Superfoods!
One of the things I've had to re-adjust to being back in America after such a long time is American food and giant American supermarkets.
In Japan, I shopped on a budget, and since there was a really cheap produce stand near my place, I usually stocked up on cabbage, carrots, onions, and many other vegetables and meat and fish were bought at discount and used sparingly. The way I did things was not terribly unique; maybe I take it to an extreme by mixing tofu in with taco meat, and I don't eat as much white rice as most Japanese people, but in general Japanese people who cook at home use many kinds of vegetables in their cooking.
In America, there is still plenty of produce and it is very possible to eat healthy, but it seems the portions go the opposite way. Carbs and meat are the main entree, and vegetables are a side dish. 5 a day? Try 5 a week. (A lot of Japanese fast food is like this too but that is because of Westernization)
And another thing about American supermarket is the abundance of prepackaged convenience foods. They're not all evil, there are actually several products that would fit really nicely into my pantry but the problem is you have to search them out, and read the labels. In Japan, I didn't have to avoid HFCS, because it simply was not used. Here, I have to check salad dressing labels! Not to say that Japan didn't have any junk food. Kids in my school regularly had these pre-packaged meatballs that looked and smelled like dog food, and were likely loaded with artificial flavoring and preservatives. And if you're concerned about preservatives, don't buy those riceballs and sandwiches in the convenience store, which can sit in your fridge for a week and look no worse for wear.
Anyway, maybe from reading this you can tell but food is a hobby for me. I can amuse myself for hours just going to supermarkets and looking at the food, and bargain-hunting. But this coincides with figuring out how to eat healthily on a budget.
And, especially with baby coming along I'm always reading up on what will happen in my uterus this week, cloth vs disposables, that kind of stuff. So this got me to looking at lists of "superfoods" for pregnant moms, babies, breastfeeding moms, and then sometimes in my news feeds another "superfood" list would pop up.
Here are a few.
http://www.takepart.com/photos/top-10-super-foods-heart-health
http://www.babyfooddoctor.com/topsuperfoods.html
http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/pregnancy-superfoods
http://www.nursingschools.net/blog/2010/07/50-fabulous-superfoods-for-pregnancy-and-postpartum/
You can go and look at all the slideshows, lists, with the explanations. But no matter how many you read, you will notice a pattern of the same few foods. So here is the super superfood list with the foods that appear most often on all of these lists.
Almond (and other nuts)
Avocado
Bananas
Blueberries (and other berries)
Black Beans
Broccoli
Brown Rice
Butternut Squash
Cacao
Carrots
Chicken Breast
Edamame
Eggs
Flaxseed
Garlic
Green tea
Oats
Onions
Oranges/Citrus
Spinach/Kale/Dark leafy greens
Salmon
Tofu/Soy products
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes
Yogurt (plain, you have to look at labels for this)
That's 25 items. 21 of them are plant-based. At least 10 of them are vibrantly colorful. Half of them can be eaten with minimal or no preparation.
With such colorful, delicious, easy to prepare foods, that are also not even expensive (maybe some would be pricer out of season, but that's why there are frozen and canned foods..but check the labels of course) why do people continue to stuff themselves with bland, overprocessed fried foods and sugary sodas with empty calories...and why are people who eat the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day and trade in refined white sugars and flours for nutrient-rich whole grains, brown sugar, honey, etc. considered "health freaks"? When actually, we are just doing what is normal and best for our bodies, not what is worst and unnatural for them!
Don't even get me started on extreme health/weight loss diets that usually consist of limiting or even eliminating a certain food group from your diet (low-carb, fad vegetarianism) or replacing one balanced meal a day with a certain food (grapefruit diet, tomato diet, banana diet, protein shake diet). How unnnatural is that, and is it any wonder that they never have lasting results because it's a "diet" and as soon as the weight is gone, you can go back to your previous eating habits, which usually leads people to binge on what they have been "missing".
Or the people that suddenly "go organic" and suddenly believe that they're eating healthy now because they shop among those "health freaks" but still consume 1-2 servings of vegetables a day at best and eat their "healthy organic free range" meats and eggs for most of their meals with a slice of bread AND noodles AND potatoes. (or like a lot of Americans, buy lots of food, then let half of it rot and throw it out...every week)
Just because everyone else does something a certain way, doesn't mean it's the right way. Especially when big business influences government and schools. According to our "food pyramid" empty carbs are the biggest part of our daily intake and excessive amounts of meat are OK. Try this one
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/FDBs_madpyramide_2011.jpg
or this one
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy_eating_pyramid
which are a lot more logical.
Bottom line, if you eat oatmeal or granola with fruit and yogurt for breakfast, a salmon and avocado sandwich with a side salad for lunch, and rice and beans with a multi-colored vegetable stirfry for dinner and are so impressed with yourself for eating healthy that day, then something is wrong because you should be eating that way every day except for the occasional junk food.
You know why Cookie Monster had to be changed? Because a long time ago, parents taught their children about eating a normal diet, so the idea of a Cookie Monster was funny and ludicrous even to small children....but now, kids are growing up watching their parents devour a plate of cookies being served bland chicken nuggets and fries because they are "kid's food". Their parents are too busy scarfing down carbs and meats to teach them about a normal diet, and then blame TV for giving bad examples.
