"Meatless Monday"

Aside from my post about sugar yesterday, another food-related goal I've decided to implement is to eat vegetarian 2-3 days a week. I originally got this idea from hearing about a movement called "Meatless Monday" (www.meatlessmonday.com). For health and environmental reasons, many people have chosen to follow Meatless Monday, which cuts down their meat consumption by 15%.

There are a couple reasons I want to do this. Health is first and foremost. We Americans tend to see meat as the main dish and relegate vegetables, fruits, and whole grains to side dishes. In fact, diets containing high consumption of meat can lead to higher risks for cancer and heart disease. Going vegetarian even for a couple days a week can be a challenge if you still want to eat healthy. The easiest thing to do is to reach for breads, pasta, cheese, and other not-so-good-for-you items. I'm hoping that by taking this on, it will force me to be a more creative cook by having to find ways to make satisfying, tasty meals that are vegetarian and healthy.



A general note about me and the future of this blog:

Right now, I feel like I'm in a phase of active searching. I have been doing a lot of research and reading about holistic health: physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional. I have become particularly interested in the interaction between Eastern and Western medicine and what the two can teach each other. What's fascinating is that the more I read, the more everything is revealed to be interconnected. I am letting instinct take over: if a certain book seems like it might be interesting, I'll pick it up; if I'm reading online and a link seems pertinent, I'll click it. More often than not, what I find somehow ties into and reinforces everything I've already learned. I realize this paragraph is a little abstract or esoteric. I can't help that now, though, because even I am not yet sure where I'm going with all of this. I hope to use this blog as an outlet to explore some of these thoughts and to share with anyone who is interested what I'm finding out. I do think I'm on an interesting path, and I hope you'll want to come along for the ride!

Various Food-Related Thoughts

Even some people who don't know me very well know that I'm a candy fanatic. Especially if it's chewy and sour (but really regardless of what type it is), I love love love candy. With start of school stress this semester, though, things got a little out of hand. Valentine's Day and Easter candy had just hit the stores and I was EXCITED. I bought two (big) bags of Sweethearts in the span of a week. I bought Sweettarts shaped like hearts. I bought Cadbury eggs and Russell Stovers. I honestly went on a mad candy binge for almost a week. As I did homework, a bag of candy was always within arm's reach on the coffee table.

Then the second week of school started and I noticed something weird. I was exhausted. Not just tired: I could barely get out of bed in the morning and I was struggling through every day. It didn't matter how much sleep I got or what time I went to bed at night. I also had no motivation to do anything at all. I felt distracted and anxious, almost depressed, and I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me.

Then, genius me made the connection and started doing some research. Like pretty much everyone, I certainly knew sugar wasn't GOOD for you. After all, it's just empty calories. Plus, John always refuses to put sugar in his coffee or drink regular pop because of how you get an immediate "sugar rush," but have an energy crash shortly after. Sure, I knew these things. But what I found out was truly unbelievable. Not only is sugar responsible for that "crash" not long after eating it, eating too much consistently can cause or contribute to fatigue, anxiety, distraction/inability to focus, and depression. In fact, one study on rats (who apparently metabolize sugar similarly to how we do) showed that rats offered either sugar or cocaine went for the sugar. This included rats who had already ingested cocaine and had become addicted to it. Even they still picked sugar! (Forgive me for not citing this study, I can't remember where I found it and I don't feel like digging it up.) Now, I'm not suggesting that sugar is more addictive than cocaine, but this is just an example of ongoing research that suggests that sugar can have effects on the brain similar to addictive substances.

After finding all that out, I've decided to significantly cut down on sugar consumption. By this I'm referring to refined sugars and high fructose corn syrup, not natural sugars in fruit. I have had no candy or other sweets in the last week or so, and I can't even describe how much better I feel. That alone is a great motivation to stick with this.

I would caution anyone who might be interested in trying the same thing to be careful about sugars found in unexpected foods. A lot of white breads and other refined carbohydrates are full of sugars. Also, I was comparing labels at Kroger the other day for canned tomatoes, and found that Kroger brand canned tomatoes have high fructose corn syrup as their THIRD ingredient (right after tomatoes and tomato juice!). Hunts brand doesn't have any. It also makes me question the quality of the tomatoes Kroger is using if they have to add a bunch of corn syrup to get them to taste good.

Here is an article with some great tips on cutting back on sugar and having more energy generally: