I have always been interested in healthy living and of course part of that is healthy food. This again has been on my mind the last few weeks. I have family members who eat everything – from healthy to unhealthy foods, one family member is a vegan, other family members have food allergies, and others food intolerances. So far I can eat everything, food does not give me stomach discomfort or any sort of health issues. So I don’t have a medical or physical reason to go on a specific diet. My interest has always been in healthy living and healthy eating and learning and improving my life. When I was 3 years old I had lung tuberculosis and had to go to hospital for one year. The story goes that after a year my family’s doctor told my mother to get me out hospital so he could help me to get me off all the medication. I remember I had to drink fresh, raw milk from a farm nearby. I still have happy memories playing on this farm. I am not sure what other things he recommended i should or should not eat. What ever that family doctor advised my mother I am forever grateful, because I am healthy and strong, with no lung or breathing problems. I also remember being encouraged to go swimming, which I still like doing and not sitting in direct sunshine. Not sure what that was all about, but these are the things I remember. I had to have yearly x-rays until age 12.
A few years ago I met a lady who also had lung tuberculosis as a child and also had been hospitalized for a year, but still had breathing problems now. So I am grateful that I don’t have healthy issues. I have seen my scars on my lung during an x-ray. So with that in mind I look back on foods that we use to eat. Food was food, nutritious and healthy, even though I was brought up on bread, mainly rye bread, which I still love now. We ate cold meats, eggs, cheese, sauerkraut, meat and fish, but also lots of salads and lots of ‘Eintoepfe’ – stew like dinners, with lots of vegetables and meat in it. We defiantly did not eat the amount of food that is been eaten now. Chocolate and candy was a treat, so was cakes (but always home made). Lots of people say that the German diet was unhealthy, but I would argue that – maybe now, but not in those days. Food was fresh bought from the markets, from the butchers and bakers. I still remember going to the butchers, who had big barrels of sauerkraut for sale and we use to buy it per pound. He always would give us a little bit of sausage for free. My mother would bake cakes on special occasions or Sunday. A lot of German people still like to eat in food in season and fresh whenever possible. But of course there are now more processed foods available.
So this is my background. I remember moving to England and eating the white bread. I used to bring breads back from my visits to Germany. I still don’t like the white bread, it just is not bread to me, more like cake.
There is so much information out there these days about what healthy food is or not is. Vegan, vegetarian, whole food plant based and so on. I studied a few of these so called diets. I noticed that a lot of these started by someone who was sick or overweight and by changing their diets and lifestyles got better and healthier. I also have realized that people are all different and not everyone can eat what someone calls a healthy diet. I have family members who need to eat meat or they feel weak and sick, others can’t tolerate pulses or whole wheat or rye bread.
As a member of ‘the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day Saints’ I try to follow a commandment called the ‘Word of Wisdom’. In there we are told that alcohol, tea and coffee and smoking are not good for our bodies. But, that herbs, fruits, vegetables, meat, and grain are good. Meat is to be used sparingly, only in times of winter, cold or famine. This makes sense to me. We don’t work physically so hard anymore like in the old days, so we don’t need so much meat. To me this is a good guideline, but not enough. If we are to live healthy, respect our bodies as it should be respected, we should do much more. I don’t have to mention here how many people are on medication, how many people eat unhealthy, how many people overeat and consume foods that are not for any health benefits? Yes I hear you – food is also to enjoy – so true, but can we relearn to enjoy healthy, whole, real foods? Like I mentioned before, I did not eat that much when I lived in Germany. Moving to England and living with my husbands family, who had all boys, I was served the same amount of food than the boys and man. I could not believe the amount on my plate. After that I lived in America and was introduced to more fast food restaurants and could not believe the amount given. One of my neighbors ate steak for breakfast and more meat for lunch and dinner. Wow!
So where am I now? Where do I stand? What do I eat and what would I like to eat? I know I should drink more water, but I am not used to drinking plain water. In Germany we used to buy bottled, sparkly water and we never drunk with our foods. I do like fruit juices and herbal teas. I eat organic vegetables and fruits and fish 2 – 3 times a week and every two weeks or less meat. I like to buy animal grass fed meats and organic and fish only from the wild. We snack on nuts, raisins, prunes, seeds and fruits. Breads, I mainly eat German black rye bread or bake my own from sprouted whole wheat organic flour. I eat Rice pasta, whole grain brown rice and at the moment I still eat white rice. I love quinoa in salads and with dinners. I also bake my own cakes, never eat bought once.
I still eat some processed foods like organic, ‘naked’ popcorn and organic corn chips with organic hummus. I buy almond and cashew milk (only 2 ingredients – nuts and water) or make it myself. I also buy pasta and use can of tomatoes, tomato paste and tunafish. I eat cashew and coconut (plain, no added sugar) yogurt with life probiotics. I also eat dark 85% organic chocolate. My goal would be not to eat any process foods at all.
Once we sell our house in England and buy a house here I like to start my own vegetable garden again.
Below are some photos from my garden in England and some produce.
