Husband's G. Blog 6# Being amazed at what we CAN eat!

Life on GAPS has its ups and downs. Some days you feel really happy and have self control, and other days you feel like you could eat the plastic wrappers if you thought they contained chocolate! but something hit me yesterday, that we have lost the joy of the simple things we can eat. I walked into my local takeaway / general store yesterday and I was looking at all of the things they sell. Maybe about 10% at the very most are things I am able to eat. The other 90% are processed, highly sweetened, MSG laden, chemical laden things which are often quite hazardous to your health, so it got me thinking:
Where has our joy gone for things that we CAN eat?
Why aren't we amazed at the simple things anymore?

The first and most obvious reason is that familiarity breeds boredom. When was the last time you or your children got excited about eating a carrot? At best you can't remember, at worst you never got excited about them!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bhq_NL6jL0
and
http://www.babycarrots.com/
check these guys out. They might be an exception.

Yet the food around us, or better still, food that we dig up from our garden is extraordinary in so many ways. When I was pondering this, it made me think about Tomatoes of all things. Firstly, as a gardener, I found tomatoes to be ridiculously easy to grow. apart from remembering to water them and staking them up, they grow very easily, even in poor soil. Other benefits of tomatoes are that:
*they are high in calcium
* They are high in potassium
* They are high in phosphorous.
* They are rich in beta carotene, which is great for the eyes.
* They are high in vitamin C
* Tomatoes are rich in several phytochemicals believed to have anticancer properties. More specifically, a diet rich in tomatoes can prevent the growth of prostate, cervical, breast and lung cancers.
* Lycopene, which is quite prevalent in tomatoes,inhibits heart disease.
* Tomatoes are a natural sunsceeen - Foods rich in cooked tomatoes may boost your body's ability to ward off skin damage from the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays
* Cooked tomatoes can stave off the effects of aging.
* Tomatoes are versatile. Have them in salsa, soups, sauces, added to omelettes and scrambled eggs. Put them in salad and with other vegtables. They are beautiful with cheese too!

In ages gone by we didn't have such a wide variety of processed, MSG laden, salt enriched, chemical laced foods to choose from. My suggestion is that we regain the joy of eating simple foods, and rediscover the wonder of the humble. Doing this will create in us a desire for truly rich foods and turn the ordinary into extraordinary once more.