The fact that, according to the CDC, over TWO-THIRDS of our country is overweight or obese is appalling. The American Cancer Society now estimates that 1 in 2 men and 1 in 3 women will have some form of invasive cancer in their lives. In 2007, it was estimated that 23.6 MILLION (!) people in this country have diabetes, 90-95% of those being type 2 diabetics. These statistics are staggering! And, yet, to some degree they are of little surprise when one considers what children are being served in school lunches and the fact that healthy fruits and vegetables make up only 10% of our daily caloric intake as a nation.

We are a country that is increasingly fueled by white flour, white sugar, white potatoes, and white rice with a boatload of preservatives and chemicals thrown in. Combine this with a basically sedentary lifestyle and is it really any wonder that we are so ill?

In my never ending quest to keep up with the latest science involving food, I ran across a book that had me immediately intrigued. The book is called “Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease” by Gary Taubes. Mr. Taubes has spent the better part of the last 15 years as an investigative journalist covering public health issues and spent over five years researching the information that went into this book. The information is pretty incredible. Among other things, he discovered that:

Dietary fat, saturated or otherwise, was not the cause of heart disease
Consuming refined carbohydrates may very well be the cause of Alzheimer’s Disease and cancer
Obesity is caused by excess fat accumulation, not overeating
Consuming excess calories doesn’t make us fatter – carbohydrates DO.

To read a great synopsis about the book, check out this article written by Taubes himself.

There was so much great information backed by science, that Luke and I decided to give a Low Carbohydrate Diet a try. For the last 6 weeks, we have cut out all grains, high sugar fruits, and starchy vegetables, including potatoes, most winter squash, and sweet potatoes. We’ve been eating about a pound of greens a day, lots of nuts, seeds, and coconut, and small portions of animal protein at most meals.

I’ve got to say, I’ve never felt better. I’ve struggled with mild acne since the age of 12, and it is gone. Our energy levels are up, excess weight is coming off and we are building lots of new muscle with just two simple weight workouts a week. It really is incredible. What is different about the diet we have chosen versus other Low Carb diets is that we are emphasizing healthy, natural foods and sweeteners and using vegetables as our main source of calories. Most Low Carb diets emphasize loads of meat and cheese and eggs, but that’s just not an adequate diet no matter how much weight you lose.

I’ve been experimenting with Stevia and Erythritol as sweeteners, and have had several successes that I hope to share with you all soon. In the meantime, please check out this book and these great Low Carb and Grain Free Blogs:

Elana’s Pantry
Cindalou’s Healthy GF/DF Kitchen
Healthy Indulgences
Straight Into Bed Cakefree and Dried

For all the ladies, I made spa packages full of homemade beauty products in cute little containers. I’m kicking myself now for not taking pictures to show you, but, luckily, they were such a hit that I will be making more. Expect recipes for facial scrubs, lotions and coconut milk baths coming very soon.

But, with the holidays behind us, I’m back on the food blogging wagon and more amped than ever!

Over the last few weeks Luke and I have been researching a “new” way of eating that has us both really excited. I say new in quotes just because it’s all information that I’ve known forever, but I’ve never really dedicated myself to putting it into practice. The whole gist of the “diet” is this: eat loads of greens and alkalizing foods and consume just about everything else in moderation including meat, grains and legumes (unless they are sprouted), and high sugar fruits. Also, about 50-70% of your daily diet should consist of raw, enzyme-packed food.

What is really appealing about this way of eating is that only 70-80% of your diet has to be alkalizing foods. That means the other 20-30% can be almost anything you want it to be. Having that kind of
freedom within a “diet” is like a breath of fresh air. The ultimate goal of eating this way is to stabilize the acid/alkaline balance in our bodies. When this is done, diseases cannot thrive, your energy goes through the roof, and your body can heal itself better.

But, the most exciting piece of news to me was this: In his book “The pH Miracle“, microbiologist Dr. Robert Young, claims that eating an alkalizing diet can bring your body back into balance thereby alleviating some food allergies. This, of course, caught my eye. The thought of eating a warm piece of sprouted spelt bread was almost enough to make me jump on the bandwagon. But, before I did, I read the rest of the book, checked out some great forums, and combined all of this information with what I’ve gathered so far in my quest to seek ultimate health and only then did I decided to give it a go.

I’ll be updating my food diary on a more consistent basis so you can see the changes I’m making. One thing that will be pretty obvious from the get go is the change in my breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day to make alkaline, so no more sweet stuff to start my day. At first I was very resistant to making a switch to non-breakfast food for breakfast, but it has actually been really satisfying and not weird at all to eat a bowl of brown rice with steamed veggies, tomato and avocado for breakfast.

So, here’s to the New Year. And, here’s to a new year that is happier and healthier than ever!

What are some of the new things that you are doing in 2009?