Here’s some interesting insights from Mike Biltonen (my darling husband), about nutrition and his road to wellness. Mike is a passionate fruit farmer and serious about local food security.

I consider myself an intelligent, well-read, well-fed person. I also feel that I am in good shape, healthy, and very active after three years of hard work (after 20 years of doing basically nothing) to get into shape. I have always had a focus (though a somewhat loose at times) on diet and nutrition. Even though what I eat does not always reflect what I know is best for me, I do know the difference between nutritionally/physiologically good and bad food. This despite the misinformation campaigns of the USDA, FDA, and all the so-called “diet” experts over the course of my lifetime. Fads do not replace good sound nutrition and frequent exercise for optimal fitness and a healthy lifestyle.

Unfortunately, most diets focus on cutting calories and the simple math of ‘calorie in, calorie out’ instead of changing the kinds of foods you eat and getting people to really exercise. That is, focusing less on calories, more food quality, and activity. A simple step would be to avoid processed (packaged) food and choosing fresh food. Delving deeper, there are simply some kinds of foods/food ingredients that are just plain not good for you. Highly processed foods are high in salts, sugars, oils, and grains. Sugars and grains, in particular, are two key ingredients that are simply bad because of 1) how they are combined in many foods and 2) how prevalent they are in the overall food supply.

Vinnie Tortorich, trainer to the stars, promotes a ‘No Sugar, No Grains’ approach to eating. Interestingly, he doesn’t really say ‘eat this, don’t eat that’ (though if you listen to his podcast, he does have his opinions). His approach is to simply say, “don’t eat foods with sugar or that are made from grains.” I realize that nutritional fitness is the nexus for me to achieve true well-being, so I decided to go down the NSNG path and see what it did for me. Bear in mind, that I am not a huge dessert person, but I love my bagels, breads and pastas, so I knew grains would be a big challenge. I didn’t realize just how many foods contains grains or a grain-based ingredient until I really started paying close attention. They’re nearly impossible to avoid. And it’s not just the obvious items like sandwiches or pastries, but also all of the ingredients made from grains and sugars that go into making food. I won’t get into the fact that many animals used for meat are also fed grains, so I am sure the effects of grains in the American diet accumulate as you move up the food chain….and YOU don’t even realize it.

Sugars as a food ingredient are basically grains times 100. They’re everywhere and in everything, and one sugar in particular ~ high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), is also made from a grain, so it’s a double whammy. Sugar is now added to practically everything because our minds are attuned to seek out sweetness. And when food processors can use a particularly highly-addictive form ~ HFCS, it creates a vicious circle that many people can’t snap out of if they’re trying to lose weight or reduce the chances they’ll have diabetes. HFCS is basically culinary heroin–easily hooked, tough to kick.

Planning a menu, eating out, buying groceries is effing hard when you’re looking for foods and ingredients that don’t contain sugars or grains. The typical American diet is so heavily laden with sugars and grains, it makes it practically impossible to eat out or buy groceries without running into them. Sugars and grains are such a huge part of the American diet because they are cheap ingredients subsidized by the government. Mega-food companies (already largely subsidized) have access to cheap ingredients that they spin, toss, turn, and pound into whatever food product the American public may not even know they desire. How many grains can you name? Can you find any products without a sugar and sugar substitute added to it? Good luck — in fact, just head on over to the produce aisle and start there, you’ll be better off.

Yes, it is incredibly difficult (at least in my neck of the woods) to adhere to a NSNG diet. But once you get on track, the improvements you’ll feel in your body and mind are incredible. Even after just one week I could feel a significant difference in how I felt mentally and physically. I’m pretty sure that practically anyone who takes this on will lose weight, feel better, run faster, leap tall buildings (well, you get the idea). I’ll let you know how I feel as I put some more time between me and SnGs.