Over the past few decades, Western culture has become more hurried. And so has our not-so-healthy diet. Fast, frozen, and just-add-water-and-heat foods have become the American eating mainstays. Few people “have time” to prepare meals from scratch.
If you have been one of those people, it’s time to start making the time.
I won’t get into all the health issues related to eating processed foods. You can all the sordid details on the topic in my e-book, Weird Eating. (The book also helps you to eat healthy on a tight schedule.) Instead, I want to give you three crucial reasons to switch your diet from mostly processed foods to mostly whole foods, as George Mateljan elaborates in his soon-to-be classic, The World’s Healthiest Foods.
1. Nutrient-dense whole foods protect against cardiovascular disease.
One British study found that for every additional serving of fruit or vegetable eaten per day, the risk of heart attack is reduced by 4%. Another study found that people who made the move to a whole-foods diet that included olive oil, nuts and seeds and less saturated fat reduced their risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 70% after 27 months.
2. They protect against cancer.
Whole foods are loaded with the vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients that help keep abnormal cell growth at bay. For example, the folic acid in leafy greens reduces the risk of colon cancer. Broccoli contains the substances called glucosinolates which help the body to eliminate carcinogens. And you’ve probably heard of how the lycopene in tomatoes lowers a man’s risk of developing prostate cancer.
3. They protect against diabetes.
A whole foods, nutrient-dense diet may be the best prevention and treatment of type 2 – or, adult onset – diabetes. This type of diet provides anti-inflammatory nutrients that lessen the damage the high blood levels of sugar would otherwise cause. It also provides a lot of fiber, which drastically slows down the amount of sugar that gets into the blood stream at once.
Most of the degenerative disease found in our society today is not caused by aging, but, in large part, by eating the wrong foods. Take the time to prepare whole foods meals from scratch, and you will increase your “risk” of living much healthier, for much longer.