Nutrition: Movie "Hungry for Change"

I watched a movie on Netflix called "Hungry for Change" that really made me think.

I had seen "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead", which was mentioned in "Hungry for Change". In "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" a man goes on a juicing diet, after consulting with his doctor, and loses a lot of weight. He takes a journey across the United States to inspire people as he loses the weight.  He began to exercise, following his doctor's guidelines. He checked his own vitals and reported them back to his doctor. He helps several Americans along the way.

The movie "Hungry for Change" addresses diet, the food industry, and breaks down the basics of Nutrition and our bodies by speaking a variety of doctors and people who are in the best shape of their lives because of the truths they learned about food and the body.

After viewing, I felt like all my previous posts about Nutrition were written by a kid. Truth is, I'm just learning. I am like a kid in this respect. One of the women on the video was diagnosed with cancer at my age and she learned how to take back her life. She said she had to learn all the nutrition rules and start over as an adult.

Isn't that what we all want? A life where we feel great, look great, and can do whatever we dream?

Some things to understand:

• High Fructose Corn Syrup, white sugar, and white flour are all purified, extracted from their basic plant beginnings, and chemically so far removed from their plant basics, that your body can't process them correctly. Nearly everything in the store has high fructose corn syrup, white sugar, and white flour.
• Your body is designed to store up fat for a time of famine. We were hunter/gatherers and we used to have to weather a 'winter' of lean times where food was scarce. We no longer have a time of famine. Our bodies store fat when we are stressed and when we overeat sugar to protect us from a future famine that will never come.
• We need to exercise, get outside, and take time to release some tension.
• Sleep is a great way to neutralize the cortisol in our bodies that builds up when under stress, making us fatter. 
• We are addicted to sugar and MSG. It keeps us coming back to 'comfort foods'. MSG is the quickest way to get fat.

As I watched the video and absorbed the data presented, I kept asking, "So, what am I supposed to eat?" I thought of those internet scams where they show you a 7 minute marketing clip about what they want you to buy to unlock the secret to all your hopes and dreams, and leave you hanging with a huge price tag and a flashing red button.

But this movie delivered.

The answer to "So, what am I supposed to eat?" was fresh foods. 6-8 servings of vegetables and fruits a day. Veggies first. the best way to get enough fruits and veggies is to juice them. You can take the juice with you to lunch at work and have all the nutrition you need.

Cilantro and Parsley will detoxify your body. So will chia seeds. These are not something I have tried. I don't know if I am ready to try them, or if I am ready to juice. It is something I will continue to think about.

The movie states that we are eating more calories and starving ourselves at the same time. We are not giving our bodies the vitamins and nutrients it needs, so it delivers food cravings to our brains, which we fill with foods still lacking in the nutrients and packed with hidden sugars. The cells go, "okay what do I do with this excess sugar? I'll make a fat cell and store it up, but I wish I had more vitamin D, or K, or C."

Do I take vitamins? Yes. Does that make 'expensive urine' as my hubby says? Yes. The vitamins my body doesn't need do get eliminated in waste. But I am insuring that my body gets as least some of all of the vitamins and minerals it does need. I feel better, more awake, more active, when I take them than when I forget. Plus, vitamins and minerals need to be taken in conjunction with each other to work properly.

The movie also provided a simple dieting solution. You don't have to go extreme and stop eating carbs and start a juicing diet. All you have to do is begin adding fresher foods to your current diet. Stop snacking on chips and grab some carrot sticks and hummus. Make a point to add in fish to dinner more often. Have a salad with lunch instead of a 100 calorie pack of cookies full of white flour and high fructose corn syrup. As you begin to feel better, you will want to keep choosing healthier things. You will try new healthier foods. You will naturally begin to rid yourself of the sugar addiction you are in.