You Are What You Eat

It seems like all anyone can talk about is health care reform. For a good reason...we seriously need it. In a controversial debate, one thing that everyone can agree on is the need for more preventative care, which currently makes up only 5% of health care costs. This statistic has led doctors to say that we have a "disease-management" system rather than a health care system. So, what's preventative care? While check-ups and yearly screenings for chronic illnesses are important, that's not prevention. Much of prevention is up to us and not our doctors: eating an antioxidant-rich, plant-based diet; getting regular exercise; and reducing stress.

A healthy diet doesn't just stave off future chronic illness, but it makes a huge difference to our physical and mental health today. Case in point: After gorging myself over the holidays and beyond, I was feeling a serious need to detox and kick start my diet again. I had also noticed that I'd felt really down, depressed, and altogether crappy for the last few weeks, though I didn't relate this to my diet. Last Monday I did a green smoothie fast (only fresh veggies, fruits, and coconut milk) and come Tuesday morning, I felt like a whole new person. Bye bye blues. I'm still shocked at the difference my diet makes in my mood. Now I remind myself that while a chocolate cupcake and chips and queso may make me really happy right now, a habit of eating like that will literally make me miserable.

Here's a quickie guide to a healthy, disease-preventative diet: Visualize your dinner plate. Half the plate should be devoted to vegetables, a quarter to whole grains, and a quarter to lean protein. When in doubt, eat a whole plant. Ensure that you're getting all the different disease-fighting nutrients and phytochemicals by eating vegetables and fruits in a wide-variety of colors. Want more info on how your behaviors influence your health? Check out SpeakHealth.org.