Food Diversity

On average, Americans consume around the same 10 foods in various ways and never branch out from there. So I want to take a look at how we can start to change up our routine and incorporate some exotic and amazing foods in our diets. We are about to dive into how we can take other cultures' foods and ways of eating to help benefits our dietstyle here in America.

Bland Diet:

So most of us, compared to other places on earth, are eating very bland and boring foods. We eat the same 10 foods in variation and I'll explain how.

Protein

  • Mostly meat

Starch

  • Mostly bread or pasta

Vegetables

  • We eat a very limited variety, only what a salad would be made of

Fruits

  • Only sweet common fruits.

Only eating a small variety of foods is not healthy, as we are created to enjoy many varieties of foods on the planet. For example, a gorilla who we think just eats leaves actually eats around 200 different plants and fruits a year.

How to diversify?

I suggest a subtle but fun way to incorporate different foods into your diet. For example, just add a new food each week and guess what? You will start to find that there are things you have been missing out on.

When I went vegan all of the sudden I realized I was missing out on the following food groups.

  • Sea vegetables
  • Nuts
  • Seeds
  • Herbs
  • Superfoods

As I was able to incorporate these food groups into my diet I starting to feel really good. Now I know that the vegan diet isn’t for everyone but if you just slowly add in to your existing diet you will notice how you gravitate toward certain food groups you need more of.

I realized that I had an under active thyroid and needed to eat more sea vegetables and seaweed that had plenty of iodine in it to feed my thyroid. I also started to crave mushrooms as well and those fed my immune system at the same time giving me a healthy dose of vitamin d.

Diets?

So honestly I hate the word diet. I like to look at all this food related stuff as more of a lifestyle changes to your current program. Let’s stop dieting and just add in healthier foods and not buy into the hype and latest fads that pop up every week.

Remember this principle: if you add in the good it will crowd out the bad. We have to be willing to break from our habits and introduce new things. I know change is hard but we need to embrace change.

Conclusion:

I hope that today’s blog encourages you to change things up and start adding in healthy options to your life. Stay tuned for the next blog where we will be discussing high dose vitamin c therapy.