Day 27: 10 Rules to Eat Safely for Life

I was watching an infomercial for the book The Blood Sugar Solution by Mark Hymen. I was curious to see where it was similiar and where it was different than the Paleo/Primal templates. I found out they are based on a few of the same premises, but his "solution" still involves eating whole grains, just not flours. The major similiarity is the push for whole, unprocessed foods that were grown or raised on a farm. One part of the infomercial I really liked was his "10 Rules to Eat Safely for Life." After the challenge is over, I will still strive to follow these 10 rules. It is very difficult with kids. Some of the rules we have done a good job following with the kids are: trying to eat foods with fewer than 5 ingredients, avoiding high-fructose corn syrup, avoiding hydrogenated oils, avoiding foods with ingredients I don't recognize, avoiding any food additives and avoiding foods with artificial sweeteners. At times I think some of the family members think I am crazy for doing that, but it is important to me. I would like to work on trying to decrease the amount of quick, less-natural foods we give the kids like cereal bars (even if they are organic).

The Ten Rules:
1. Try to eat food without labels.
2. If a food has a label it should have fewer than 5 ingredients.
3. If sugar or flour is on the label, throw it out.
4. Throw out any foods with high-fructose corn syrup.
5. Throw out any food with the word hydrogenated in it.
6. Throw out any highly refined cooking oils (stick with olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil for example).
7. Throw out any foods with ingredients you don't recognize.
8. Throw out any foods with preservatives, additives, colorings or dyes.
9. Throw out any foods with artificial sweeteners.
10. "If it came from the earth or the farmer's field, not a food chemist's lab, it's safe to eat."

One other article I found by the same doctor was called: "3 Hidden Ways Wheat Makes you Fat."

Breakfast: Leftover chicken stir-fry and jicama/carrot mix.
Snack: Walnuts
Lunch: Canned salmon and avocado
Snack: Banana and cashews
Dinner: Beef burger (no bun) and sweet potato. I love that I now know how to make a burger using ground meat. It is an easy and quick meal to make. I also love that I now know how to cook sweet potatoes. They are so easy and a good slower-acting carb. How sad it is that I had never cooked one in the past (almost embarassing)!