Eat well, live well

Having my two children totally changed my perspective on food and drinks, listen close, I'm going to tell you some information I wish I had known or at least considered.

When it was all about me (pre children I mean) you know just dawdling along eating anything I wanted and drinking anything and everything (I'm not talking about alcohol here, that's something I will discuss later). I'm talking about walking into a supermarket, buying anything from off the shelves and eating/drinking it, not giving a second thought to what could be in it. In fact I knew 'those' types of people, who wouldn't eat certain foods and to be honest I remember thinking it was rather odd to be like that, I also remember thinking that if it was that bad for me it wouldn't be available to buy or everyone would be aware of the dangers.

In truth my journey began when I noticed a few people had shared a video on social media that claimed the sweetener 'Aspartame' had been corruptly passed in America. I'd heard so many reports of sweeteners being dangerous but never paid attention to it, but this video was different, it was engaging and informative and VERY clearly spelled it out. Money was the main factor here and people/companies wanted to make a lot of money and didn't really care about the Public who could potentially die from consuming too much Aspartame. They were only interested in their own greed, don't get me wrong I'm aware companies need to make money but I never considered at what cost and if corruption was involved in passing something for human consumption, what else could possibly be available. I was so shocked by the video and its claims, that I gave up drinking fizzy drinks immediately (obviously only those that had any form of sweeteners in). Before I had been a big fizzy drinks drinker, especially diet drinks, but this was a wake up call for me.

I didn't want to be a part of the consumer system anymore and I certainly didn't want my children to be either. Being a mentor in there lives I decided to start looking at the food and drinks choices I was making.

I also started looking at the ingredients of the products I was already consuming, the first thing I noticed was my sugar intake. I also found out how ridiculous sugar information was delivered to the consumer. The video about aspartame mentioned that drinks and food company's will often name sugar/sweeteners different things by altering the way they are made, calling them things like corn syrup and fructose. Let's not beat around the bush, these products are sugar rich (or tell the brain it's having sugar then doesn't supply, surely that can't be good for us?).

One day when I was looking at the can (ingredients) of a fizzy drink, I found that a large chocolate bar had less sugar content in it than the can, mainly due to the hidden nasties! I couldn't believe what I was seeing, I'm not a food revolutionist but I did wondered how many people stop and look at the labels on food and drinks properly, and if they do are they aware of what some of those unusual words mean?

Since then I have started to be more aware of my choices, I now love natural, healthy home cooked meals more than ever and I make as much effort as possible to eat well. In terms of drinks I tend to drink lots of water now and herbal teas, which may sound boring but you get used to it and my skin seems to look much healthier and it has helped me lose weight, so its a win win situation in my book.
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Eating healthy just takes a bit of preparation, but it's well worth it when you consider the health benefits, I have really enjoyed cooking more and reading healthy food blogs. I have most recently made some 'feel good flapjack' and yummy Sweet potato, carrot and leek home-made soup. I will pop the recipe links at the bottom for info.

Look I'm not saying stop eating or drinking anything in particular, but maybe consider moderation. I'm on your side, I care for humanity and want people to have informed choices when it comes to food, drinks and life in general.
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Peace and love to you and yours.

Recipe links:
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Feel good flapjacks
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3028699/feelgood-flapjacks
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Sweet potato, carrot and leek soup
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-recipe/sweet-potato-carrot-and-leek-soup/