I apologize again for being quiet. There are things I have been thinking about, and I haven’t wanted to put them all in the blog just yet as I am still sorting them out in my noggin, but I will tell you what I am working on right now. Perhaps I just need feedback from my lovely readers.
Basically I have been questioning “health” lately. There are a lot of people out there who claim that the way they eat is “the healthiest” and honestly the self righteousness can be both off putting and stressful. I don’t want to fall into the food zealotry category and think it can be both mentally and physically unhealthy.
I wrote a while back that I don’t do moderation well, that poison is still poison…and I still agree with that in a way. However, a little sugar probably won’t be the end of the world. I am not going to try to put into my daily diet, but I am also realizing that the stress from being so very picky about every little thing that goes into my mouth isn’t good for me either.
I did some researching into food borne illness yesterday, which then led me to have a bit of a panic attack and made me scared to eat ANYTHING. I am still sort of in that mess right now, and this has me questioning the raw foods movement. Yes, eating raw produce can be good for you, but if you remember there was a big E. Coli outbreak in raw spinach a couple of years ago. E. Coli that could not be washed off, and that ended up killing some people and making many others terribly sick. Apparently raw leafy greens are a big risk. I am honestly a bit paranoid now and feel like I am going to have to scrub the heck out of all my produce to keep myself safe. The dehydrating is something else too. Raw foodists say not to go above 115° F., but the “Danger Zone” is between 40°-140°F. and for food safety they recommend putting processed (i.e. cut) produce in the fridge. With a dehydrator the produce is outside for HOURS and while no raw foodists seem to worry about that, it just isn’t considered safe according to safe food handling practices.
Now, I am not going to stop eating raw produce. I am however going to be scrubbing my fruits and veggies more (though I really wish I didn’t have to, it’s very time consuming!). One site even recommended disinfecting the sink after washing salad greens in it. Because the greens would contaminate the sink. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in raw greens for me.
The grains…that is something else. I am still going to try to stay mostly grain free, as I do believe that other foods have more nutrition. I am not going to be a zealot about it though. No one appreciates a zealot, no matter the cause.
The blog itself isn’t going to be changing much, but I might not be preaching about nutrition as much as before. Mainly because I think eating whole foods is the ticket, and we don’t really need to know why we eat them, just know that they are good for us. Or at least that is going to be more of my focus. I am trying to bring the joy back to my kitchen, and leave the stress to fly away in the wind. This is still a work in progress, so I appreciate your patience with me and my ongoing learning.
I hope you all have a wonderful day!
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So glad you posted about this! Our minds are linked, I think. I’ve been freaking out a bit TOO much about food lately and I keep going back and forth between having a healthy relationship with food to thinking of certain foods as “evil” and needing to avoid them. I don’t really *do* moderation either, but maybe I should try. It just feels like it’s so hard to get into this health/eating well groove without being too obsessive or crazy or preachy or whatever. You know where I’m going…
Did you see the Dr. Oz show? It freaked me out! I do a vinegar wash but still, so scary. I’ve never thought of myself as a germaphobe (I wash my hands and try not to touch public handles/shopping carts/etc) but lately with all the H1N1 hoopla, I’ve turned into a little bit of that person I swore I never would.
Still haven’t done too much into the raw vs. cooked food, but it’s a good thing to think about it.
Please know I’m always here for support!
I didn’t watch the show but I read a blog posting from someone who did and yes it definitely freaked me out! The H1N1 has me in a tizzy too, and I am a germaphobe so all of this makes it worse!
Curious, how do you do a vinegar wash exactly? Do you do it with ALL your produce?
I’ve been wanting to do a post about so-called “moderation” and why I think it’s really not a helpful idea in some ways. For me, I feel more balanced by just restricting some things completely. Maybe it seems “imbalanced” or “immoderate” or “extreme” to some people, but to me, I FEEL balanced, more balanced than when I try to be “moderate,” so for me, this works.
I definitely struggle with zealotry thing. I used to be a tremendous zealot. I’m the first to admit that I put people off because of my self-righteous attitude. I’ve had a lot of necessary humbling experiences and I think I can approach the issue of food more compassionately and thus, more effectively, with other people. But I still struggle with it myself, especially as a raging OCD perfectionist who likes to have everything “just so” and hates to feel like I’m failing at anything.
As for cleaning – well, I’ll be honest. I never clean anything. Ever. I don’t even scrub potatoes. I don’t rinse greens. I never wash anything I eat. I never have. I’m just lazy like that.
In case it’s not clear, I meant that I never clean my *food* – not that I never clean my house or my body or any other interpretation. :)
Love your sentiments, Marissa!
First dont apologize for lack of posting.
SEcond of all, I am a raw food person, but not hardcore. I eat cooked food, for sure. And I believe for me I do fine with raw, some people dont.
Sugar, I do fine with it, some people can’t/don’t for whatever their reasons.
I dont do tons, I dont eat Twinkies or anything but as we discussed sometimes dates or xylitol just arent approrpiate and sugar comes in. When one is giving it sooo much thought you know that 1. it’s well researched and 2. not taken for granted and 3. probably needed for the net result/recipe to turn out
As for raw food, germs, etc. I was at the height of my holistic living/parenting/green practices when that whole e coli thing broke a few yrs ago. I truly just decided that I couldnt obsess over things like that anymore and it was a turning point for me to just do the best I can, wash/eat/shop organically/etc to the best of my abilities and trust in fate, general common sense, some luck based on scientific risk, and go on my way without obsessing anymore. It was the best thing I ever did was to let go of some of my own neuroses b/c I would have driven myself crazy!
Great post!
Whenever I start going down roads like that, I try to compare whatever it is I’m worried about happening with the likelihood of my being in a car crash. It puts things in perspective for me – I’m not going to stop driving my car – so I shouldn’t be afraid to do things that are not likely to have a bad outcome. Of course, anything is possible but as long as I’m taking reasonable precautions, I really try to let go of worry about stuff like that. I hate living my life in any sort of fear.
Well said Gina, I totally agree with you.
I too always worry about eating something “made in a labratory” or “plastic” and just think of the toxins in my blood stream but then I step back and realize that it’s all about magnitude. When we walk down the street, we inhale gases, particles are absorbed in our skin, dirt goes in our eyes. There is nothing I can do about any of this…but at least I am not working at a gas station all day breathing in chemicals – now that’s pushing it!