2 Powerful Principles to Improve Your Health
...and our food system
Note to readers: Thank you all for your unwavering support. It’s the donations of paid subscribers and the encouragement of you all that allows me to move forward with the advocacy work I’m involved in.
With publishing my new book, speaking engagements and several recent interviews, I’ve fallen behind on my intended publishing schedule here. But because of you, my food security advocacy grows stronger. I look forward to creating more positive content and sharing it with you now that I am acclimating to a busier schedule.
I often get inspiration from children’s literature.
It’s not-so-secret that I LOVE good children’s books. If you don’t, you probably don’t want to get stuck with me in an elevator or you might end up knowing about the wonderful works of author Patricia Polacco and what she’s brought to the world of children’s literature, or the depth of Allen Say, or about the ways that children’s books prior to the 1950s portray food so differently than more modern literature.
But that’s just the thing...
When you read older books, you come to realize that there were some basic food principles that existed for centuries that modern Americans have all but forgotten.
The great thing is that you can adapt these principles at any time and almost ensure that you improve your health.
People run around wringing their hands in consternation because it’s so hard to lose weight or get diabetes under control or help manage an allergy….
And yet, the principles to apply are all right at your fingertips.
A principle, law, or rule defeats any tactic.
Most people who are looking to improve their health are trying to implement tactics. They are listening to tiktok “gurus” or instagram health nuts and running off to try the latest new dietary fad.
But, if you look closely at books–both books about nutrition and older books that accurately represent how people ate for centuries, you’ll begin to see the clear principles that are part of healthy diets.
That’s one thing that some of our earliest foundational nutrition researchers got right.
For some, like dentist Weston Price, they looked at what was actually working.
Essentially, he and others like him, asked the right questions:
“Where/who are the healthiest populations?” followed by “What are they eating?”
And then used observation to find patterns and principles.
It can be harder to implement a change in your life based on a principle rather than chasing fads or buying the latest product.
It can feel daunting and overwhelming.
But, scurrying around trying the next new thing, the brightest “magic internet pill,” or reacting to something that an internet celebrity says works for them, does not produce lasting results.
Instead, you might find yourself jumping around all over the place trying to follow someone else’s plan for what (maybe) worked for them, (but will definitely line their pockets).
But what will produce lasting results is finding the principles that are right for you and then setting a goal in your own life based on these principles.
It’s not easy.
But you deserve to be your healthiest.
If these principles can work for humans throughout history, chances are they can work for you–even if you have more challenges thrown at you.
In my opinion, it doesn’t get any better than understanding the principles and then implementing them.
So what are these principles?
Cook at home as much as possible.
This sounds ridiculously simple, in fact too simple to matter. But it does matter. Cooking at home is one of the best ways to be careful about what you eat and to actually follow the second principle…
Eat a variety of fresh, real ingredients and avoid processed foods.
This is the crux of it. If you are eating whole, real ingredients at home as a principle, you’re automatically reducing the amount of processed food you give yourself access to.
By following these two principles, you’re going to reduce your sugary foods, fast foods, and eating at times you don’t want to. What’s more, you’ll be able to focus on what’s really important—preparing nutrient dense food, and wholesome nourishing meals.
So what do you say? Are you up for following these two simple (but not easy) principles to improve your health today?
And while you’re at it, pick up some old literature to remind yourself how people ate for generations before us. 🙂