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What is Real Food?

What is Real Food?

In talking to people about what I do, I have been asked the Question: What do you mean by Real Food? Isn’t all food real? It’s edible? Right?

This is a great question. What is Real Food?

Real food can mean different things to different people.

Let me clarify what Real Food is…

All food is not created equal. Just because is it appears edible, does that mean you should eat it? This reminds me of a childhood saying – if your friends jumped off a cliff, does that mean you should do the same?

In moving through my health journey, my perception of food has totally changed. I now view food in a whole new light. Food is no longer just a source of pleasure (boy, do I love to eat food) and something to stop the growling tummy. For me, eating Real Food is nourishment, my medicine to heal, an opportunity to achieve my best possible health and live a vibrant and abundant life.

When it comes to food, we have a choice. Do we choose food that will serve us? Or do we choose food that depletes our body of vital nutrients while clogging and slowing down our system. We have the power to make a choice by what we put on the end of our fork. You get to choose: Do you jump off the cliff? Or do you seek a the longer path that is safe, scenic and more enjoyable.

Let me take you down that path. The path to better health through better food choices.

So back to…. What is Real Food?

Real Food is as close to its natural form as possible, not man made and not altered in any way.

To simplify it. I have two basic rules to help you change directions in your health journey:

If it comes from an animal or plant, eat it. If it coms from a factory plant, don’t eat it.

But why is Real Food important?

Food is not just carbs, proteins and fats. It is information for your body. Food is like a language, an unbroken information stream that connects to every cell in your body and talks to your DNA. The better the source (from natural whole foods) and the more undamaged the message when it arrives to your cells, the better your health will be. It is central to good health and Real Food can do more than anything else to improve one’s health and quality of life.

Even if you are not presented with any symptoms at this time. A diet of processed foods will eventually catch up with you through nutritional deficiencies. You are made from the food you eat. Your body functions on the food you eat. Every single cell in your body depends on quality nutrition for its structure and function. If cells are not provided with correct nutrition, they will struggle to perform their function optimally and this can lead to dysfunction.

Food in nature comes as a package. Nothing in nature works in isolation. Whole, unprocessed food contains all the vitamins, minerals and information needed to be utilised by the body. Processed, commercial, manmade foods (Franken-foods)are missing some of this vital information and nutritional components. Your body can’t absorb what it doesn’t recognise. Therefore, these Franken-foods place stress on your body by drawing valuable nutrition from elsewhere – creating deficiencies. As humans we think ourselves pretty smart! We know that processed food are missing some vital compounds required, therefore we replace them with synthetic vitamins – I call them counterfeited parts.

Tell me what happens when you put diesel in a petrol car?

It is not the right fuel for that motor. Diesel has components a petrol car does not need, and they will clog system. Diesel has components missing that a petrol car needs for optimal function. A petrol car can run for a while on diesel, but it will eventually breakdown.

Processed foods are like diesel to the human body. They are nutrient deficient and clog the system. Why would you put diesel (Franken-foods) in your finely tuned body?

Its your choice? You get to choose your destiny by what you choose to eat!

Every ‘body’ runs better on Real Food.

Desserts

Berry Ice Dream

This super fast dessert is a crowd favourite.  You will never miss ice-cream again!

1/2 cup frozen raspberries

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

100g coconut cream or crème fraiche or double cream

Place frozen berries in a food processor and blitz until they resemble fine crumbs.  Add cream and blend until smooth.  Serve immediately topped with coconut chips or crushed nuts and cacao nibs.

Serves 2

Commercial Ice-cream is generally full of refined sugar, artificial additives and emulsifiers.  This recipe is a great alternative and is so easy to make.

Print Recipe

Vegetables

Sea Vegetables – the forgotten vegetables

Have you ever tried sea vegetables before?

Think of nori rolls – the thin green outer wrap is a sea vegetable.

They are super healthy and can be added to any savoury dish including salads, stews, soups etc…

With a rich salty taste these wonders from the ocean are high in minerals – close to the mineral contents of human blood.

They contain high amounts of calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, sodium, iron and iodine making them fabulous chelating agents (have the ability to remove heavy metals from our body.)

As an added bonus they are a great source of phytochemicals and have a balancing effect on the thyroid.

So what else are they good for:

  • Help protect sensitive from the sun
  • Help improve blood circulation in the scalp
  • Help the immune system
  • Has an alkaline effect on the body

My favs are Dulse flakes, Nori flakes and rolls and Wakame flakes.

So, add some sea veggies to your diet today!

Let food be thy medicine and medicine by thy food…. Hippocrates.

Protein

Eggs – Are you confused on what buy?

So, what is all the fuss about when it comes to eggs?

Caged? Free-rage? Pasture raised? What’s the difference?

Is all about nutrient density. This is determined by what the chickens eat. (And of course the welfare of the bird)

Caged chickens live in a cage.

Free-range chicken are housed in sheds and have access an outside yard.

Pasture raised chickens live outside in grassed paddocks and are sheltered in a caravan or boxed trailers for safety at night. This is also where they lay their eggs too. They spend all day scratching the ground, chasing and eating bugs. The nutritional value of their eggs come from Grass and Bugs, not grains. They are also happy hens too, because they are doing what they love to do!

How do you tell the difference from looking at an egg. The colour of the yolk. Look for orange yolks, not yellow – See the comparison in the pic.

When purchasing eggs, go pasture raised. They might be a bit more pricey, but you get what you pay for.

Pastured eggs have:

Twice as much Vitamin E
38% higher Vitamin A concentration
2.5x more total Omega-3 fatty acids
Less than half the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3

More nutrition from happy hens. 

Side dishes, Vegetables

Spaghetti Squash

Have you ever tried Spaghetti Squash?

When cooked it does actually look like spaghetti. So cool! And delicious too.

To Cook:

Cut it in half, rub over a little ghee, season and bake it in the oven for 45 mins – 1 hour at 180 deg. Scoop out the strands of flesh and use as desired and freeze the rest in portion sizes for added convenience.

It is so versatile. It can be used wherever you would normally use pasta. Soups, pasta dishes, omelettes – possibilities are endless.

They are in season now (April) and nature does this for a reason. They have fabulous antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties providing us with an immune boost in readiness for the flu season.

Get it into ya!