Eating Healthy

Eating healthy, after all, isn't about losing your appetite to eat less. It's a matter of gaining healthy nutrients which will consequently affect you throughout your lifetime: a longer lifespan, the capacity to appreciate natural foods, an enjoyable sense of well-being and the satisfaction of knowing that you are giving your body what it needs to function properly. In this regard, the quest for health is as old as humankind itself. And yet, modern society puts far more emphasis on diet than ever before. In addition to this trend, the medical profession sees nutrition not as part of the healing process but as a mere add-on to a healthy lifestyle which, to an extent, it is.

This is unfortunate because the benefits of nutrition aren't just limited to a healthy lifestyle. The body needs all the nutrients it can get: the fat soluble vitamins A, B, C and E, the mineral potassium and several others, as well as several other nutrients like Zinc and Magnesium. Nutrient deficiencies in these groups lead to ill-health, muscle weakness and premature aging. There's also a lot of evidence suggesting that a lack of one or more nutrients may even result in cancer.

Fortunately, it is possible to receive all the nutrients your body needs and to maintain good health. You do this by eating healthy foods and by taking a supplement if necessary. What then is the difference between a healthy lifestyle and an unhealthy one? There are two major differences: one is eating a healthy diet; the other is taking supplements to compensate for an unhealthy diet. Here, we'll look at the first difference and then look at the second.

In today's culture, people hardly eat any healthy food. Fast food restaurants and prepackaged foods are loaded with nutrient-free junk food. Even the fresh produce we find at the grocery store is loaded with nutrient-free additives. This is one problem:

That is one problem. But there's another problem as well. When you cook, most of the nutrients are destroyed in the cooking process - even the healthy oils and fats that should be included in your diet. So, what we have is a slow-moving pendulum swings from diet to fast food to poor nutrition. It's getting worse as we add hormones to chickens and pigs, and chemicals to fruits and vegetables.

Our nation's poor nutritional status is causing many health problems. From high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity to heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis and various other diseases, our children are getting less nutrients than they need. That's why I started working with a school meals program in California when my daughter was a student there. That's why I started sharing my knowledge about healthy nutrition, including grade level nutrition education, in an online program that's now helping parents like you to take charge of their kids' nutrition. Health