What Should I Eat?

Please don’t judge me for what I am about to reveal; I listen to the Broadway station on satellite radio.  Not all the time, I listen to way cooler stuff too, but when I am driving I love to sing along at the top of my lungs to the stylings of everyone from Ethel Merman to Mandy Patinkin. There are also some interesting interviews, (here is where we get to the reason for this confession) and last week I heard Farah Alvin talking about her career on Broadway, but also, talking about the nutritional program she runs.  I think this was the first time I heard someone saying a lot of what I have said, only in a better articulated manner, and with some actual nutritional training to back her up, rather than my reliance on personal experience and years of observation.

Alvin used a phrase that resonated with me, in fact, it has continued to reverberate through my head over the last several days: “Whatever you eat, eat as close to the source as possible”.   Wow, it doesn’t get much simpler than that, and I can’t think of a better approach to any style of eating than that!  This is the same philosophy that is espoused by the real food movement, from Lisa Leake’s 100 Days of Real Food, to businesses like Real Food Works and Healthy Bites.  And though the interviewer talking to Farah Alvin joked that her suggestion meant he should eat his Doritos directly from the bag, he clearly got it, and who wouldn’t?

There are numerous books to support almost any eating style that appeals to you.  If you are looking to improve what you eat, it seems that Alvin’s approach would and does fit any of them.  The bottom line, is to step away from the box!  I would never presume to tell anyone what to eat, or even what not to eat.  If you are anything like me, then as soon as something goes on the forbidden list, even if you haven’t thought about it for years, you are suddenly consumed with a desire for that very thing, and hardly anything else will satisfy you but that chicken pot pie, jelly doughnut, lassagna, New England clam chowder, popcorn dripping with real butter, potato pancake with applesauce and sour cream, a hot pastrami sandwich… oh, excuse me, I drifted off…   

No one can tell you what to eat, or what works for you better than you can tell for yourself.  Because your friend feels awesome when she is eating a Paleo diet, doesn’t mean you will too.  I have encouraged you to pay attention to your food to check if it’s spoiled, and I encourage you to pay attention to your body as it responds to what you feed it.  People with gluten allergies generally feel pretty lousy when they eat food containing it.  For people who have these allergies it is a serious matter, but before you self-diagnose keep in mind that only about six percent of  people actually have that particular allergy, while lactose intolerance is closer to forty percent.    Many allergies have more to do with your genetic make-up than your environment.  If your ancestors didn’t drink milk, they likely didn’t develop the genetic ability to digest it easily.  

Eat as close you the source as you can.  Eat vegetables, and even if you like them tossed with some butter or oil, and salt, have it be the butter or salt that you add, not something the Jolly Green Giant calls butter.  A baked potato is clearly preferable to a tot, as is the burger you cook on your own grill, not the one you get under the golden arches.  If you can’t shop at a farmers’ market, the grocery store will still get you fairly close to the source if you stay away from boxes of  “food”.  This is a list of real vs. processed food, and that is all.  It is a basic guideline of source foods.  

Image Courtesy of 100 Days of Real Food