PORCH PONDERINGS

Health Lecture - Listen Up!

17. Maple Syrup Day
Did you know that this sweet and unique flavor originated in America?
Native American Indians were the first to harvest and boil the sap of the maple tree into a thick syrup.
Talk about, well, maple syrup, of course.

Love this syrup. I can eat this natural sugar. Why would anyone use anything else once you taste this?

You can keep the nasty maple flavored high fructose syrups, the pancake syrups that people seem to think are the best. Empty nasty calories. No wonder we have an epidemic of obesity in this country. I heard a term. DIABESITY.

So it goes hand-in-hand. Diabetes with heart disease with obesity. You get a problem with your blood sugar so you gain weight then you get a problem with your blood pressure so then you get a problem with your cholesterol. Pretty soon you are on all these meds to take care of one problem after another. It’s a slippery slope.

Gaining weight can be diet related. When I shop I like to look in people’s carts. I am Miss nosy butt I know, people. But my goodness. Some seem to buy nothing but ramen noodles, white bread, and ice cream. Our diet in this country is abysmal. We are so far removed from the diet we are supposed to be eating for our best health. It is best to eat mainly vegetables and grains, fruits sparingly, with a bit of protein and dairy. Who does that? Who is willing to do that?

In my home we have cut way back on the amount of protein we eat. As you get older, you don’t need to eat as much as you used to. Most of us don’t have physical jobs anymore. We don’t expend the calories as we used to. So why eat huge meals?

We try to eat something fresh every day. Fresh vegetables and fruits can be challenging here in Montana. But I try to get kale at the store. At least that I can find now. And avocado. That we try to eat every day. Hubby balked at first, so I try to convince him it is like taking a vitamin. That he identified with. He takes lots of vitamins. Avocados are good for many reasons, especially for your skin and eyes. We also take loads of vitamins. Multis, Vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin E, collagen. Probably have very wonderfully healthy pee.

Gracious, now I sound like someone’s evil Aunt. Enough with the lecture. I am guilty of drinking CocaColas and eating potato chips until the entire bag is gone.