If you are what you eat, eat well

Food is around us every moment of the day. It is most likely the first thing we think of when we wake up and something we plan throughout our day. Thoughts run from, “What is for dinner?” to, “Yay! The McRib is back! I’ll fit a McDonald’s stop into my day.”

In our American society, commercialized food is everywhere: displayed in television ads, multiple physical locations on our routes to work or in our home as a final destination from the grocery store. Rarely is any of our food not constantly advertised and made from a factory.

The problem with this food is that it offers little for our nutrient-hungry bodies with ingredients like bleached white flour, corn syrup and sugar. As a living organism called a human, we are constantly functioning, and all that work requires nutrients to keep us going. Over time, though, as a majority in our nation have come to depend on cheap, factory produced foods, our bodies have evolved to do the best they can with it: store it. And now we find ourselves in an obesity epidemic and diabetes crisis wondering how we got here in the first place.

The answer to why we have these medical crises is not simply overeating or too little exercise. It is a combination of both, plus the lack of nutrient-rich foods like fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains in our diet.

When one eats the factory processed foods mostly bulked up with sugar, their body only feels full for a short time and is hungry again when the body’s insulin levels — its hormone to regulate carbohydrate and fat regulation — fall again and send a message to your brain wanting more. So, we eat more factory processed foods, stuffing ourselves until we feel too full to move. This goes on and on, every day.

By introducing foods like fruits, vegetables and whole grains to your diet, you offer your body a break from going through food so quickly. Nutrient-rich or nutrient-dense foods take longer to break down in the stomach, leaving one feeling full longer and therefore hungrier less often. By adding more fruits and veggies to your diet, making the switch to whole grains, and even cutting out a majority of the processed foods in your home, you will not only feel hungry less often, but will find yourself with more energy, a better complexion and you’ll even feel better about yourself. You don’t even need to ask your doctor or check whether your insurance covers it.

America’s favorite holiday (second maybe to Fourth of July), Thanksgiving, is coming. I’ll be honest, I join my family at the table and eat plates of food until I just want to curl up on the couch and sleep for days. I love sweet potatoes and bread and pie and anything else you can come up with that is made for the holiday. This season, though, I’m proposing an idea.

What if we exchanged dishes made with processed foods for equivalent dishes made with fresher ingredients? For instance, green-bean casserole becomes steamed green beans with almonds. Perhaps topping the sweet potatoes with honey instead of marshmallows, or baking rolls at home with whole-wheat flour. Small changes can be made all around the holiday table and in your daily life.

OK, you say, we’re told vegetables and fruits and whole grains are better for us all the time, but how do we mix it into our diets? Any way you can, is the answer. You can enjoy a piece of fruit in the morning before your regular bowl of cereal, or make a green salad a larger portion of dinner than your meat and potatoes.

Healthy eating ideas are everywhere online; a simple Google search will bring up many ideas of recipes or bloggers sharing their healthy lifestyles. You can watch various movies available through Netflix or iTunes for rent. “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead,” “Food Inc.,” “Forks Over Knives” and “Food Matters” are some of my favorites to get educated and glean some ideas about how to eat more healthfully. Books like “Food Rules” by Michael Pollan for a quick rundown of how to eat better, or Jonathan Safran-Foer’s “Eating Animals” for an in-depth look at how meat rules the American diet and eating rituals. Both are also good sources and available at our local libraries.

The change to a healthier lifestyle can be turbulent at first. You find yourself in front of the cupboard at 8 p.m., wondering how many cookies you want versus how many cookies you should have. You find your brain singing to you about quesadillas and burritos when you pass Taco Bell, or whatever your fast food vice may be. As long as you stay on the track of avoiding sugar- and fat-loaded snacks and meals, you’ll find yourself remembering just how gross that food made you feel when you were finished eating, and will go for awhile without stopping for it at all.

Another bump in the road can be pokes from your friends and family. It’s hard for me to go a week without hearing my dad groan about the lack of white bread in the house, or my sister frown at dinner when she sees quinoa and steamed veggies on the stove. A cheeky reminder that eating this way is better than having heart surgery usually gets them to deal with it (or at least roll their eyes).

If it’s cost you’re hesitant about, I understand. The natural foods section can feel over-priced, and as Alaskans we know the feeling of high-cost produce. Local businesses like Denali Gymnastics in Wasilla and Turkey Red in Palmer have teamed up with Full Circle Organic Farms to make fresh produce delivery available to Alaskans for a fair price of around $40 for two week’s worth of organic fruits and veggies.

As a health nut on her way to college, I feel the same debate over saving a dollar on Rice-A-Roni instead of spending on the brown rice mix.

The thing to remember, though, is that investing in your good health by changing what you eat now can save you a lot of money by avoiding doctor and hospital bills, some prescription medication costs, and diet programs later. Making the switch to healthy foods from over-processed foods is a lifestyle improvement that can change and better your life. Eating well makes you feel well. Eating trash, well … you get the idea. You are what you eat. The choice is up to you.

Dylan Gette-King is a senior in high school. She thanks her mother for joining her on her healthy eating mission.