A Deer in Headlights

During my 34 yrs as a respiratory therapist I would see patients when they came in for a heart bypass. I would see them again when they came in for their re-do heart bypass and see them yet again for their re-do, re-do heart bypass.

They went home on a multitude of drugs. Why did they need to come back for more surgeries?

The answer is simple. Drugs, alone, do not create health.

You can't take your body to the doctor and expect him to fix you like your mechanic fixes your car.

They didn't change the things in their life which caused them to have the original (or the subsequent surgeries). They still partook of the same nutrition-less diet. They were still sedentary.

Their repeated need for surgery was a lifestyle disease.

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein

While they are in the hospital we can tell people to eat differently, but unless we give them the knowledge of how to do so they will continue eating crap (i.e. processed and/or fast foods).  Why? because they don't know they are eating crap. Everywhere you look there is processed foods. Frankenfoods. Foods with chemicals your body doesn't know what to do with. Great-Grandma and Grandpa ate whole foods but the patients I saw grew up eating  primarily processed and or fast foods. To them that is normal.

People are so inundated with processed food commercials when you mention they should eat whole foods they look at you with wide-eyed incredulity. Like a deer in headlights. And that is what they are if they continue with a diet high in processed foods. A deer in headlights. A deer on a very bad path. I will never forget the young mother of three kids who in a panic at the mention of whole foods said, "but how do we do that everywhere is processed foods?"

No-one had told her about shopping the perimeter of the grocery store. It didn't occur to her to do anything other than  fix the boxed processed foods. People like her (and perhaps, you) do not realize how nutrition-poor processed and fast foods can be. Most people think if they eat three meals a day they are getting what they need.

Truth is our overweight population is actually suffering from malnutrition.

We need to help people like her  by giving them the knowledge they need to nourish themselves with whole foods. They need a repertoire of whole food recipes. It's not hard to prepare nourishing, life-giving meals when you have the directions to do so!

Get yourself a little notebook, follow this blog and I will help you develop a repertoire of whole food recipes.

Here's one:

Perfect Hominy White Bean Chili

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. chili powder or more if you desire
1 jalapeno chile, (optional) seeded and chopped
One 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
Two 15.5oz cans white beans drained and rinsed (or 3 cups slow cooked)
One 16 oz can hominy, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Heat the oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic, cover and cook until softened. Stir in the chili powder and cook about 30 seconds longer.

Transfer the mixture to a 4-6 quart slow cooker. Add the jalapeno, tomatoes, beans, hominy, water, cumin, oregano, salt, pepper; cover, cook on low for 6-8 hrs.

Just before serving add the cilantro and taste to adjust the seasonings.

(This yummy recipe is from the book "Fresh From The Vegetarian Slow Cooker" By Robin Robertson. It's a wonderful book! Go get it!)
Enjoy!