free will

Have you ever refused to eat your vegetables, using the argument that they tasted “yucky”? If the answer is yes, did you later change your mind about vegetables when you learned about their superior nutrient content? Probably not. In America, we like to throw education at things because we think that will fix all our problems. “If only we educate them about the benefits nutritious foods, then they will all make appropriate lifestyle changes.” Right?

I think there is more to the equation than education. I have been pondering this thought for a few days, wondering how useful my book will be if no one actually follows the recommendations...

And then, the answer came to me. A serendipitous comment uttered by Daniel Faraday in this evening's episode of LOST...

"I’ve been so focused on the constants that I forgot about the variables," Daniel proclaims.
"What variables?" Jack asks.
"Us," replies Faraday, "we all make choices that influence the future. We can change our future..."

While not verbatim, the general idea is that we, as humans, have free will. We get the unique opportunity to create our lives in any way we want. This includes choices about food.

Maybe someone told you to “eat organic” and your immediate thought was “I can’t afford that.” Well, think again. What if it IS possible? In my life, I’ve found that, if I put enough positive energy into something, anything is possible.

Really.

If I truly want something and I do everything you can to make it happen, it eventually happens. To go along with the example: If I wanted to buy organic but didn’t originally think I could afford it, I would think about buying organic, talk about buying organic, share my plan to buy organic with friends… By making all my thoughts and words positive, I would, in turn, bring the experience to myself. Maybe my mom would buy me a bushel of organic apples. Or maybe a friend would give me the heads up about an organic greens sale at Grocery Outlet.

Maybe it’s not as simple as I make it sound, but I do know that eating with integrity means taking responsibility. Eating with integrity means not making excuses. Today you have the opportunity to create a delicious meal. You choose what to buy for dinner.

Intention

I love Saturdays.

On the weekends, I get to sleep in and then make myself a leisurely breakfast. This morning, I created a variation of "Eggs in a Nest" from Barbara Kingsolover's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.

Fresh, local, organic kale, sautéed in olive oil with onions and garlic. Add a water/apple cider vinegar mixture and braise for a few minutes. Make an indentation in the greens and crack an egg. Cover and cook a few minutes more, depending on your yolk preference (runny or firm). Serve over aromatic basmati rice with succulent orange slices on the side.
Oranges, although not local, provide vitamin c to help absorb iron from the kale.

I take the first bite and the tender kale nearly melts in my mouth, savory and hearty. The gooey yolk runs and mixes with greens. The result is magical. I chew slowly and thoughtfully, savoring the moment. Swallow. Take a breath. I select an orange slice, the juices filling my mouth with delicious sweetness. I am transformed. I can literally feel my body being nourished by this nutrient-dense breakfast.

I wish every meal could be like this. Most mornings I find myself running out the door, tea in hand and a piece of peanut butter toast hanging out of my mouth, hurrying to get to class on time. The experience is dramatically different. And my stomach lets me know, with GI discomfort sometimes plaguing me 24 hours later.

How often do we rush through our meals? Do we ever really TASTE what we are eating? I know I am guilty of this more than I would like to admit. And how many times do we skip lunch, trying to get that last little bit of paperwork done? Again, I raise my hand with shame.

Intention. It's not enough to just choose good quality food. Another important aspect of eating with integrity is to be in the moment and really appreciate and give thanks for the food that is nourishing you.

Instead of writing a long list of tips on how to eat more mindfully, I will refer you to this excellent (and entertaining) youtube video.

Enjoy!

Alternate Welcome

I have wanted to write a book about Eating with Integrity since the spring of 2007, when I attended an empowerment seminar in Cincinnati, Ohio. However, life as a graduate student in nutrition has proven to be a roadblock on the highway of serious literary synthesis. Since my vision of authorship does not seem likely to happen in the near future I am going to begin drafting my thoughts here and hopefully come up with a formidable enough collection to compile my ideas later in life.

Local Food

Take a journey with me. Close your eyes and imagine your last airplane trip. You wake up at 5am to catch an early flight across the country, you arrive at your destination nine hours later feeling groggy and disoriented…

Now imagine how a kiwi might feel after taking a long trip from New Zealand to your local grocery store. No matter where you live, that is at least 7,000 miles (11.3 km) of air travel! Not to mention that air travel is the most environment-damaging form of transportation through the HUGE amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) it releases. (Carbon dioxide: a greenhouse gas that absorbs and emits radiation, contributing to global warming).

Let’s compare travel methods. Shipping food by boat will emit 21 g of CO2 per metric ton of food per kilometer of distance traveled. If you refrigerate that boat, the number goes up to 27 g CO2/ton/km. A train expels 81 g, a truck belches 102 g, and a cold (fridge) truck jumps up to 131 g CO2/ton/km. Air travel, however, wins the booby prize with a carbon footprint of 570 g CO2/ton/km!

Taking a look at the ton of kiwi flying in from New Zealand again, I made some calculations (570 * 1 ton * 11.3km) and was shocked to learn that my innocent kiwi put 6441 g of CO2 into the atmosphere! Bleh!

Fact: It's not just tropical fruit. Most produce sold in the US travels nearly 1500 miles before it reaches the grocery store!

Choosing locally-grown food helps the environment by using less global-warming fossil fuel. In addition, you also reap the benefits of fresher (read: more flavorful and nutrient-rich) produce… but that is a topic for another day.

Whole Foods

If Maslow made a hierarchy for Eating with Integrity, the base level would be all about WHOLE FOODS.

What do I mean by whole food? To borrow lightly from my professor, Cynthia Lair, a whole food is a food that has not been modified from its original form, a food that you can picture growing. An apple. Asparagus. Brown rice. Garbanzo beans.

These foods have INTEGRITY. They are still in their whole form. They are as God made them.

"And God said, 'See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food'" (Genesis 1:29).

Anytime a food is processed, nutrients are lost. This can be as simple as removing the skin from your potatoes (the majority of nutrients are found just underneath the skin!), or as complicated as the chemical process of transforming whole corn into high fructose corn syrup.

The more whole foods you can consume each day, the more vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients you are providing your body. The American Dietetic Association recommends 5-a-day. For a more personalized recommendation, visit this website.

Welcome to Eating with Integrity

Not all food is created equal. In addition to the many species of fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes, there are a multitude of processed products that we regularly consume. With billions of choices lining the supermarket shelves, how does the average American decide what to purchase and eat? What makes a food nutritious/healthy, anyway? Is there a “perfect” diet, and if so, what is it?

This blog will strive to answers these questions (and many others) using a mixture of anecdotes, quotes, and facts. As a future dietitian hoping to Revolutionize Health in America (Read: help people eat better) it is my goal to maintain an optimistic tone and provide useful dietary advice for any visitor to this site.