People who believe that healthy eating is expensive are misguided. Healthy eating is cheaper than unhealthy eating, and healthy foods simply feel better. One’s mood is happier, sugar cravings become nonexistent, the skin and brain become healthier, weight gain woes disappear, and so many more positives arise, including longevity.
I have a decent diet now that costs next to nothing. It consists of quick-cook steel-cut oats, canned mixed beans, bananas, frozen vegetables, Dollarama walnuts or peanuts in shells (peanuts only if I want mass), apples, flaxseed, milk, cheese, lots of green teas, and, rarely, frozen fruits. It’s beyond delicious.
I love eating milled flaxseed and a banana more than I enjoy eating a steak at a five-star restaurant because my body is conditioned to enjoy healthy foods and reject unhealthy foods, such as unhealthy restaurant foods. Restaurant foods are often loaded with sugars, fats, and salts. On the other hand, healthy eating is best achieved when taken to an extreme, with zero added sugar, zero sauces, zero processing, and zero trans fats.
I take a vitamin D supplement and Vitamin C tablet daily. I also sometimes take calcium tablets. I started taking a tablet that combines turmeric, ginger, and garlic, and the smell is irresistible, so I get excited when it’s time to take one. Furthermore, I’m on ‘Project Bones,’ where I’m increasing my calcium intake. So, I get inexpensive cheese from the grocery store salad bar, steamed milk at the theatre, and milk at home. The milk also boosts my protein intake.
Extreme healthy eating means not eating even a grain of added sugar, as the slightest taste of added sugar can lead to uncontrollable cravings. Added sugar is an addictive toxin, I think, with no health benefits. In contrast, zero added sugar (and zero fake sugar) likely leads to no sugar cravings. Cutting out all added sugar can lead to a healthy aversion toward it. I once saw in a documentary that sugar is like cocaine in terms of addictiveness. So, for me, total abstinence from added sugar is optimal for health. Most people don’t know the secret myriad of benefits from added sugar abstinence because the standard Western diet is loaded with sugar.
I recently ate dates, and my tooth chipped, requiring $500, paid in biweekly payments for dental work, so I’m now only eating low-glycemic fruits outside of bananas and pineapple (I’m a big fan of bananas and pineapple). At the dental clinic, I told my dentist assistant that my recent menopause was the best time of my life because I felt ultra-healthy, had no mood swings, bypassed cold sweats, had no PMS or menstrual cycles, and just had the most joyful time of my life. I look and feel better than I did in my 20s. I told her the secret is to have zero added sugar and zero added trans fats, just pure health, and she said she was going through menopause but wanted to eat junk because she wanted to “live.”
She doesn’t realize how much better life can be when we accept an extreme diet. It’s like seeing a dark, dirty pond suddenly clear up to crystal clear, drinkable water. It feels like freedom. Complete added sugar and trans fat abstinence can be the threshold for a fantastic love affair with healthy foods!
However, the benefits of highly healthy eating are not commonly mentioned in mainstream media, either. The food industry has a vested interest in maintaining a highly profitable status quo, and I believe their vested interests show up in research funding, research bias, alliances with food regulators, and special interest lobbyists.
So, I’m telling all of us the best-kept secret: extremely healthy eating—and exercise five days a week—is the formula for guilt-free body and brain optimization. Healthy eating is like going to a Hawaiian beach with the gleeful sounds of parrots chirping overhead and the lush green moss tickling our toes. On the other hand, unhealthy eating, the so-called “Wanna live life to its fullest” mentality, is a swamp that drags us further and further into the mud, with a higher probability of sickness and disease. Throwing up three days a week, not being able to tolerate sunlight or sound, and being unable to work a full-time job is not living life to its fullest. The idea that consuming added sugar is “living life to the fullest” is the biggest lie to me, especially once we realize the joyful health gained from extremely healthy eating. It’s called healthy eating because it brings greater, not lesser, vitality.
We all deserve to feel our best, look gorgeous, and function well. We came to this world to accomplish many missions. Healthy eating gives us the additional years to make it all happen. We gain vitality, energy, joy, attractiveness, opportunities, and more with extremely healthy eating. We can better leave our mark in this world, fulfilling our goals and dreams and performing acts of service for others. If we genuinely want to “live life” as our most magnificent, beautiful, brilliant selves, healthy eating is a wise choice.
[This column is for interest and entertainment purposes only. The author is not medically trained or certified and you should alway seek professional medical advice from a qualified practitioner in matters of your health]