You are what you eat

By Robert Song

For most of my life, I used to pay little attention to the saying, "You are what you eat.”

I would eat anything as long as it tasted good, filled me up and I could afford it. Whether I was just lucky or have been blessed with a strong digestive and immune system, I have never seen the inside of a hospital for health problems. But as I got older and starting having kids, I began to eat more healthily as I was preparing food for the whole family.

So naturally, more vegetables and fruits entered the scene and we always tried to avoid white bread, sugary and processed foods. White rice was considered unhealthy, so we always added barley, beans or brown rice to it.

Too much meat was considered bad, so I tried to cut down my personal intake. People always told me to "drink lots of milk as it was full of calcium.” "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day which you should never skip.” And so on and so on.

Well now I have entered a new phase of my "food awareness” stage and found some shocking and amazing facts. Most of the foods above considered good for us are actually bad for us. Tipped off by my wife’s Oriental doctor, we have stopped drinking milk. I did an Internet search and I was swamped with sites that were anti-milk in nature. Through one of them, I read a very long study by Harvard University which confirmed what the doctor had told my wife.

Another shocking discovery was that legumes are bad for us. Legumes include beans, soy, peas, peanuts, lentils, chickpeas, and green beans. In their raw state, most legumes are extremely toxic so hence they are rarely eaten that way except for peas and green beans. They have lectins and phytates which wreck havoc on our bodies.

Wheat, barley, rye and oatmeal ― like a mantra I have been hearing they are super good for us. It turns out, it’s the opposite. First of all, the starch spikes your sugar levels which in turn messes with your insulin levels.

Did you know that two slices of white bread has the equivalent of 14 spoons of table sugar? Also, the phytic acid blocks your body’s ability to absorb nutrients like calcium, magnesium, zinc and iron. Glutens and lichens also do a lot of damage to your digestive system.

Let’s move onto to meat and butter. I’ve always been told that the fat in both are harmful to us. Well, it turns out that the opposite is true if they are from grass fed cows. Meat in the form of grass fed beef or lamb is an excellent source of protein and fat. Also, grass fed butter has high nutritional content.

For adults, skipping breakfast can be better for your health. Unless you are underweight or a training athlete, eating your full day’s food intake within eight hours is considered healthier. So have the first meal at 11 a.m. and last meal at 7 p.m. The main reason is, by ``starving” your body somewhat, your body uses the stored fat in your body for energy not the food coming into the body. This is called ketosis.

The bottom line is, you do not have to eat less to be skinnier or healthier, but just need to eat the right foods and at the right times. By eating right, you can be healthier and happier ― isn’t health the most important part of life?

The writer works in educational publishing and has lived half his life in Korea and half his life in Canada. He can be reached at robertssong@me.com.