What is "Healthy Foods"?

We often discuss in these forums healthy diets but we never go into details of what makes something healthier than others.
I hear often folks saying they have changed their diet to the better and now are eating healthier. This is very generic and subjective, because what I used to consider healthier years ago is not any longer.
I use a generic chart that I have made for myself, which is very helpful to remove all "bad" foods from one nutrition.

I do not want to call it diet, simply because the word "diet" makes it sound like a phase of your life when you restrict foods that you enjoy. Nutrition is more permanent.

First of all I would like to underline how so many people believe that GMO is just about everything that is not organic. I used to think that as well.

GMO in the USA

GMO is genetic engineering applied to your food. GMO crop are designed also to have DNA of two different kingdom (species) that are not supposed to be together. For example corn has inbred a pesticide in the DNA that produces a corn which is pests resistant. You are eating that pesticide too.

RANT*
No long term in vivo experiment have been done with GMO. We are are the experiment as we speak.
GMO is all about patent and having the right to that patent and making sure that you are the only one profiting from it. GMO is not about saving the world from famine as the promoter would like you to believe.
Nobody cares about your health. Not your doctor not the governments of the world.
All it is important is how to make a profit and make it consistent and everyone dependent for a life time.
/END RANT
Anyway as a guideline these are the biggest GMO crops in the USA

corn
beets
soy
alfa alfa
canola
cotton
aspartame

All the above are use extensively by the food industry to make other foods and/or feed all meat and dairy animals.
This is a problem. Because the ramifications of where a GMO derivate goes are basically unlimited.
For example whenever you are buying cage free eggs or even when you are buying local farmer produced eggs....the feeds are all soy and corn. Thus your eggs are GMO.
--Cage Free eggs and everything labeled Grass Fed (without that USDA organic label) is a marketing label that target mainly certain consumers more than others--
Same goes with meats, alchool and vitamins that you take they all are contaminated with GMO.
For a health purposes this is not good, because your entire nutrition becomes GMO based nutrition and we really do not know how it effects our body.


Hybridized Foods

Hybridization it is a process of mixing family of the same species. Nectarines with Peaches, Broccoli and Cauliflowers....and so on. Mankind has been hybridizing food for over 1000 years.
Hybridization is natural and it is done when you want a product that has quality from both species.
Agricultural practice have lead to over hybridization....in the case of wheat. So now you have a product that has a certain number of chromosomes higher than the original one, because it has been mixed with several species of wheat for many years.

That said not all the hybridization is good or bad.
All hybridized foods can be organic and non organic
Within the organic there are differences as 100% organic is not the same of organic.
Organic means simply that only 3% of pesticide is in your vegetables.

If you rely on a plant based diet, than organic could be important to you especially if you suffer of some illness. Eating vegetables is great, but eating 365 days a year vegetables with pesticides not so great.
And if you suffer from any illness to have to edit all the foods that contains GMO and pesticides becomes a daunting task.

eat on.....

Post Edited (artermix) : 10/19/2016 11:06:02 AM (GMT-6)

I would guess if people are generalizing, they might be "newbies" to all of this and just cut out or lower previous junk food intake.

Verteran "healthy food" eaters would most likely give details as to what they are eating.

But many of us arent on any specific named diet and just do one that works for us at the moment.

I was on combination modified paleo, anti-candida, gluten free, non-dairy for awhile, not like that has a name. I ate healthy bark LOL.

An elimination diet then adding things back in lets you know what your body doesnt like, in my case, I cant have ANY version of real milk. Now I know why I had gut issues as a child- cerial with milk. It wasnt the cerial (glutan people would think so).

I did this in steps as well because I found it extremely overwhelming... First to go before I even knew I have Lyme was gluten, this was about 3 years ago. Last year I came across the paleo diet, this was also prior to even knowing about Lyme. First to go was soda and juice and fast food. Then all products that contained sugar, corn, rice, potato flour/starch, etc. At this point I was still eating rice, corn, and potatoes in their original forms. Once I was diagnosed with Lyme I really cracked down hard and eliminated rice, corn, and potatoes in their original forms, I started eating organic, hormone free, antibiotic free, grass fed, dairy free, now I am working on cutting down on my fruit consumption (extremely hard as these are the only things I enjoy eating now) and replacing then with as many veggies as I can. Next I am thinking of incorporating bone broth and fermented foods.

Over all, a life-style change such as this can require you to rethink a lot of areas and even small details and sometimes just when you think you are on the right track somebody mentions something new and you think "OH NO I've been eating that all along!". For example, artermix mentioned the egg thing, well I had no idea, lol. I have also had to learn to not kick myself over these things, I tend to think in an all or nothing pattern sometimes and I really had to stop doing that. I would feel so depressed if I accidentally ate sugar. One day I did this and all I wanted to do was lay in bed and cry for the rest of the day. I have since gotten over this and I have also come to the conclusion that I cannot completely deprive myself from all good things, I am really a food lover. So on days that I am feeling good enough, I may sneak a bit of something I shouldn't, but I do this very rarely! And when I do I still opt for whatever is the healthiest cheat food. I would say you are your own best judge when it comes to these things though.

