The following is adapted from Healthy Dad Sick Dad.
Is it your desire to live a long and healthy life? How much is achieving that goal worth to you? For most of us, it’s invaluable, meaning we cannot put a price tag on such an item.
Health over wealth is what I always say. As a trained physician with decades of experience in helping patients to live a long and healthy life, I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned to be true over the years, which is: Pay the extra cost to buy exclusively fresh and organic food.
If you’re not sure how to make that happen, let me help you to identify a few basics of eating healthy with organic foods. Try this for a few weeks and you’ll see how much better you feel. Try it over a lifetime, and you’ll come to the same conclusion that I did, which is that the transition to a healthier lifestyle was well worth the time, effort, and cost.
Eat the Most Nutritious Food Possible
The first step in eating to live a long and healthy life is to eat the most nutritious food you can find. Makes sense, right?
Eating the best food possible will always be a diet based on organic whole grains and vegetables with some beans and legumes. With that as your foundation, you can add in certified organic animal foods in small portions.
Condiments are OK, but they should be used sparingly. Use only quality oils like virgin olive oil for salad dressings and for flavoring on vegetables.
Coconut oil is the best choice for cooking, and sea salt is important because it has minerals that are essential to the body. For best results, cook the sea salt into the foods so you can taste the amount of sodium you’re consuming. It’s not necessary to fear salt, but you should use it sparingly
You should also not be afraid of bacteria. When people hear the word, they almost always cringe thinking of infection or some form of disease. The truth is that your body needs good bacteria to digest its food properly and boost your immune system. Good bacteria can be found in probiotics and fermented or cultured foods like yogurt.
That’s the basic rundown of eating to live well and live long, but it’s not always possible to look for those things when you’re not home. So, what do you do when you need to eat out?
Ask Questions at Restaurants
There are so many chemicals in the food from fast-food restaurants that the meager nutrition that might be in any of the items is negated. You could probably get the same nutritional value by eating the cardboard box your meal came in.
But fast food is cheap and it’s convenient. Why else would we subject ourselves to chicken that’s been mashed, processed, and deep fried into the shape of something called a nugget. A nugget was meant to be gold extracted from certain regions of the world, not chicken.
The situation doesn’t get much better in other restaurants, even gourmet ones. In fact, I take nothing for granted. Even when I eat in a restaurant that refers to itself as “organic,” I ask questions:
- Do they use any junk oils, like soybean, canola, and grapeseed or additional ingredients other than what they advertise?
- Is the beef grass-fed?
- Are the buns and breads organic whole-grain?
- Is the salmon farmed or wild-caught?
- What ingredients are in the salad dressings?
These questions may seem like microanalysis, but if you eat out often, you’ll need to seek out good organic restaurants and get used to asking those questions. Besides, if you find a good place, the answers should roll right off the tongue of the server. If the business is run properly, the waitstaff has all the information they need to tell their customers all about the good food they’re serving.
Now, you understand what to do at home, as well as when you go out to eat. It all sounds great, right? But can you afford it?
Pay Now, Save Later
If you take the total cost involved with buying organic food over a lifetime, you’ll realize how much money you save in the long run as compared to getting sick. By eating poorly, even in your younger years, you expose yourself to disease, now and later.
The number one cost or expense when you retire is medical, and for those who do not have health insurance, it is much more costly. Problems like diabetes, gout, and even many immune disorders can be triggered by unhealthy eating habits. If you value your health and longevity as priceless, then you should make the smart decision.
Pay a little extra now for the fresh and organic foods wherever you go—the grocery store, restaurant, and anywhere else. This lifestyle will pay dividends in a longer, healthier life and even reduced medical costs from less disease, now and later.
For more advice on why paying a premium for fresh and organic food is worth the cost, you can find Healthy Dad Sick Dad on Amazon.
Dr. Glen N. Robison Diplomate of the American Board of Multiple Specialties in Podiatry Board Certified in Primary Care in Podiatric Medicine. Dr. Robison is a Jin Shin Jyutsu practitioner and certified Myopractor, trained in releasing deep restrictions of motion in the body that resides at the root of our symptoms and ailments. Having applied the principles found in this book for over fifteen years, he has expanded his practice to include dietary approaches that address everything from fungal infections to diabetes. Learn more at www.liveitlifestyles.com.