Dirty food
Our health really starts in the dirt. The soil contains all the minerals our bodies need to grow & live. Given we can't eat dirt (well... you can give it a go) we rely on plants & other animals to absorb these minerals for us. So if the soil is deficient in minerals then surprise, surprise those nutrients aren't in our food [sad face].
The quality of the soil where our food is grown plays a huge role in how we feel and function. Knowing this, eating top quality animals is really important for optimal health. Why? Because by eating animals raised in top-notch farming conditions are bodies are absorbing top quality nutrients specifically protein.
The same can be said for fruit and vegetables. Our bodies digest organically grown more foods more easily than those synthetically grown. They contain less artificial additives and weird numbers like 220 or 440 added to lengthen their lifespan. The less human and machine intervention, the better I say.
Would you rather eat food from grown/raised in an artificial environment or chew away happily knowing that Gertrude tended to and farmed those juicy carrots herself? She shooed away the insects with her straw hat and didn't use any nasty pesticides (she even got dirt on her skirt in the process).
You've no doubt heard time and time again but it really is worthwhile opting for organic and/or grass fed where possible. Take the time to find out where your food comes from. Farmers markets are great for this reason. You can chat to the friendly folk who actually grow the food and ask them questions like "do you give your chickens names?" or "why don't you have avocados this week?"
You also won't succumb to the clever and alluring advertising supermarkets use to sell you junk food. Just because something is sitting on a shelf beautifully packaged doesn't mean it is good for us. Take responsibility for your nourishment and don't let clever marketing gurus influence your wellbeing.
Shopping at your local farmers market will also mean you'll end up eating seasonally. Fruits and veges grown in season are more likely to have been grown outdoors where they have been able to thrive and soak up nutrients naturally. And there's less chance they will have been shipped from other countries ensuring their freshness AND reducing their carbon footprint. For this reason it's also friendly on your wallet if you shop seasonally because production costs are greatly reduced.
If you're like me and you can only remember one thing from any article you read then remember this: Food is the only way we obtain physical energy. So the better quality the fuel we're feeding our bodies the better we are going to feel.
“It seems crazy to me that people know the name of their doctor but not the names of their local farmers”