I recently watched the excellent documentary, "Forks Over Knives," which expands on the important idea of whole foods as the key to health and well-being. With a thesis similar to that of Michael Pollan's book, In Defense of Food, the documentary discusses the correlation between diet and illness around the globe, showing that those cultures that consume more pure, whole foods and fewer meat products are significantly healthier than those that do not. It makes sense, really, and I have happily hopped on the real food bandwagon.
I always thought we ate healthily, but when I think back to what I fed my oldest when she was a toddler, I shudder. Boxed white pasta, boxed cereal, boxed crackers, foods with refined flour and sugar, jarred baby food, and a variety of other processed foods filled our diet. Now I have shifted to foods that are as untouched by a factory as possible, including significantly increasing our consumption of organic fruits and vegetables, making all of our baked goods at home using whole wheat flour and honey over more processed flour and sugar, getting milk delivered straight from the farm, and eliminating meat.
So far, we all seem to be healthier and more energetic as a result of these dietary changes, but the real drive is one of selfishness. I don't like it when my kids are sick, I don't like it when my husband and I are sick, and I'd like to keep colds and illnesses as far away from my home as possible. So I am administering lots of doses of real, whole foods and hoping that this vegetarian army keeps us all in good health.
