I am not a nutritionist, I am not a doctor, I am not a herbalist, I have never studied food in any way, I am not skinny (I average a size 12/14 and 5ft8). I am just a generally healthy eater and a relatively new mother.
Now when I say generally, I mean I try to eat as healthy as possible, that doesn’t mean I only eat salad or raw foods, or that I steam everything, or that I freak out at the sight of anything which contains fat, but I do believe I have a healthy relationship with food. Not that I always have, when I first had to fend for myself, I ate my fair share of crap, saving up my money to blow it on vodka and cider in my student days (and probably most of my early 20’s).
My mum to be fair to her always tried to promote healthy eating, she made all homemade meals… but cooked them all in the microwave, so zapped out any real goodness the initial foods contained, I think she would disagree, but generally, she was not a good cook! Things do not taste good when they’re dry and devoid of any real texture.
So now and for the past 6 years or so, I try to eat a relatively balanced nutritional food, and allow myself 1-2 small treats a day, because, yes, I’m saying it, “I am addicted to sugar” gulp phew, I’m glad I have finally said that out loud. But I am, I’m horribly addicted, but it is near enough my only vice, so I allow it to myself in moderation.
The thing I have found is now I am rarely ill, when I get a cold, it passes in a couple of days, and apart from one bout of food poisoning (from a dodgy spring roll), I haven’t really had much in the way of illness at all in the last 6 years, which to me really highlights the importance of healthy eating and generally looking after yourself (I also gave up smoking and drinking 6 years ago, mainly because I figured I had probably already had a lifetimes worth). Before I used to get tonsillitis or bronchitis at the least on a yearly basis, now, only minor colds!
They say that cannabis is a “gateway” drug, so it therefore leads the user to other potentially ‘harder’ drugs. If you ask me, there is another far more seemingly harmless “gateway” drug, which is actually a poison, which is highly addictive, it makes the people that sell it legally in all its various forms, millions upon millions of pounds/ dollars, people of all ages use it, parents give it to children as a treat, what is it you ask? Sugar as these articles points out, among other things, it leads to weight gain and it supports cancer cells…
sweetest poison
What I don’t understand is why parents give sweets, chocolate and puddings (and I’m not talking just fruit) to young children and worse than that, babies. I saw a youtube clip where someone had made their twin 8 month old daughters race for a milky way chocolate star, which at its best is a choking hazard! Why set them on a path to early addiction? I am viewed as cruel by friends and family because my 11 month old baby isn’t allowed things containing refined sugars. I once let him play with an empty box of maltesers, and my parents “joked” at how mean I was letting him play with the packet, but not giving him the sweets. The amount of times I’ve been told how much he would enjoy chocolate is unbelievable, he would probably enjoy sucking on the rim of the toilet seat, but im not going to let him!
I must admit to frequenting parenting websites and forums like Mumsnet and Bounty …yes I know, but I am a new mother, and sometimes it can be helpful especially because of the dud of a health visitor I have been given, but thats a rant for another time! But some of the parents posts… well its a wonder we have a nation of obesity!
“Is it safe to give baby ambrosia devon custard, I know its probably loaded with sugar…”
PROBABLY loaded with sugar??! Look, I know its better that this woman ask the question, but her point was that she usually gives the Heinz baby custard, but that was too expensive, so why the hell is baby food so expensive, and how have we gotten into a position that we cant even cook a simple custard anymore?
“if my 13 month old doesn’t eat his meal, should I give him pudding”.
First off, a 13 month old does not need pudding, if he hasn’t eaten his meal, because maybe he doesn’t like it, try and give him a nutritional alternative!
Refined sugars are poisonous. You would not (I hope) feed your baby other poisons like alcohol, trans fats or cigarettes, so why would you give baby refined sugars, how are we being duped in to not realising that it is a poison?
I dont just blame the mothers and fathers and other ignorants that feed babies sugar, I saw someone in my local town the other day, that had a twin buggy, both occupants were under 2 and passed out, and on the tray in front of them was chicken nuggets and chips! You only have to see one of Jamie Oliver’s adverts to know there is zero nutritional value in that! We have a duty to our children to give them foods that help their brains and body’s develop well, just because you reckon “it didn’t do me any harm” your wrong! you are an idiot with an under developed brain because of all the crap you eat, and you are perpetuating the harm, you are exactly what is wrong with this country, you are blindly obeying adverts that lure you in to switching your brain off and parting with your money.
Food is a luxury now, it is no longer the necessity it once was where you forage and kill enough to get on with your daily life, no, we’re far too ‘civilised’ for that, now we want to be able to go into a shop buy far more than we actually need, and either throw half away, or get all glutenous and eat it all, we want to fill up our arteries with fake beef and trans fats, we want to peruse the pudding aisle and picture ourselves in front of the telly, sobbing into a mound of chocolate fudge cake, we want to chastise ourselves for eating too much and ‘punish’ ourselves with salad, as long as there’s a good thick creamy sauce on it.
Yeah yeah yeah, the billions of pounds our government spent on our behalf on the Olympics was really well spent. It has really inspired us all as a nation to get in to sports and athletics, it’s given us ‘heroes’ in which to look up to, (on billboards selling us foot long subs and Santander credit cards) and compare ourselves to, whilst tucking into a packet of Hobnobs realising we’re never going to be that good, while we flick to another sports channel on the tv, and imagine what it might be like if we had that much money.
We want comfort food and convenience. Granted, it’s a shit that these things are so readily available, but we have more will power than that, surely! Our whole lives are geared towards comfort and convenience, because thats how big companies make their millions, by making you lazy and obese! WAKE UP PEOPLE, we (the people) are getting poorer and poorer, fatter and fatter, lazier and lazier so that companies like Walmart and Tesco and all the big oil companies and banks (Cunt bag rich fucks) can make more and more money, from you! Please repeat after me “no” … see not that difficult!
Eat healthy, put the scales away, stop obsessing, go for a few walks, buy a healthy cook book, shop at a local shop or market at least every other week, buy a fruit or vegetable you haven’t tried before and expand your mind, and stop feeding yourself and especially your babies shit, it might be too late for you, but we should at least give them a fighting chance, liquidized McDonalds is not a first food, it probably isn’t an actual food at all!
Elkie.x
