A Lovely Bunch of Coconuts

I've been doing a lot of reading recently about various diet trends, including coconut and safflower oils and the gluten-free lifestyle.  One thing that lots of these diet trends (when you read "diet," read it as "lifestyle" or "nutrition" and not "fad diet") comes back to is the idea of eating foods as naturally as you can get them.  Whole fruits and veggies, lean meats, and grains in their natural state (not processed or refined) can give us the best nutrition available.

Ok, so I know what you're thinking...  I, myself, do enjoy a processed food product now and again (or more frequently!).  However, I've been trying to be more vigilant with making sure I'm eating foods as close to natural as possible.  And it makes you feel better!  For example, as a snack yesterday, I could easily have had some pita chips (Stacy's "Simply Naked" - yum!) but instead I cut up a pear and some cheddar cheese.  The protein in the cheese and the longer lasting carbohydrates in the pear (versus the processed carbohydrates in the pita chips) helped keep me full well into lunch time! 

My husband pointed out that our dinner of a steak, baked potato, and corn on the cob last night was all gluten-free and was in the most natural state possible.  (For those of you who don't know what gluten is, it's a binding agent found in wheat/barley/rye to which some people can be sensitive or allergic.  If you are allergic, you probably have celiac disease.)  The baked potato (instead of some type of pasta) with dinner last night was super filling! 

You don't have to be allergic to gluten to adapt the gluten-free lifestyle.  There are lots of benefits to avoiding this protein molecule; Google it, if you want more information.  There is a lot of talk about gluten, and wheat, being less digestible to humans because it is fairly new to our diets.  Alternatively, rice, corn, and other grains seem to be easier on the digestive system because they have been part of the nutrition of humans for much longer.  If you want to go completely gluten-free, there are lots of little ingredients that you need to watch out for; if you want to just reduce the amount of gluten you ingest (if you prefer the "everything in moderation" stance), you can just limit your wheat/barley/rye intake.

Coconut oil has been touted with great advantages, also.  Including helping with symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.  I used it in place of butter/margarine on my baked potato last night and it was just delicious!  The version of coconut oil that I have has a mild coconut flavor and scent (which was actually quite nice and different on the potato!), but you can get oil that has no scent or flavor.  Safflower oil has been associated with success in weight loss due to its high content of conjugated linoleic acid.  It's lovely to cook with, and can be used just like olive oil.

Let's think a little healthier and attempt to eat foods most closely to their natural state.  It's so easy with all of the in-season fruits and vegetables available this time of year!  And don't forget to up your water intake with the summer heat coming soon!