You are what you eat

By Rebecca Hiebert

You are what you eat. Quite literally your body is made up of the things that you eat. For a healthy body, chose healthy food. Buying whole food ingredients and cooking from scratch gives you the control to choose the very best nutrients for your body.  Often cooking from scratch is cheaper, healthier and much more tasty. Cooking can become an enjoyable pastime, a family event. After all, food is one of the most important things a body needs.

By buying whole foods and preparing your own meals you can control the amount of salt, sugar and fat you use. Un-processed foods such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans offer you the best nutrient loads. As soon as foods are processed, fibre, and water-soluble and heat-sensitive vitamins are lost, unavailable to your body when the food is consumed. Increases in heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and diabetes have been caused, in-part, by the missing nutrients and fibers in the highly processed foods available at the grocery store.

Preparing food from scratch allows you to utilize techniques that have become almost extinct. Recently South East Transition has been putting on Re-skilling workshops that have focused on lost food arts such as sourdough bread making. Sourdough greatly adds to the nutrient value of bread by pre-digesting some starches and gluten and freeing up minerals, making the bread more digestible. Using whole grains can further increase the nutrients and fiber in bread; whole grain flour contains more fiber, vitamins and minerals than store-bought flour, because commercial flour is missing the nutrient-filled germ and most of the bran of the wheat kernel.

Cooking using whole foods helps you to connect with the food that you are eating. When you put the time into preparing a meal, it tastes better, not only because the ingredients are fresher but because you have an appreciation for what you are putting on your plate. Even better if you can share that cooking experience with a family member and pass on the value of healthy eating.

Preparing your own food does take some planning and a little extra time but it is more economical. Whole foods are often cheaper than processed foods, they are more satisfying to eat, and impart more nutrients. A few almonds provide a healthy, nutrient-dense snack that fills up the tummy much faster that any store-bought crackers.

You have only one body to last you your lifetime. Only you can make the decision to provide your body with the kinds of vitamins and minerals, sugars and fats that will help your body thrive. Before your next grocery trip, pick out one new recipe to try and spend a little more time in the fresh food aisle. Your body will thank you.