Everyday we are bombarded with commercials to buy the latest food. The visuals and sometimes the smells draw us to a favorite food. French fries can be irresistible. The crunch, the smell and the taste lures us to eat them often. We are blessed to live in a country that offers us so many tasteful and appealing foods.

Unfortunately, our nation is facing more health issues than many other countries and it is a fact that obesity is at epidemic proportions. It is time to look at food from another angle if we want to live a healthy life.

The main reason to eat is to nourish our bodies. Have you ever wondered what nourishment a ‘Twinkie’ or ‘Cheezits’ gives you? Many of our processed foods do not give us the nutrients we need. Yes, the package lists different nutrients but remember that many of these are manmade. Our country focuses on producing more food at a lower cost.  However, most of our processed foods do not give us the nutrition that we need. Therefore, it is important that we include more ‘natural’ foods such as vegetables and fruits to consume the amount our bodies need to function at their optimum levels and keep us healthy.  Here are two sites that give some interesting information about the nutritional values of vegetables and fruits: http://nutritiondiva.quickanddirtytips.com/are-fruits-and-vegetables-getting-less-nutritious.aspx

http://www.nutritionsecurity.org/PDF/NSI_White%20Paper_Web.pdf

No matter what view you take, vegetables and fruits give us more nutrition than most of our processed foods. Learn about the  many benefits to eating vegetables and fruits at http://www.whfoods.net/genpage.php?tname=faq&dbid=4   The USDA has a chart explaining the different subgroups of  vegetables at: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/food-groups/vegetables.html   Be sure to include vegetables and fruits in your daily foods. When my plate has a rainbow of colors on it, I know I am eating healthy.