DIY Health Care Reform

(Photo credit: karimian)

This came out last year in one of the newsletters I receive. It was good then, and I still love it now! :) Enjoy!

Food For Thought

DIY Health Care Reform
 By Leanne Ely, C.N.C.

Dear Friends,

Like it or not, health care reform has passed into law in the United States. I don't know about you, but the debate/fighting and demonizing really got on my last nerves. I found it stressful to even watch news reports on it anymore. But that isn't what this Food for Thought is about.

I am of the opinion that true "health care reform" happens in your grocery store, not the drug store or in hospitals. Taking care of the only body you will ever own is a huge responsibility and, needless to say, so many folks just don't take it seriously.

Eating the right food is less obvious than obeying the speed limit, wearing your seatbelts, quit smoking and bungee jumping, right? I mean those things are pretty obvious.

But the fact is your odds of living a long and healthy life are dramatically impaired by what you eat and what you don't eat. The old adage is correct; you are what you eat. And I would take it a step further--your food choices are a direct reflection of whether you value your health or not. I know some people aren't going to like me for saying it, but it's not my opinion, it is fact: 147 billion dollars are spent every year on obesity-related illness. This figure has gone up 37% since the late 90's.

I want to be an agent for change, to use a term I'm not too fond of. But I don't know what else to call it, so agent for change is it. I have some ideas that I believe could help folks have their own DIY Health Care Reform. In fact, I believe it could be revolutionary if taken seriously.

Here then are my 10 ideas for DIY Health Care Reform that you can implement before Congress reconvenes!

1. Skip the sodas, diet and otherwise and drink water.
2. Eat foods in their natural form--potatoes instead of potato chips or French fries.
3. Buy from the local farmer/rancher and support your community.
4. Eat foods that don't do drugs (ie: no hormones, antibiotics in your food)
5. Make soup and eat it. Studies show soup eaters eat more veggies and weigh less.
6. Make dessert a very special occasion. It's not special if you have it all the time.
7. Learn to cook.
8. Grow a veggie garden and do it organically.
9. Avoid fake foods; margarine isn't butter, it's just a few molecules away from plastic.
10. If it comes in a box with cartoons, with 2 inches of unpronounceable ingredients on the side and a huge advertising campaign, you don't want it.

I could probably come up with 10 more!

Taking personal responsibility for the food you eat is the first step to good health. Good health isn't a crap shoot for most people; it's an intentional way of living to help maintain and protect the body God gave you.

I'm going to leave it at that. No guilt trip necessary; just get serious people. This is your LIFE we're talking about.

Love,

Leanne Ely, your Dinner Diva
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