It's Not All About the Food

It’s not all about the food.

I talk a lot about food.   Online, to friends, to my family, to friends of friends and family, and basically anyone who is a captive audience.  I talk about eating organic, non-GMO, whole foods.  I talk about gluten-free.  I talk about avoiding artificial ingredients.  I talk about, as my son says, the difference between “real food and fake food.”  But all of our problems in life cannot be solved by eating better.

Reading something today, it really hit me how much people just want simple, black and white reasons for everything.  “If you just ate this, you wouldn’t have allergies.”  “(Insert neurological disorder here) is not real, it will completely go away if you just cut gluten, food-dyes, etc out of your diet.”  Maybe.  But often not.

I talk about benefits of “real” food because I just don’t think the “fake” food is good for anyone’s health. Many of the things most likely contribute to cancer.  The fact that our wheat has been genetically modified to contain more gluten than would normally be found in nature has been linked to the increase in Celiac’s disease and gluten-intolerance.  I believe the antibiotics in our meat and dairy probably have helped to create many of the antibiotic-resistant bacteria that is present.  Hormones in the same foods, could this be one of the factors behind obesity, early onset of puberty, and severe PMS and menopausal symptoms?  I just don’t think we can fill our bodies everyday with things like pesticides, chemical food dyes, and drugs and expect everything to just be able to have no unwanted effects from them. 

But I don’t think those things are the only cause of many problems, nor is cutting them out the cure-all.

I have asthma.  It is not as bad if I avoid food that has been treated with antibiotics – I’m allergic to most antibiotics so that does not surprise me.  But it doesn’t make my asthma go away.  My mom has asthma, as well as did my grandfather.  Hereditary component, maybe?

I was told today that a teaspoon of honey a day should make my sinus problems go away.  Perhaps if the presence of honey in my home made my cats disappear, cigarette smoke no longer exist, and people to no longer bathe themselves in perfume.

I’ve also been told that diet will make ADD and sensory processing issues go away.  Hmmm, so why does my son, who already has all those diet changes, still have trouble putting his thoughts on paper or following multi-step instructions?  I do believe there is validity to gluten and food dyes affecting a child’s (any child’s!) behavior, but BEHAVIOR is not what my child struggles with.  The fact that he was premature and not breathing at birth couldn’t have had a real neurological effect, could it?  No, of course not, I am just not feeding him right.

Yes, for some people honey will help their allergies.  For some children, a gluten-free diet will eliminate problems – as a matter of fact it does help with digestive issues my son has had since birth.  But these things do not fix everything.

I know people are well-meaning when they give advice on eating.  I know that I am.  But I hope people understand I don’t think people are “creating” their or their family’s medical, development, or mental problems when I talk about eating healthy.  If you didn’t, hopefully you do now.  I just personally don’t think the “fake” stuff is probably good for any of us in the end, and want everyone to have as healthy of a body as possible, despite the things that may be wrong with them.

By the way, wine is a “real” food!  And that’s why I have wine.