Healthy Eating -- Sacrifice or Investment?

We all invest our earnings to secure our financial future. We invest time and energy in our closest relationships to make sure we’re covered emotionally. We invest in education to make sure we have the necessary skills to sustain a living. The wiser among us also ‘invest’ time and effort in exercising regularly to keep the physical body healthy, albeit the motivation is often rather short-sighted—staying fit and looking good. But what about ‘investing' in the food that powers our body and mind and, thereby, our very existence in this lifetime?!

No, choosing rice crispies over raisin bran, diet soda over regular, chicken over beef and pork, and 100-calorie ice cream over another dessert is not the kind of investment I’m alluding to; they’re all essentially the same processed trash--completely unnatural to our physiology. In fact, most leaner foods have more devastating effects on health than their plumper cousins. Think about it, how does a preparation get to have lower calories than its ingredients? Calories don’t vanish in thin air; the ingredients themselves are engineered.

Eating foods in their naturally available form and without hurting other sentient beings is the path Man has to lead to ensure prolonged sustainability of the entire Ecosystem. Very unfortunately though, we live in a culture where choosing a salad is seen as ‘sacrificing' ‘tastier’ foods, passing on processed snacks as being 'finicky', and being vegan often invites cautiously sympathetic comments like ‘oh poor you, there’s nothing for you to eat!’ from 'normal' folks who walk around devouring on dead animals and charred veggies... =(

But is it really a sacrifice? Or could eating wisely be a very prudent investment?! 

Let's start with the self. Usually energetic in the initial decades, we take good health for granted. The simple, yet profound, realization that vitality simply cannot co-exist with an ailing physical body doesn't dawn upon most people until their late 50's or 60's! One might argue that quadriplegics live fulfilling lives too. But that's only when their general health cooperates, not when life is an endless drag of waiting at doctors' offices, popping pills, and getting bypass procedures and implants...

That this body is ephemeral, fragile, and needs a continous investment is a realization that usually only dawns with the ambulance siren. Bill Clinton went vegan at 64 after two coronary implants; million others change their eating habits at a similar age. It is possible to start saving only from this paycheck but one cannot get back the money already spent. Likewise for health. Past negligence to our body simply cannot be undone with medical intervention and prescriptions at a later age.

Only a healthy body can be home to a healthy mind; only a healthy mind brings vitality and exuberance. All our hopes, aspirations, and dreams originate in the mind and are executed via the physical body. It is the individual dreams and aspirations that builds a society, nation, world, and eventually, shapes the future of humanity.

Moving on to world and humanity, we strive to invest money to send our kids to college and in research to find cures for the deadliest diseases known today. But these measures are both myopic and deceptive considering the rate at which our soil, water, and air are being polluted with toxic industrial by-products. Any guess on the single largest contributor to global warming, drought, and poisoning of our environment? It's the meat industry and the processed food industry! The time to be in denial was 50 years back...

Today, ironically--and naively--while we work day and night to 'save' enough for our kids and dream of them getting married and popping out grand kids for us, we continue to squander and deplete the very ecosystem that is quintessential to support them! It takes 1,799 gallons of water to make 1 pound beef and only 80 and 60 gallons each for 1 pound apples and oranges. Checkout out the excellent hidden water info-graphic published by National Geographic.

Further, think about the resources spent in packaging, transporting, and storing processed foods around the world. How many single-use plastic take out containers, spoons, forks, (non-biodegradable) packets of chips, soda cans, ZiCo bottles... does each person toss in trash every week?! How often do we take the time to sort these in appropriate compost. recycle and landfill bins? Ever wondered where this trash goes and who will excavate it from land and seas alike? Our grand and great-grand kids. =(

Alas, today's culture sees the environment and Nature as distant, indestructible, eternal elements instead of delicate threads that weave and sustain the fabric of all Life on Earth. Invest in that fabric and Life will flourish. Or sacrifice our grand dreams for the future of humanity.

So What Really is 'Processed' Food?

'Processed food' is the term we have all heard of--whether in the context of daily food choices or as an expletive used by grandma and health experts. In fact, the two most common questions I have been repeatedly asked in my high raw vegan lifestyle are 'What is processed food?' and 'Where to draw the line between processed and unprocessed foods?' So let's address them in this post.