So anyway, I don't really know how to end this, but you're welcome for the list of superfoods anyway.
In Japan, I shopped on a budget, and since there was a really cheap produce stand near my place, I usually stocked up on cabbage, carrots, onions, and many other vegetables and meat and fish were bought at discount and used sparingly. The way I did things was not terribly unique; maybe I take it to an extreme by mixing tofu in with taco meat, and I don't eat as much white rice as most Japanese people, but in general Japanese people who cook at home use many kinds of vegetables in their cooking.
In America, there is still plenty of produce and it is very possible to eat healthy, but it seems the portions go the opposite way. Carbs and meat are the main entree, and vegetables are a side dish. 5 a day? Try 5 a week. (A lot of Japanese fast food is like this too but that is because of Westernization)
And another thing about American supermarket is the abundance of prepackaged convenience foods. They're not all evil, there are actually several products that would fit really nicely into my pantry but the problem is you have to search them out, and read the labels. In Japan, I didn't have to avoid HFCS, because it simply was not used. Here, I have to check salad dressing labels! Not to say that Japan didn't have any junk food. Kids in my school regularly had these pre-packaged meatballs that looked and smelled like dog food, and were likely loaded with artificial flavoring and preservatives. And if you're concerned about preservatives, don't buy those riceballs and sandwiches in the convenience store, which can sit in your fridge for a week and look no worse for wear.
Anyway, maybe from reading this you can tell but food is a hobby for me. I can amuse myself for hours just going to supermarkets and looking at the food, and bargain-hunting. But this coincides with figuring out how to eat healthily on a budget.
And, especially with baby coming along I'm always reading up on what will happen in my uterus this week, cloth vs disposables, that kind of stuff. So this got me to looking at lists of "superfoods" for pregnant moms, babies, breastfeeding moms, and then sometimes in my news feeds another "superfood" list would pop up.
Here are a few.
http://www.takepart.com/photos/top-10-super-foods-heart-health
http://www.babyfooddoctor.com/topsuperfoods.html
http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/pregnancy-superfoods
http://www.nursingschools.net/blog/2010/07/50-fabulous-superfoods-for-pregnancy-and-postpartum/
You can go and look at all the slideshows, lists, with the explanations. But no matter how many you read, you will notice a pattern of the same few foods. So here is the super superfood list with the foods that appear most often on all of these lists.
Almond (and other nuts)
Avocado
Bananas
Blueberries (and other berries)
Black Beans
Broccoli
Brown Rice
Butternut Squash
Cacao
Carrots
Chicken Breast
Edamame
Eggs
Flaxseed
Garlic
Green tea
Oats
Onions
Oranges/Citrus
Spinach/Kale/Dark leafy greens
Salmon
Tofu/Soy products
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes
Yogurt (plain, you have to look at labels for this)
That's 25 items. 21 of them are plant-based. At least 10 of them are vibrantly colorful. Half of them can be eaten with minimal or no preparation.
With such colorful, delicious, easy to prepare foods, that are also not even expensive (maybe some would be pricer out of season, but that's why there are frozen and canned foods..but check the labels of course) why do people continue to stuff themselves with bland, overprocessed fried foods and sugary sodas with empty calories...and why are people who eat the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day and trade in refined white sugars and flours for nutrient-rich whole grains, brown sugar, honey, etc. considered "health freaks"? When actually, we are just doing what is normal and best for our bodies, not what is worst and unnatural for them!
Don't even get me started on extreme health/weight loss diets that usually consist of limiting or even eliminating a certain food group from your diet (low-carb, fad vegetarianism) or replacing one balanced meal a day with a certain food (grapefruit diet, tomato diet, banana diet, protein shake diet). How unnnatural is that, and is it any wonder that they never have lasting results because it's a "diet" and as soon as the weight is gone, you can go back to your previous eating habits, which usually leads people to binge on what they have been "missing".
Or the people that suddenly "go organic" and suddenly believe that they're eating healthy now because they shop among those "health freaks" but still consume 1-2 servings of vegetables a day at best and eat their "healthy organic free range" meats and eggs for most of their meals with a slice of bread AND noodles AND potatoes. (or like a lot of Americans, buy lots of food, then let half of it rot and throw it out...every week)
Just because everyone else does something a certain way, doesn't mean it's the right way. Especially when big business influences government and schools. According to our "food pyramid" empty carbs are the biggest part of our daily intake and excessive amounts of meat are OK. Try this one
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/FDBs_madpyramide_2011.jpg
or this one
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthy_eating_pyramid
which are a lot more logical.
Bottom line, if you eat oatmeal or granola with fruit and yogurt for breakfast, a salmon and avocado sandwich with a side salad for lunch, and rice and beans with a multi-colored vegetable stirfry for dinner and are so impressed with yourself for eating healthy that day, then something is wrong because you should be eating that way every day except for the occasional junk food.
You know why Cookie Monster had to be changed? Because a long time ago, parents taught their children about eating a normal diet, so the idea of a Cookie Monster was funny and ludicrous even to small children....but now, kids are growing up watching their parents devour a plate of cookies being served bland chicken nuggets and fries because they are "kid's food". Their parents are too busy scarfing down carbs and meats to teach them about a normal diet, and then blame TV for giving bad examples.
So anyway, I don't really know how to end this, but you're welcome for the list of superfoods anyway.