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You are going to hear me say this again and again. I am living proof that this works. And it you start eating more of the rainbow you will feel a difference. It doesn’t take long. Your body will party. Stop eating processed food and start eating real food. Cut out the CRAP (Carbonated, refined, artificial, processed) that is part of the very SAD (Standard American Diet of processed and fast foods)

I am surprised when I talk with potential clients about whether or not they like to eat plant food. Often they don’t, they don’t want to pay for organic, they don’t eat for their future health, and initially they aren’t open to eating from nature’s farmacy. But they are also sick and tired, and they need to think about whether or not to do this. Or they have been convinced by their health care professional that whatever is causing their disease is genetic and has nothing to do with the food that they are eating. (what we eat turns that switch on or leaves it off).

No wonder so much of our population is sick and on pharm to mask the pain. We need to change the way we look at food. We are addicted to the sugar, the chemicals and the convenience. And stop thinking that organic is too expensive. Start asking why processed and fast is so cheap. Organic has more minerals, vitamins and has been rotated in its soil to be produced to maximize those gifts. It is grown for heirloom varieties and for taste. Best of all, it isn’t grown with poison and your body doesn’t need the poison.

Same thing with meat. Buying quality meat that hasn’t been fed GMO corn is huge. Grass Fed Grass Finished beef is more nutritious, the cow got to eat what he was created to eat, he is better for the planet with less off gassing and you are what he eats, so trust me, you don’t need the toxins in the alternative GMO feed. Best of all you are not getting the stress hormones conventional animals have because of how poorly they are treated. You have enough of your own, you don’t need his. This is true for chicken as well and bison. Most lamb eat grass, its what they will eat, so he is a better food choice than cage free chicken or factory farmed beef.

I keep learning more an more about why this is important.

1. You need all the colors. And beyond that you need diversity, which means that you need a variety of red foods and a variety of orange and yellow foods, and a variety of green foods, and a variety of purple food.
2. There are now believed to be 25000 phytonutrients in food. Most are really good for your body. They are doing more and more research as they discover how much greater the bounty of the colors are. Usually the phytonutrients are in the plant for the plants benefit, they protect the plant, but they also have gifts for our bodies. Nature is always amazing.

3.  I want you to shop local if you can. The closer from the plant being picked to being eaten means more nutrients for your body. The minute that plant is picked, it begins to lose its goodies. Better to eat something from your grocery store than something from a box, but if it has traveled from Chile, it lost some of its goodness in travel.

4.  You will get more diversity and protect diversity if you buy local. Big Food has chosen what they are growing NOT for nutrition or for taste, it has been chosen for how long it stays “fresh”. You get different veggies and fruits if you buy local, and often they are not grown to last on your kitchen counter or in your fridge but they are grown because they do have beautiful gifts and they are grown for flavor. Try a farmers market tomato (or even better, a home grown one). You will be surprised at just how yummy it is.

5.  If the veggie or the fruit comes in a variety of colors, buy and eat them all. As an example cauliflower. White is the most common, and it has many gifts, but the green, orange and purple have even more phytonutrients to give to your body and to create health.

6.  Usually the more intense the color, the more nutritious, but not always. I was surprised to discover white peaches have more nutrients than yellow peaches. I prefer the taste of the yellow. And speaking of farmers markets, the free stone peaches we have been buying at the farmers market are natures candy and the taste is out of this world.

7.  For those of you who aren’t crazy about eating plant food, you are probably buying industrialized versions that have less taste and you are probably cooking them by steaming them or some other boring way. Try an airfryer (my are we having fun with ours). Roast your veggies in the oven. The depth of flavor varies dramatically by how you make them.  And organically grown produce has totally different flavors from factory farmed veggies. .  Staying away from chemicals also will enhance your taste buds.

It comes down to do you want to pay now, or do you want to pay later? Don’t wait like I did to get sick before you change. Change now so that you live long and thrive and keep your cognizance along the way. And stave off disease. You need all those beautiful colorful phytonutrients in organic veggies and fruits, and in all the varieties  of each plant food type.  Why?  Because You are Worth It.