LEARN TO EAT LIKE OUR ANCESTORS
Despite its perceived complexity, healthy eating can be a straightforward, manageable, AND VERY ENJOYABLE endeavoUr.
After watching and listening to hundreds of hours of doctors, scientists, and professors talk about eating healthily, I have realized that most of the information they share with people only makes things far more complicated than they need to be. Here at Bro Pro Vegans, we focus on finding ways to make not only men’s lives healthier and happier but all those around us as well, so this article is going to help end the chaos of complicated information overload so you can eat your way to a healthier, fitter more amazing you.
Today’s humans have been living on this planet for a very long time. Depending on who you ask, some will say we have been here for over 300,000 years. Over time, we ate the same foods until 200 years ago. So, for 299,800 years, everything we put into our mouths was simple, natural, and 100% recognizable. Food existed all around us in nature; believe it or not, there were no Twinkies or whey protein powders anywhere to be found back then.
In the 18th century, humans started to find ways of preserving foods, which was very helpful for many people, although some of these processes were hazardous. But for the most part, people were still eating whole foods that were still recognizable and relatively healthy. In the 19th century, the beginning of the end started when big companies began to pump our new artificially processed foods, which have taken over the whole world in what appears to be a deadly and sinister way with no end in sight.
Early 1800’s processed food for preservation made in small batches
Although some times hazardous, these packaged foods were helpful for many people
In the words of the late great Jack LaLanne
“If man made it, don’t eat it”
And in the wise words of Michael Pollan
“If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.”
Whole plant foods are foods that your great-grandparents could recognize.
They eat foods in their natural state. They would farm, prepare (as in clean, sliced, diced, and sometimes cooked), and eat whole foods naturally intended for our human bodies to use for clean fuel, build muscles and organs, and keep us healthy and robust. Life was simple back then, and we must make it simple again for our health and the health of our planet.
For millennia, cultures all over the globe have been using healthy veggies, tubers, legumes, seeds, nuts, whole grains (oat grouts, wheat berries, buckwheat, etc.), fruits, and spices to create incredible meals that are not only delicious but also very healthy. No other creatures cook their food, let alone whip up complex meals from various foods. This is a human thing and a skill we can utilize to make whole plant-based foods more amazing and delicious than animal-based foods.
When we look at the animals and Indigenous people worldwide, we see the simplicity of their diets and the excellent health they enjoy because of their unprocessed, simple food choices. We need to go back to our not-so-ancient ancestors’ way of eating to find a way to heal our minds, bodies, and souls. Using our big brains has been both a blessing and a curse over the past 200 years. We have created unimaginable machines, devices, processes, and methods that have changed the world in good and bad ways.
We can combine our old-school ways of doing things with our ultra-modern technology to create the perfect way of life that will correct the damage already done and lead us into a vibrant, healthy, sustainable, fantastic new future. We need to use our intelligence to sort out the confusion and break through the lies to see the apparent natural truth about what we humans could and should be eating for optimal health.
So what it all breaks down to is this:
EAT LOTS OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES EACH MEAL EVERY DAY
• Raw when possible is ideal
• Cooked root veggies and squashes
FILL YOUR PLATE WITH 50% VEGGIES, 25% STARCHES, 25% PROTEIN
• Veggies include things like:
- LEAFY GREENS: Lettuce, Spinach, Swiss chard, Kale
- CRUCIFEROUS: Cabbage, Cauliflower, Brussels sprouts and Broccoli
- MARROW: Pumpkin, Squashes, Cucumber and Zucchini
- STEMS: Celery and Asparagus
- ALLIUM: Onion, Garlic and Shallot
• Starches are things like tubers (root veggies, potatoes), grains
• Proteins are things like tofu, legumes, seeds, and nuts
EAT THE RAINBOW
Which means eating a wide variety of whole plants in all sorts of colours
EAT ORGANIC IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT
• Organic foods are great with lots of health benefits, but they are not compulsory
• Buying fresh produce is ideal; canned, bottled or frozen are ok to
EAT UNTIL YOU ARE COMFORTABLY FULL
Eating whole plant foods, cooked or raw, allows you to eat to your heart’s content and feel comfortably full, satisfied, and excellent.
EAT WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS EVEN CO-WORKERS
We are social creatures, so eating with others can offer a whole host of incredible health and mental benefits
Try to reduce or eliminate the following from your diet AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE:
ALL PROCESSED FOODS
• Man-made, processed, manufactured, Franken foods = NO
• Bagged, bottled, canned foods like veggies, grains and legumes = YES
OILS
• Processed oils like corn, Mazzola, sunflower, and nut oils = NO
* Things like olive oil and flax seed oil are supposed to be healthy, BUT
we have yet to see an olive or flaxseed oil spring out in nature anywhere,
so it is an artificial product, so you be the judge
• Oils found in whole foods like avocados, nuts & seeds are healthy = YES
ALL REFINED SUGARS & SYRUPS
• Refined sugars, syrups and sweeteners = NO
• Sugars found naturally inside foods like fruit and veggies = YES