What is Real Food?

I know I have been throwing out this term "real food" for you all week and you are probably wondering what the heck I am talking about.

What are the rules?

Well, that's kind of the secret. There aren't any cut and dry ones, because this is a lifestyle of learning how to identify nourishment for yourself, recognize what makes you feel better, adjust as needed, and become as detailed or vague as you want.

All of the "real food" dedicated enthusiasts I follow are dedicated to different things and each path is a little different.

• Some are focused on chronic illness control.
• Some are focused on family nourishment and child development. 
• Some are focused on saving money. 
• Some are focused on fertility. 
• Some are focused on cosmetic things like skin and weight. 

Because all paths are a little different, some people make everything from scratch, some supplement with natural cosmetic alternatives like shampoo, and some people will just buy whatever works for them in a grocery store so long as their intuition can identify it as a real food.

REAL FOOD

Think of some of the things you eat on a regular basis. Now, imagine eating nothing but what you could pick off of trees or hunt for your whole life and then being offered an air filled grain puff covered in orange dust for the first time. Would you identify that as a "real" food? Probably not.

(In case you missed what I was talking about. Cheese Puffs. They are not food.)

Real food is food that obviously offers nourishment to the body.

Some things get a little trickier when you've become accustomed to how normal they look. Like pretzels! If you are buying food products, not ingredients, be sure to read every ingredient. My own personal rule is that if I don't recognize or wouldn't eat an ingredient on the list individually, I won't buy the product either. This let's my intuition be the boss again because while cumin on its own may not taste delicious, it would not concern me to ingest alone. Xanthan gum, natural flavors, ascorbic acid, and carmel color on the other hand would make me think a little before putting it in my mouth. 

Save yourself the stress and if you are unsure of an individual ingredient, just put it back and find an alternative. And you will start to find that sometimes there are no alternatives. Your tastes will need to adjust to new things and you will need to get used to making more of the things you like in your own kitchen. 

Getting rid of things in your house that you wouldn't buy in the store currently under your new mindset is important. At the very least, set them aside in their own bin/cupboard/shelf and out of sight so that your kitchen is free from the distraction. 

Digging around items you don't want in your food creates stress and eating them to "use them up first" is discouraging mentally. Just give yourself a break and remove them from the picture.

Ultimately, follow your gut. You have a lot more skills in identifying what is real than you think you do. 

The the real secret is that the food industry needs you, but you don't need them.

Just start eating things that your instincts can identify as nourishment, and if you don't start feeling better or your progress stalls, you can always adjust down the road. I had to adjust my system many times and I am still learning a lot about the food system and the state of human health. 

If your wanting some more information (besides this blog of course) on real food and how to identify it, as well as big problems with the food system today, you need to pick up the book Eat the Yolks. Even if you don't think you care that much, you should read it. This is the book that put me in a tailspin toward my dedication to real food. It's written very well and it gave me the confidence to recognize what food is on my own. I've read it three times. You couldn't pay me to do that with most health focused books. 

Whether it's a book, keeping an illness in check, keeping your family healthy, curing a cavity, or loosing weight and feeling better, I encourage you to find what makes you passionate about real food.