Grocery List / Lesson / Rant

Disclaimer:  I am not a nutritionist, and nothing within this post should replace the advice of your doctor and or nutritionist.

I have not had enough training on selling prescription drugs to be considered a doctor…anyhow- on with the list and lesson..

Grocery List Part II:

Veggies to fight the flu / common cold.  High in Vitamin C.

Fight the vaccines, eat your greens!

Dark Leafy Greens- some examples to look for;  Mustard Greens, Watercress, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Arugula, Collard and turnip greens, as well.  Select at least 2.

Red Bell Peppers: 3x as much vitamin C as the green peppers.

Brussels sprouts: boil em’ up in some veggie soup, or just steam and dip in organic butter.

Radishes: Eat in salads to spice it up a bit.

Cabbage: Weight loss veggie here.  Cabbage absorbs water, so it will leave you satisfied longer.  It also kicks in some Vit C as well.

Veggie of the week: Mushrooms-win this award for packing plenty nutrients only found in animal products, and grains.  They are a great vegetarian source of riboflavin, niacin, and selenium.  They can also be added to a variety of meals, so eat up!

Oils…if you still do not buy my theory that fat is actually good for you to cook with, such as butter, and coconut oil- and you still use some form of non fat substance to grill with, pick up some of these items.

Avocado- Vitamin C, E, and potassium.  Also kicks in magnesium, and niacin.

Walnuts- rich in omega-3s.  “Good fat”.

Salmon- Wild caught salmon, of course.  High in protein and the sexy omega-3s.  Fried fish ruins all nutrient value.  Seriously.

Supplement worth noting; if you’re not into fish or the vegetarian that can have ‘fish products’, try a fish oil capsule.  Carlson’s is a very good brand.  You need to read the labels.

Side lesson: Pay attention to the EPA and DHA levels, not the total ‘fish oil’ blend.  A good brand will make it clear, while others will usually only list the total.  For example:  I have a bottle that says “EPA, DHA, and other omega-3s” 720mg.  The capsule is listed at 1200mg fish oil.  It does not list the break down.  I would avoid these brands.

Then I have another bottle that lists EPA 300, and DHA 200.  The total ‘fish oil’ capsule is 1000mg.

So, if I wanted to get 1500mg per day of the ‘good stuff’, I would need to consume 6 pills per day.  This is what I do personally, 2 morning, afternoon and night. Had you just read the front label for what it says, you would think 2 capsules would contain 2000mg.  That’s a huge misunderstanding!

Remember; fish oil has become very sexy, it became ‘popular’ and that means money…so there are many companies out there putting some ‘not-so-great’ stuff together for a fast buck.

Click on this picture below for a sample label.

Trust me, you need fat in your diet to lose fat in your body.  Let me repeat; you NEED fat- healthy, natural, unprocessed fat, in your diet to lose fat in your body.  Anyhow, let’s move on.

Cooking Oils II: For those of you that use them, good for you!  Here is some options you may want to check out.

Butter: Butter consumption went down by 50% and heart disease took off and didn’t look back!  Think I’m lying?  Do some research…  Organic butter is the only way to go.  Try to find organic butter from pasture fed cows.  If your butter is a “near white” color, it sucks…plain and simple.

It’s also worth noting; Dr. Weston A. Price claims it is needed to make many nutrients well absorbed by the body.  It is believed that ‘grass fed’ cows produce butter very high in this “Activator X” or Vitamin K2.  Normal ‘feed’ used in conventional methods does not produce this same type of butter.  Crazy huh?  Read it for yourself, I am not bullshittin’!

That’s all I am going to list for the cooking  “oils” this time.  If you need “real oil” to fry with, then stop frying!!

Sorry about that pic, just needed to make sure you were still with me..

Fruits: I will leave this up to you.  Try to go organic, local, and in season.  For vitamin C, go with some Oranges. Keep it simple, stay away from the exotic stuff.