On another note, are there any eggs that I can still eat?? Eggs are a huge component of my breakfast's, what else would I eat? lol

I would like to bring up a consideration. It occurs to me that many of us have pets, animals that are living long healthy lives and if they're on commercial diets, must be digesting a crapload of the bad gmos.

Now, this would be in an over-all sense, because our pets themselves are genetically pre-disposed to various health issues that will cut their lives short, but as far as I know(which is far from everything), nothing surprisingly new.

At this point - I try to do my best every day and not beat myself up if I slip up. It's crazy how much control food has! Like most - limited gluten, limited dairy, no sugar, organic, non-gmo, no alcohol. I still have 1 cup of coffee in the morning - but that's all the caffeine I allow myself. And we rarely eat out. Maybe twice a month?

@ julymorning......
Pet do get sick like us from the horrible food they eat. They are living longer on medication just like us...not healthier.
They develop diseases similar to ours as well, tons of cancer among cats and dogs.
Pet pharma and food industry is just as bad and big business too.


My pet eats special food actually. Because I fed her for years on frigging GMO chicken that I personally cooked with rice. I hope God forgives me for doing that. I rotated her food and she also ate fish. However now she cannot eat any poultry derivate including duck or anythings with eggs. She developed a food intolerance to chicken and fish protein. She might have been predisposed already...or not...this we do not know. Now she has to eat foods known to be GMO, like kangaroo, venison and lamb....costing me a fortune. My neighbor is going to provide me with some venison and that is a good thing.

@tickbite666....well except for corn or soy....lol

@Girlie, I am just like you!

I was completely clean for 10 months, and then I have found my digestive health is very much improved. I have added back some items that I once stayed away from as I was lacking energy. Whole grains being one of most important. I drink a little coffee, but I feel zero adverse reactions from these additions. I have learned rotation is my key. Eat a huge variety of food.

I believe in non GMO, 100% grass fed beef/bison, wild caught fish, etc. We eat the cleanest food we can find, and that is no small task... but we feel better when we eat great quality food. We defer the costs because we do not eat out. I have 2 restaurants that I will go to voluntarily, LoL. I can get my grass fed/wild caught local ingredients at these places. Nutrition for us, is easy. We are very comfortable with where we are nutritionally and the best part is we love to cook fun food. I made avocado ice cream last night, and it was amazing... my spouse doesn't like coconut or avocado, and it blew his mind because he loved it.

Our dogs eat home made food or organic wild raw food. I make all of their treats with the quality of food we use for ourselves.

3hump

I agree with Girlie about pet going to the vet as well. But a dog you got to take outside. I noticed that my kid dogs are much healthier than mine and they never being vaccinated except when puppies. They eat regular cheap GMO food. Who is to say that the vaccination can increase also food intolerance....mine on the other hand has been overly vaccinated (especially rabies). Took antibiotics too often because we could never figure the food intolerance, until we actually removed the food and re-introduced it in her diet.

Girlie and 3HumpedCamel....mu husband also does not care for coconut, reason is it gives him awful heart burn.

I only generalize what's a healthy diet (as in way of eating, not necessarily restrictive) because what works for me won't necessarily work for another. Healthy is the way to go, but not necessarily Paleo, Vegetarian, or whatever.

I basically follow a low carb diet, because I feel much better that way, but I do need grains in my diet, so I'm choosy about what grains I use.

I'm like K07 - I try to do my best every day and not beat myself up if I slip up.

If we just choose the lower sugar fruits, they are still very healthy. I agree with Artermix about the gluten as well - not everyone has to avoid it.

All things in moderation, basically.

I agree that gluten is not bad for everyone, but I was diagnosed with celiac disease as was my sister, my mother, uncle and quite a few of my cousins. I am not completely cutting out fruit because I believe that it is so good for you, just cutting down and focusing on lower carb fruits like berries and staying away from too many bananas. I think each paleo website is different, some will say fruit is bad, some will say that paleo is not meant to be a low carb diet. I think protein is super important too, I make sure that I get some meat in me every day.

grdner, I totally agree with the vaccine thing, I wouldn't call myself anti vaccine because some of them are so important but they are still bad for you. I will only get vaccinated if there is something deadly going around.

I am not a veterinarian (although wish I was!!) but I work at a dog kennel and you deff's don't have to vaccinate as often as they tell you, I think some vaccinations are good up to 7 years but thats about all I know.

My stance on the vaccination thing is I wish there were a healthier alternative but when it comes down to it would you rather a little mercury poisoning or polio lol. But I would rather get the common flu than get the flu vaccination!

The sugar in fruit is another thing that is ASSUMED to be bad for you. Guess its not for everyone.

There are some you tube people who showed this not to be the case. They eat a boatload of bananas a day, a lot. More than youd want to. If I remember right they're vegetarian too.

And sugar their levels are fine - they made a big deal out of this since people were saying "good luck with avoiding diabetes ect".

So possibly natural sugar in food is not processed by us the same as the sugars man made.

Of course they're kind of young, and athletically conditioned. But bananas as their main food? -yes.