Your Diet Choices Could Save The World
A Story Of Whole 30 Food
21 days ago; my wife, some friends and myself embarked on the Whole 30 Food Diet which we did to compliment our Crossfit regiment and, to learn to wean ourselves off sugar. To make it more interesting, we decided to bump it to 45 days and really test our resolve to eliminate processed foods, refined sugars and — alcohol.
We’re half way through it and push each other on every day, offering lots of encouragement and support. And with this diligence, have been rewarded with significant changes to our BMI (body mass index) and our energy levels.
Speaking on behalf of our little group — we are all self-professed candy addicts. I love chocolate and my habit could range anywhere from 100–300 grams of chocolate (mostly covered almonds) a day. We’re also all from the drink a day philosophy of the “hey, it’s in moderation dammit and we’ve earned it!” club.
You’re probably asking what this has to do with saving the world.
It wasn’t apparent to me at first either. But something was different in our household since we started this journey. No, not the diet or those early feelings of anxiety and panic because we didn’t have access to the comforts we had become so accustomed to. This was something unexpected and even bewildering.
Our refrigerator was now empty more than it was full. Prior to this we always had plenty of choices and tried to have a least a week’s worth of a variety of foods and treats to keep us fueled for the week. There was a comfort in opening the door and seeing — food. Post Whole 30 and we no longer have stores of food in our cupboards or fridge.
So what changed?
Prior to 21 days ago, I would estimate that we probably tossed out 50% of the produce and leftovers that would reside in our fridge past expiry. It’s a rough estimate and I know it wasn’t always that extreme. It really would depend on the week, stress levels and various factors that precluded us from popping the left over lasagna in the oven or cutting up those last few bell peppers in the crisper.
Again, you’re probably wondering how it all connects…
When you’re addicted to sugars, comfort foods and drink regularly — your body dictates what and when you should eat. It stops being a conscious decision as you pick up the phone and order that pizza, to go with the cider you just cracked. The pizza fills the void but it’s not quite complete and the required dessert afterwards helps to finish the Trifecta. Poor, lonely lasagna spends one more night in dark, cold, isolation waiting for its ultimate rendezvous with the trash.
The most amazing thing happened in our quest to eat clean and it soon became apparent that the reason the fridge was always empty is that we no longer wasted anything. The veggies, fruit and meat we were getting at the market was all being used. Since it’s the only food we have — creativity becomes key and, you find yourself cutting the little brown blemish off the tomato, the squishy end off the cucumber and ignoring the cosmetic issues that used to have us tossing perfectly good produce in the trash.
But that didn’t entirely explain the why. It wasn’t until I took a long hard look at how we were doing it pre Whole 30 that the light bulb went off. Eating processed and refined foods high in sugar is too easy, too convenient. If I had a dollar for every time we made the decision to go for fast food rather than cook up a meal at home because we A. Needed the instant gratification and B. Weren’t motivated to create a meal — I would have a lot of dollars…
Eating processed food is easy by design. Besides the terrible environmental impact is has, I find it difficult not to draw a correlation between our awful diets and the rate of cancer, diabetes and heart disease in our world today. That said, this again doesn’t fully explain my assertion that “Diet can save the world.”
In today’s high paced, demanding world where attention spans are short and patience shorter — we currently throw away about 1/3 of our food. This represents about 1 trillion dollars annually. Or, to really put it perspective; 1 in 4 calories for consumption ends up in landfills. These numbers are global.
In North America, we throw away or waste approximately 40% of our food. This number is 10 times what they throw away in Asia. Disgusted? I am.
We now live in a world where food demand is higher than can be produced, where 3.1 million children die every year from starvation. The GMO producers want you to know that the only way we’ll be able to make it in a future with 10 billion people on the planet is to modify all of our food and even then, they predict food shortages.
There are plenty of scientists on the pro GMO side, government officials and douche bags like Penn and Teller that will try to tell you that natural, organic farming is not sustainable in this world. But, nobody wants to talk about the enormous waste and how we can eliminate it simply by making better choices.
If we all did our part and ate only what we needed, stayed away from those foods which not only offer limited nutritional value and contribute to an ill nation and instead, used some of our own resources to grow local, we could lower the demand for big agri-farms and bad practices that result in much of the waste and the environmental damages (livestock especially) and put our resources to healing the world and feeding those that are starving.
Sounds easy, no? Sadly, it isn’t. I won’t lie to you — going Whole 30 is fucking hard and there are many days where you want to throw in the towel and give into your cravings for empty calories. So why do it? Because there really is a pay off: The brain functions far more efficiently, as does the body. Even with limited physical activity; a whole food diet can shrink away the fat and with it, the thousand or so health issues that come from being overweight.
I don’t want to say this to guilt you but, the choice not to eat a more sustainable diet is a selfish one. If not for the impact you’re having on the world around you, it’s the impact you could have on your loved ones by getting sick and potentially dying before your time. It’s all connected.
Want to help save the world? Eat your veggies!
If you made it this far- I have provided links for everything I’ve discussed.
http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/agri_biotechnology/sustainability/