Grains: tread lightly here.  No, not all grains are evil…but, many people are very sensitive to them.  Where do you think all these bowel problems and diabetes issues come from?  Processed, empty grains.  It’s big Ag and the USDA at their finest.  It’s cheaper to produce, it has much more ‘uses’,(you’d be AMAZED what they can do with corn and soy) and it lasts much longer- so fu** vegetables, tell em’ to eat 6-11 servings a day! We need to sell this shit!

Quinoa- I dont like it Mike.  Blah blah… Get it.  Figure it out, learn to make it work.  It’s the new rice.  Rice is crap.  And white rice is stinky, runny, crap!  It’s stripped of any nutritional value!  Just a sugar spike, then a crash..and some more weight gain.

Rolled Oats, or ‘Slow Cooking Oats’- I must warn you, these will take 20-30 minutes to cook…as opposed to 90 seconds of radiation it took for the instant stuff.  BUT…but, you will gain much more nutritional benefits if you take the extra time.

Black Beans: If you buy canned, you shouldn’t.  If you must, please look for one that is BPA free and all that other shit.  Not sure if they have many out there.

I’m not going to put more on this list.  Simply, because it will lead to weight gain, and sometimes- many other problems.  If you’re an athlete or busting your ass in grueling work or events- you’ll probably be Ok.  For the rest of us, we need to limit or grains.

In the US, we over produce way too many grains. Why?  I am not sure really.  It is not because we are all healthy grain soaking, non meat eating, agri-loving people. The government has all kinds of ‘farm bills’ and funding paid to farmers.  However, a little research will show that the vast (over 90%) goes to corn, cotton, and soy.  Like I said, corn is used to make everything..from cow feed (which is horrible, cows don’t eat corn) to home items like batteries.  We are not consuming a bunch of whole, natural grains.  We are consuming a bunch of processed, fat people producing, “franken grains” being passed off as food.

We can sit here and discuss diets and everyone can claim to be correct and have the secret info…it is kinda like religion- so lets not over analyze here.  Don’t get me wrong; eating natural grains is fine…just don’t overdo it.  But, most of this stuff being grown at a crazy rate is being processed into cereals, frozen items, candy, breaks, crackers, health food- and some claim to be “healthy” and countless others use marketing tactics make false claims.

In 2007, Joe Biden said this, “Hundreds of thousands of people die, or have their lives shortened because of coal plants, coal fire plants, and because of CORN SYRUP.”

Then why the fu** are we allowing this into our food supply??  Sometimes, I just don’t understand how people live with themselves.

Here is some homework for the “beginners” that are just starting out on a dietary change in their life.  Read the labels, every single label. I want you to see just how many products contain this crap.  I want you to look for corn oils, soy oils, and high fructose corn syrups.  You can also keep your eye out for the hydrogenated fats and oils. Avoid all this crap.  Yes, I know this means many of your favorite “goodies” will need to be very limited “treats”, and not a daily thing anymore.

Hey, don’t get mad at me about it…I had nothing to do with mass production of food.  At least in the ol’ days, cookies just made you fat….they were never ‘linked’ to cancer.

And, since this grocery list turned into a list with a ton of info and just as much ranting- I did you a favor and grouped it all together below:

You’re welcome.

-Mike.

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Greens: choose 2

Mustard Greens

Watercress

Spinach

Swiss Chard

Arugula

Collard Greens

Turnip greens

More Veggies: choose a couple more here, too.

Red Bell Peppers

Brussels Sprouts

Cabbage

Radishes

Mushrooms

Fats / Oils:

(pasture fed) Organic Butter

Avocados

Walnuts

Salmon / and or Fish Oil Supplement (read the label)

Grains:

Quinoa

Oats

Black Beans

Fruit: Oranges, and 1 or 2 others.

Bonus Items:  take the extra effort…or at least ‘check em out’

Liver

Full Fat Raw Cheddar- if you love cheese, you will not buy ‘regular’ again.

Tumeric powder- it’s a spice

Decaf Green Tea-

Cocoa Bar- at least 80% cocoa and very little sugar per serving (more on this treat in the future)

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Related posts:

1. TO DO: Weekend Grocery List
2. Basic Vitamins
3. Food is Fuel III: The final note.
4. New Beast10: Nutrition is fuel. Part 1
5. Week 2, Day 1…and a little rant.