 | My Road to Healthy Eatingposted by Devorah Reiss, Aishes ChayilSunday, May 13th 2012 @ 10:00 AM |
There are times in life when things suddenly become clear to you and you realize that perhaps the way you were living your life was not the best way to do so. My moment came when I was pregnant with my precious daughter.
I was one of the lucky small percentage of women to suffer from hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) during my pregnancy. Some people describe HG as severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, but that description doesn't really do it justice. Without going into gory details, let's just say that anything that went in came right back out—for nine months. Suffering from malnutrition and constant dehydration when your kitchen is fully stocked and food and drink are easily accessible is not a good feeling and is a very scary experience.
Of course, at some point you are willing to try any food offered to you in the hopes that you will be able to keep it down. So it was quite by accident that I made a significant discovery: the purer and more natural a food was, the more likely I was to be able to stomach it. So homemade chummus was a wonderful success, while store-bought, with all of its preservatives and additives, was terrible. Completely pure apple juice worked for hydration, whereas the "pure" apple juice that was made shelf-stable with the addition of citric acid sent me to the hospital for rehydration.
Once I caught on to this, I was able to make better choices for myself and seek out the specifically "pure" or "natural" foods. But it got me to thinking—if there is such a difference in how my body reacts now, when I am ill, then I'm sure my body doesn't like all the "extras" even when I am well. I am just too well to notice the difference.
My digestive system, even a year and a half later, has not quite gotten back to itself. I don't really mind, though. I figure that as much as I didn't really care about what food I was eating before, clearly my body is sending me a message: go natural. So I won't necessarily rule out a food because it is processed or because it has additives, but if I have a choice between two products - I go for the one with natural ingredients. If I have a choice between buying ready-made or making my own—I make my own.
Our diet now includes a lot of fruits and vegetables in every combination imaginable and all sorts of whole grains. We haven't removed all of the "bad" stuff from our diet, but it is a work in progress. It's nice to sit down at a meal and to feel good about what you're eating.
