Get Americans Eating Healthier

Diet-related deaths now account for more deaths than smoking!  Surprising, yet not a surprise when you think about all the processed, sugar- and salt-ladened foods in the grocery stores and in restaurants.  We are surrounded on all sides by readily available unhealthy food.  In fact, finding healthy foods can be a challenge when you are on-the-go.

This statistic is preventable, yet there are obstacles to overcome to begin to reverse this trend.  According to an article from the National Public Radio (NPR);

“The data are stark: the typical American diet is shortening the lives of many Americans. Diet-related deaths outrank deaths from smoking, and about half of U.S. deaths from heart disease – nearly 900 deaths a day – are linked to poor diet. The pandemic highlighted the problem, with much worse outcomes for people with obesity and other diet-related diseases.”   

It is a bigger issue than just giving people a pep talk and telling them to ‘eat more vegetables and fruit.’  If that were true, then all the times we mothers spoke those words would have prevented the rising tide of diet-related deaths in the first place.

Let’s look at a couple of the obstacles first, and then I want to share what is being done about this and the help available afterwards.

First, diet habits are typically ‘caught,’ not talked, into existence.  What I mean by this is that if you were raised in a home where there was an abundance of fresh and cooked vegetables and fruits at mealtimes and snack times, then the visual learning from a young age would be to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

If you instead were told to eat more vegetables and fruits, but were not presented and modeled eating them (and enjoying them), what you saw can overrule what you were told.  ‘Do what I say and not what I do’ hasn’t ever worked very well.

Also, we have been trained by cleaver marketing that eating vegetables and fruits is expensive, but that processed foods will stretch the budget.

In truth, if you replace your processed foods with fresh (and on sale) vegetables, fruits and proteins of your choosing, you may be surprised at the actual cost versus the cost of the processed empty calories you have been regularly purchasing.

Second, processed foods have high levels of salt, sugar and processed fats which create an addictive response. This intentional layering can ‘taint’ your tastebuds.  Too much salt causes us to lose the taste of it, so more and more salt has to be added to achieve the same taste over time.  (Very unhealthy.)

Sugar also has this effect.  Sugar typically comes from the sugar cane plant.  There are also a  lot of sweeteners derived from corn (high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, etc.) that are used in processed foods.  Both of these plants, cane sugar and corn, are grasses, as are all of the grains. Grains are the seeds of grasses which are processed into the flours used in baked goods.  They are from the family of grasses called edible-grasses.

For anyone with seasonal allergies to grasses, this is a problem.  Breathing grasses causes sinus and respiratory problems.  Eating them causes internal digestive problems which can lead to autoimmune problems.  Hence the astounding rise in autoimmune diseases in the past century.

Additionally, the rising cost of groceries, gas, and rents have taken a toll on our budgets.

But there is good news.  While it may have seemed like nothing was being done, in the background there has been work taking place to get real help to the people here in America.

The White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health will take place September 28th, where they will announce a new national strategy to get help to the American people.

Lastly, diet choices are typically patterns (similar to well worn paths).  In order to make lasting changes you have to be intentional at first.  Changing patterns is do-able, no matter what your age.  (Contrary to belief, humans can be taught at any age.).

Making different eating choices begins with the knowledge to make better choices.  Grain Free Mama’s online training course, Sustainable Clean Eating Made Simple, offers a self-paced course that will give you the tools to confidently make the changes needed to eat healthier.

We arm you with the knowledge and confidence to take control of your eating. We’ve created an easy-to-follow online video course for you to discover exactly what is healthy for you and why!

Learn more here and sign up today at https://grainfreemamas.com/