly the same. Why? Because food IS medication. Everything you eat is going to affect your health, be it negatively or positively. Your body struggles to digest cooked food on its own. That is why I always recommend eating some salad with your meal or, at least, having a fruit as dessert. You need to eat something that is raw, when you eat cooked food or your body is going to start taking strain. Once that food leaves your mouth, it has a long journey through your digestive system and there is a lot going on, all involving that food. 

From the time it enters your mouth until the time it leaves your body, more or less 50 hours will have passed. During that time, it can either do a lot of healing, or a lot of damage, because everything that CAN be used in that food, will be used for fuel for your body, and to rebuild and replace lost cells. That means, if you don't give it something decent to use, your body will make do with what's available. Think about that same thing happening for 30 or 40 years. The same meat, potatoes and dessert, day in, and day out. By the time you are 40, you will feel, and look, like you are 60. But honestly, you'll be lucky to MAKE it to 40 without some kind of dread disease if you continue to eat that way. Your cells are made up of everything you've consumed, be it food, or drink, or medication. If you've given it precious little to build with, and lots of dead, chemical-ridden, non-nutritional food, you are very likely walking a tightrope over a big hole filled with all sorts of chronic diseases and no safety net to catch you.

Sounds dramatic huh? How dramatic is this? Heart disease is the number one killer disease in the world today, with cancer running a close second. These diseases didn't exist a century ago. They are diseases of civilisation, created by the amount of chemicals in our diets, and the amount of non-nutritional food that people are eating. People live on junk. Read this post for my thoughts on junk food. YOU have the power to control what happens to your body. Stick with your meat and potatoes and burgers without the lettuce and you are pretty much giving the power over to heart disease and cancer. Begin to see food as a powerful medication, that will heal and fortify your body, and you are taking the power back.

This is something that starts with educating kids. Look at my brusselsprout issue;) When your kids say, "Why do I have to eat the vegetables, I don't like them!" Don't just say, "Because I said so!" or "Because they're good for you!" Tell them WHY they are good for them. Kids have such enquiring minds. They want to know and understand, and most of them will rebel against whatever you TELL them to do, simply because it's in their nature. Arm them with knowledge and let them work out for themselves why fruit and vegetables are good for them and they will probably be more inclined to eat them. Don't let them reach adulthood still being utterly clueless about their bodies and how they work. If you teach them about food, you probably won't have to worry too much about what they eat when they aren't around you, because they will think for themselves and, hopefully, make the right decision. 

Make vegetables seem like something fun for them. If they help you plant and grow your vegetables, and then they help you in the kitchen, to prepare them, they will be more intrigued about them. It's so rewarding watching them grow in the garden! They will feel so proud of themselves when they pick their first tomato;) When my 6 year old nephew came to stay for a night, I showed him my veggie garden and he was so excited to see a tomato growing in the garden, instead of just on a shelf in a store, that he picked it and ate it straight away! Then he wanted to know how it got to my garden if they're supposed to be from the shop! It was a golden opportunity to teach him that he could one day also grow his own food.

I encourage you to teach your kids about growing their own food. They will find it very exciting and fulfilling. As you work and prepare meals with them from your garden, talk to them about the vegetables and why they are good and how growing them at  home makes them better for you because they aren't sprayed with pesticides and your compost is organic.

Lead by example. If you eat junk food, your kids will eat junk food. If you don't like a certain vegetable, don't pull a face or push it away and then expect your kids to eat it. If there is something you don't like, don't tell your kids it's because you're an adult and you get to choose but they don't! That is going to seriously upset them. Wouldn't it upset you if someone told YOU that? Kids are really just smaller versions of ourselves who need to understand why rather than just taking orders. Always explain and tell them what, where, why and how. Kids are sharp. They will take these things away with them and think about them and they are more inclined to make an informed decision at a later stage. Sure, they'll push boundaries, but on the whole, I think they are like little sponges that just want to take everything in and learn wherever possible. So make sure you are teaching them all the good things.

I honestly believe that, if you educate your kids about what's good and what's bad for them, they will remember it into adulthood. Create good habits, set a good example and give them the tools they need to build a strong, healthy body. Read this post to see my thoughts on real food as opposed to processed food. No-one should be anti-fruits and vegetables. No-one should be clueless about nutrition and the power of food. You are setting yourself up for a lot of heartache and very high medical bills. 

I believe the best way to show you love someone, is by giving them the knowledge and the tools to help themselves. Only good things can come from that!