Sometimes the Questions are Complicated and the Answers are Simple – Dr. Seuss
Modern food has become very complicated: how our crops are grown, the amount of pesticides used, and the genetic modification (GMOs), all of which impacts our bodies. Is there a simple answer for solving this problem and how does that equate to our health? This blog was inspired this past week by my friend and colleague Stacy Barrows and her husband Matt, who dropped off a beautiful basket of organic apples from their tree – home grown and organic with no pesticides and just the right size for snacking.
As I bit into the first one the crisp taste was extremely satisfying and much less sweet than an apple you might purchase at the store – akin to an apple I picked off the tree in Ireland. Our “modern fruit” we purchase at the grocery store has much higher levels of fructose than organic fruit picked in season and are usually larger than apples were originally intended to be. These organic apples are approximately 15 grams of carbs – the right size and amount of fructose for a snack – versus 30-40 grams for a large apple or approximately 2-3 slices worth of bread (in carbohydrate equivalents).
How do we go back to the simplicity of health, eating and movement to help keep our bodies in balance? Start with organic produce you buy at the Farmer’s markets or by having your own garden. I’ve blogged before about my friend Stacy, who is a Feldenkrais physical therapist. This type of physical therapy helps your body find its way back to natural movement to heal injuries and stay out of pain rather than forcing muscles and ligaments to heal.
When you force change by strict dieting and movement it can rebound badly. I have to wonder if this is what happens when we speed up the ripening of fruits, increase the use of pesticides and other chemicals to yield bigger and greater number of crops.
Maybe the foundation of health, and wellness is going back to natural eating and movement so the complications get resolved – restoring calm and peace to our systems – the way it was designed to be. These apples are just an example on how to incorporate simplicity into one’s daily life and an example of how organic fruit should taste. Now that’s a Life Style Solution I can take a bite out of!
