You Are What You Eat

By Dr. Mercola

One of your most basic health principles is to eat real food. This will radically reduce your exposure to the tens of thousands of chemicals added to processed foods, most of which are not even on the label.

Many are still under the illusion that whole grains are good for you, but while this may have held true for your grandparent’s generation, it’s not true today. The thing that people tend to forget is that virtually all grain products you buy today have gone through industrial processing.

Grains have also been altered through time, and growing methods differ significantly from even a generation or two ago. We also prepare grains differently these days.

Sprouted whole organic grains may be the lone exception to my recommendation to avoid grains, but all those whole grain loaves of bread, whole grain pastas, and whole grain cereals — they’re actually processed foods, and are best replaced.Keep in mind that garlic must be used fresh to give you optimal health benefits. To stimulate the process that catalyzes the formation of allicin — which is responsible for many of its therapeutic effects — compress a fresh clove with a spoon prior to swallowing it, or put it through your juicer with other veggies.

Controlling Inflammation Is Key for Longevity

The running thread linking a wide variety of common health problems — from obesity and diabetes to heart disease and cancer — is chronic inflammation. The key to reducing chronic inflammation in your body starts with your diet, and as you can see, the vast majority of the foods listed above tend to have anti-inflammatory activity.

The same cannot be said for processed foods, which as a general rule tend to be pro-inflammatory, courtesy of ingredients like added sugars, high-fructose corn syrup, soy, and processed vegetable oils (trans fats), and can contain some of the tens of thousands of chemicals that snuck through the GRAS loophole and are not even required to be listed on the label, despite the fact they’ve never previously been tested for safety in humans.

Replacing processed foods with real foods can make a significant difference in your overall health and weight, and ultimately determine how long you’ll live.

Sources and References

• ¹ Authority Nutrition, Modern Wheat – Old Diet Staple Turned Into a Modern Health Nightmare
• ^2, 7, 9 Health.com September 2, 2015
• ³ American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2012 Nov;96(5):1056-63
• ⁴ Health.com Coffee
• ⁵ J Agri Food Chem September 2009
• ⁶ CNN September 11, 2015
• ⁸ Nature Immunology 2013 Apr;14(4):389-95

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