Damn I have been busy! First I got married, I changed jobs (very very thankfully, as it resulted in WAAAAAY less stress and a substantial salary and benefit increase), NO MORE DYSFUNCTION JUNCTION. YAY! What I do now is therapy for parents and children and also help manage state Medicaid funding for a state that shall remain nameless. I moved in with my husband, because once you get married, you gotta do that. It seems that it took forever, and it did. I was so busy and burnt out during the weeks that I did very little actual packing except on weekends. I am so grateful for the help of friends that made the move easier. Bridgy, Shawn, and Colton in particular made it a lot more bearable. Wendy helped me wrap small precious things. Donnie coordinated people to pick things up, put them in trucks, and unload them. People who have always known that I am a clutterbug, to say the least, will be very proud to know that I gave away nearly my entire kitchen as well as about 75% of my old wardrobe. I got rid of anything and everything that I thought would be  useful to someone else if I didn’t have an immediate use or great fondness for it.

Warning: Rant Ahead: Read if You Want To Know Which Foods Are Truly Good for You

I have spent numerous hours with Donnie researching what’s actually really good for a person to eat, and what is crap. As near as I can tell, really, truly, once and for all, it really does come down to this: Eat as many whole, raw foods as you can. Fat content really doesn’t matter much if you are eating that way, because you will be eating very little fat. Most of the fat you do eat when you eat fruits and vegetables will help you absorb nutrients, not gain weight. The medical reality is that you will absorb the nutrients from a salad BETTER IF YOU HAVE A NICE FATTENING DRESSING ON IT LIKE RANCH. How AWESOME IS THAT?

Organic IS better, and here is one reason why. There is a big fat evil company that you should research called Monsanto. (I think of them as MonSatan). Here is just one naughty thing they did. Without anyone in the public, such as farmers or consumers actually asking, they spliced genes of RoundUp RT (Yes, the weed killer) into all their wheat and corn seed. This is a BIG deal. It is such a big deal that many European nations will not buy grains from the US unless it is non-GMO. Many European nations refuse to allow genetically modified ingredients. (Smart move, in my opinion, when it comes to things like adding effing weed killer to ALL the wheat and corn.) MonSatan has also put many small, medium, and large size farms out of business by claiming that the farms “stole” their seed. How did the farmers do it? Well, they sprayed a little RoundUp RT near their fence lines to keep the weeds out of their crops. And the RoundUp moved into the crops via the wind, and the result was that farmers who had been using the same non GMO seed for 20 years suddenly found they had GMO seed, which was indistinguishable from the MonSatan seed. Guess who won in court? It wasn’t the little guys, even though they didn’t do it on purpose, and just wanted their regular seed back. All gone. And the wind blows…

There are many other good reasons to eat organic, especially if you buy it locally. You are supporting local stores and farmers, which is a plus. Is it more viable, in terms of nutrients? Not really sure, but I like knowing that I am eating a tomato that is not spliced with the genes of a coldwater fish in order to make it grow in cold climates.

Taste is a factor in some cases. I am not a big fan of bananas (thank you Gwen Stafani for the most annoying song that taught an entire generation how to really spell BANANA), but I really like organic ones. They tend to be sweet tasting, and they haven’t been gassed in most cases. I also really feel like I can tell the difference with tomatoes.

The reformulated food pyramid should pretty much go like this: 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Nuts and soy are ok. Really. Most oils should be used sparingly, but again, you do need fats to help you absorb the nutrients anyway. Yogurt is good for you, even the fattening kind, although dairy, in general, should be used sparingly, like sugar. The best sugar according to the latest medical research is date sugar. Stevia is harmless, but doesn’t really do anything for you. White sugar, brown sugar, agave, honey, etc, all come out pretty much the same. Aspartame IS A NEUROTOXIN. Period. It is bad as hell for you. It creates brain tumors, depression, ADHD, and is linked to many other diseases including cancer. The FDA says its safe, but research from all other countries shows it is toxic. All those other artificial sweeteners are also toxins. MSG is also a neurotoxin, and can have immediate and long-term effects on the body. Many times MSG will be disguised as “spices” on boxes. There are about 50 (not kidding) different labels for MSG. Bottom line, if  you’re going to drink a Coke, drink the regular stuff. Chinese food-order without MSG. Try to avoid it if possible-it’s in almost everything boxed you can think of. Avoid food dyes and artificial colors and flavors. Many of these are linked to allergies, hidden allergies, as well as things like mental health issues, particularly ADHD. Breads and grains should not be the base of the food pyramid, just used with common sense. The latest medical research shows that you really CANNOT have too many fruits and vegetables. The health benefits do not taper off, they just keep increasing. The ultimate cancer preventatives and stoppers, (that’s right, they actually KILL CANCER CELLS) are Garlic, Onions, and Leeks. The more dark leafy greens you eat, the better. Spinach is not actually the most amazing source of iron, but it is the number one “lettuce” for health benefits. The more vegan your diet is, the more weight you will lose. Even people who eat meat 1-2 times per month have more weight on them overall than vegans. Lacto-ovo vegetarians do not have the same amount of benefit as total vegans. I’m not a total vegan. I’m just telling you what I found out.

The worst meat? Amazingly-Chicken. And what really distressed me is that apparently cooking meat releases a carcinogen (we are cooking a muscle after all). I LIKE CHICKEN. I LIKE STEAK. I LIKE CHEESEBURGERS. But that’s what the research says. The other awful thing to stay away from: FISH. This is no problem for me, I don’t like fishies, unless they are shellfish. If you are getting your supplements through Fish Oil, make sure it is a a high quality fish oil, such as what a ND would dispense.

Most important Vitamins? All the Vitamin B’s. Vitamin D. LOTS OF VITAMIN D. Low levels of Vitamin D are linked not only to most forms of cancer, but also to strange things like increased risk of falling. To quote Dave Barry, “I swear I am not making this up.”

If you try out a whole foods/raw food diet for about a week, you will most likely feel like hell for the first few days. That is junk leaving your system. Much of the information I wrote in this blog is attributable to an MD who researches studies that have been done every year, and then puts out a DVD with this info. I think his website is veganmd.com. I could be wrong, and if I am, let me know, and I will find a correct link.

This has been your public services announcement.

There are many other things to blog and rant about, but right now it is time for bed. If any readers know of helpful websites or recipes on raw foods, or whole foods diets, please let me know!