“But it tastes good!”
Yep it sure does.
Lately, we’ve had a number of friends visiting and although we tell everyone ahead of time about our way of eating I don’t really think they understand. It seems to elude them until they see us in action. It’s almost comical to see the strange look on their faces as we eat salad for breakfast or have fruit as a dessert. You can tell they don’t understand why we don’t buy sodas, or snack foods. It is surprising to them that we prefer to take the time to prepare our food instead of going to a fast food restaurant.
It’s not just the adults I’m talking about. I am amazed at how ingrained bad eating habits are at such a young age and how difficult it becomes to break them. I know a 4-year old who chooses to not eat anything except McDonalds or pizza. In their mind if it tastes good then it’s got to be good for you--right? Wrong! I know a 10-year old who has intestinal problems because of the high fat food they have been fed. Since they have been with us they have been eating more fruits & vegetables and have not had any fried food. The intestinal problems have gotten better and they have lost some weight.
As I have tried to gently explain to my young friends just because it tastes good doesn’t mean that it is good for your body. I have tried to instill in them how they need to be smart about what they eat so they will grow up healthy. But how do you explain “health” to a young person? They just have no idea the connection between food and longevity. They cannot perceive that anything bad will ever happen to them because they regularly eat McDonalds burgers & fries.
At times during their visit my 10-year old friend has been found sneaking food which they know is not good for them. Why? Because it tastes good and simply put they are addicted to these foods even at their young age. In these situations I can’t really blame my young friends, but I can blame society and parents. Dr. Neil Barnard talks about this in the following video.
It takes planning to feed a family responsibly. And it starts before birth with the parent. Now, please don’t misunderstand me, as a parent, I was as guilty as anyone else. I fed my kids all the convenience foods and sweets. Fortunately, my kids grew up relatively healthy. But if I could go back in time, I would do things completely different. So now I have a blog which explains to everyone what I have learned. My hope is that my kids, who are adults, will take responsibility for their own lives. I hope they read my blog and do the research on their own. They will find out why I am passionate about this lifestyle. Maybe they can avoid the health issues that have gone on in my life and family of origin.
But back to my 4 & 10-year old friends...the sooner they make these changes the better their lives will be. They will have fewer health issues as they grow and have a longer and better quality of life. They can avoid the chronic familial diseases and obesity. But it’s hard to change even at 4 & 10 years of age.
Any change at any age is a good thing. So, I will continue to gently share information with them as often as I can. I will continue to set an example and encourage them to try new things. I will continue to share information on my blog. I hope that somewhere, someone will read it and benefit from the information shared.
And, by the way...plant-based vegan food tastes good too!
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