Slow Cooking, Fast Living - Part II

I've gotten to the point where I totally accept that traditional foods are good for me and that everything else has the potential to make me sick. I'm speaking for myself here. I recognize that other people who have a firmer grasp on health may be able to get away with eating trash, but this is not so for me. A few weeks ago I decided to eat a cupcake baked by a friend of mine who is a work-at-home-mom with a cake making business. Her cupcakes taste so awesome. Yet, as I swallowed my last delectable bite, I realized that my throat was sore. I wouldn't have thought to attribute the immediate sore throat to the cupcake, but I've had the exact same experience several times drinking beer. Generally, it happens when I'm already feeling a bit run down. I guess the alcohol or sugar is the last straw and my body lets me know that it is time to slow down.

The biggest challenge for me is not choosing to eat good foods vs. bad foods, it is putting the time, effort and planning into buying and preparing healthy foods. As anyone who has read Nourishing Traditions knows, these meals take some forethought! One poignant example is the need to soak, ferment or sprout grains, nuts, and legumes in order to neutralize the enzyme inhibitor phytic acid. As a person who has been food-health concious for awhile, I was very discouraged to learn that my vegetarian diet, relying heavily on grains and legumes, was so full of this anti-nutrient. Phytic acid or phytate acts as a chelator (pulling something out of your body) of essential minerals like calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc. Also, I was pregnant and experiencing fatigue and joint pain that I knew intuitively was the result of a nutritional deficiency. At that time I realized that I needed to make changes, but I struggled to implement healthier practices. A large part of my inaction had to do with fatigue. I think it is reasonable to say that many sick people who could benefit from traditional cooking methods fail to make changes because of low energy. Disease can be such a downward spiral!

However, another big reason that I failed to implement traditional cooking methods was my persistant attachment to the convenience and familiarity of modern foods. Store bought bread is easy! White rice is fast! Deli meats are pre-cooked! I did try to change while I was pregnant, but my efforts were panicked and disorganized. I was able to grasp which foods were bad for me, but I wasn't stocking my kitchen with enough healthy alternatives. This often resulted in me simply not eating enough some days, which is worse than eating bad food, especially while pregnant.

I started rereading Nourishing Traditions a few months ago and this tip from her "Kitchen Tips & Hints" section stuck out to me:

When preparing a meal, always think ahead to what must be done for the next two meals; put grains and pulses to soak and meats to marinate, as necessary. Our readers will notice that the food preparation methods we recommend call for considerable advance planning--not a bad habit to cultivate in life. [emphasis is mine]

I love how rather than playing into the modern, destructive desire for convenience and speed, the point is made very succintly that this inclination is not a healthy one. So often the solutions we are offered are all about cutting corners and saving time (GoGurt!). This simple advice has created much positive change in my life and the wisdom behind it has helped me to stop trying to find a quick fix where there is none. Other than having a store of frozen meals, it just takes time (and money, but that is a whole other post) to cook nourishing food.

Read "Slow Cooking, Fast Living - Part I" ...