Any food that has been altered from its natural form before consumption is processed food.

Note that this definition is broader than the conventional one we normally hear--any food that comes in a box is processed--in that it allows for varying degrees of processing applied to the different food items.

So how processed are the most pervasive food items? Sadly, most foods we eat from breakfast to supper in today's culture are anywhere between somewhat to highly processed; this also means that there's almost nothing we eat today that is completely unprocessed, or natural.

Highly processed: cereal, bread, milk, cheese, confectionery, all meats, burger patties (even veggie), pasta, oils and butters, all energy bars, snacks and packaged drinks, chocolate, all desserts, and most other 'edible' items. Highly processed foods often contain one or more of preservatives, colorants, flavor, and/or texturants.

Somewhat processed: all grains including rice and quinoa, legumes, sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables, even pre-washed and pre-cut ones available at the supermarket(!)... you get the idea.

Wow! I do find it amusing that we like to be out in Nature to recharge ourselves but when it comes to the substance that powers our lives--food--we're content with eating it from packaged boxes with 'natural' slapped on them. We strive to live a 'simple' and 'spontaneous' life powered by 'complex' chemicals and 'preservatives'. Simply put, we want to be 'alive' on 'dead' food!


So why is processed food 'dead'?

This blog post of mine describes in detail how high temperature kills vital nutrients from food. Not only that, most processed foods contain by-products from other industries as their main ingredients to reduce cost of production and increase shelf life. For example, high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar and engineered flavors instead of actual fruit. These foods are also usually low in fiber, high in trans fats, and contain chemicals that hijack the biochemistry of the brain. The different brands of packaged food are all about coming up with that irresistible flavor that consumers eventually develop a dependency on.


But where to draw the line?

Well, there's no parallel to eating all unprocessed. But how far is that practical? It helps to distinguish between chemically and mechanically processed foods. While I'd avoid the former at all costs, mechanically processed foods might be unavoidable at times, unless you want to resort to pressing your own olives into oil, shell walnuts and pistachios on your own, grow and harvest your own quinoa, and ferment your own soybean paste into miso! :)

I'd be wary of cans of tomatoes and vegetables lined up on the supermarket shelf outside of the refrigerated isles but I have resorted to pre-washed and pre-cut veggies when time is short. Prepackaged frozen fruit isn't my recommendation; buying fresh, organic fruit and freezing it myself for longer, off-season storage is just as easy. And brings me peace of mind.

Buying food from the local farmer's market ensures minimal processing to a large extent--that food is not mass-produced or transported long distance, it sells fast, and is consumed quickly. Simply put, the need to use chemicals is largely eliminated.


Another important guideline I have come to use is to listen to my body. Did it feel the same when I fed it canned vegetables vs. fresh veggies I washed and cut myself just before consuming? Once you start living the unprocessed lifestyle, you start tuning-in to the signals sent by your body. That, perhaps, is the best guideline anyone would ever share with you...

Two Years of being High Raw Vegan...

It doesn't seem like a long time since I wrote about concluding one year on my high raw vegan lifestyle. But, indeed, another year has gone by, and it's time to write another report card =).

I will begin with emphasizing the gratifying life-experience that comes with increased immunity, energy, vitality, mental focus, and spiritual upliftment. When you have the mental clarity to sort out who you really are, what you stand for, and what you would like to do or become for this world, AND you have the drive and energy to work towards that, you are on the path to a new and better you. That 99% perspiration in life doesn't happen when one is always tired, listless, and conscientiously unaware.

Now, to the minutiae =). How has my eating changed in the last year? As mentioned in the article on cravings, I find myself reaching out for more green juices than ever. Replacing green smoothies, very often. Smoothies, teeming with fiber, are filling, like a meal; juices, sans fiber, are a burst of energy, like a shot of espresso, if you will. In the raw food think tank, there has also been some dichotomy over how blending can change the composition of foods and render them 'less effective'.

Juices, particularly green, make the micronutrients from green leafy vegetables instantly available for absorption by the body. Drinking a green juice is like absorbing energy directly from the Sun -- green leafies don't even have peels to shield them! Think about it, this entire planet has been powered by the Sun for 4.6 billion years, and will continue to be for as long, if a meteorite doesn't hit us, that is. To put time in perspective, it takes only about 5 minutes to clean a juicer, and you get better with practice =).

While we are talking of liquids, it's worth mentioning that raw foods have a much higher water content than their cooked / processed counterparts (obviously!). Prolonged consumption of foods, in their most natural form, keeps your body well hydrated, which is very desired. Conversely, when I eat a highly processed meal or drink alcohol (even very rarely), my body feels rather dry and dehydrated. One glass of wine has to be offset by 5 of water. Who knew, eating raw foods would also alter your relationship with alcohol!

High water content in food also 'cools us down' -- most raw meals have a cooling effect on the body. The ingredients, themselves, are also at a lower temperature -- often refrigerated to last longer and heated only up to 105F. With this kicks in a lower body temperature, over all. That jacket that I much loathed to carry, is now my constant companion, and tucking under a throw is rather cozy -- a small price to pay for all the benefits. Or I could attribute my being colder to getting older and exculpate the raw food lifestyle altogether :p.

Moving on to solid foods, without doubt, there is an increased gluten sensitivity in my body. Having grown up eating whole wheat bread for both meals on most days, this startled me! I wouldn't go so far as to say I've developed celiac disease, but consuming large amounts of gluten in a single meal bloats me significantly -- adding 3 to 4 lbs for up to a week! Goodbye, gluten. It's remarkable how my weight has been fairly constant since the 22 lb loss; increased weight has no respect on my scale.

That brings us to other forms of physical 'healing' that come about with eating nutritious food. Turns out all those new hair on my scalp weren't just my imagination or inflated ego. I checked in with my last hair-dresser a couple of weeks back (I rarely go back to the same person) and she inevitably mentioned how my hair felt stronger and looked denser to her! She even has a new hairstyle planned for me when I visit her next, in about six months. Until then, I'll bask in all compliments on this one =), and pass them to her.

That would be it for 2 years. I hear many reasons people give to continue to eat the way they have been. The most common ones are "processed food is 'tasty'" and "eating this way is 'normal'". Well, if raw food preparations weren't 'tasty', would my 'sacrifice' really last for 730 days?! As for resistance to change, if a better quality and/or more efficient fuel came along for your car, would you still let it wear out faster on the old type of fuel?

What about the fuel that powers you?

The Burned Houseplant

Yes, blogging has been on hold for a while. It's been hijacked by that beautiful phenomenon called 'Life' =).

As part of that, a profound experience came my way today morning and where else would I write about it? After all, this blog is dedicated to celebrating the natural, non-violent, compassionate lifestyle...

Tending a sun-burned houseplant today gave me the experiential realization of something I had only intellectually rationalized so far.

As I clipped the burned leaves of the Lipstick Plant in my living room, I noticed something remarkable -- new, fresh, soft, lush green leaves had begun to grow on the ends of long branches of burned out, wrinkled, bone dried, discolored leaves! 

[See the new leaves at the end of the 'standing' branch (top right corner in the picture below, I removed the burned leaves in the middle). Also notice the three flower buds on the 'front' branch (bottom right). Look closely, it has several leaves missing from the midsection as well.]

This display of the elemental, innate desire to survive -- and thrive -- by a life form was quite humbling, for the lack of a better verb.

When an immobile, speechless plant, potted in a few ounces of soil, placed in limited water and light conditions has the genetic code for the relentless desire to survive, how about those chickens, ducks, pigs, sheep, goats, cows that we torture and slaughter for our food? They are sentient, can move and 'speak', and have personalities, too. They, too, justwant to live. And deserve to!

Who gave us the right to butcher them?

Is it really necessary to eat that fried chicken and bacon and veal? Must we wear those fur coats and leather boots? Must our car seats be made of leather and electronic toys that come in leather cases? Must we 'beautify' ourselves with all kinds of chemicals tested on animals?

I fail to wrap my head around this callousness and ignorance of ours...