For years, America has been adopting little lessons on health and slowly converting meat eaters into herbivorous creatures, as nature intended. People have slowly started accepting that Coke cleans rust off car engines. Wary citizens refrain from cocaine and stick to weed. (Hey, it's better than the chemical alternative.) In my world, it seemed like I was on the vegetarian bandwagon alone, so much, that my insecure teenage paranoid personality wasn't ready to be that outcast. I ate anything in my path. Eventually, I said screw that and ventured on my own into veganism. I got laughs, scoffs, and many reactions similar to the Big Greek Wedding movie
...."Ok, I maek laam!" During this time, people thought I only chewed on lettuce and grazed for berries. In reality, I spent much toil and money to enjoy an interesting variety of yummy foods. I raved about how healthy, alert, and energized I felt and people blankly nodded while munching on the BBQ ribs, not really caring to understand the concept of radically changing a dietetic lifestyle. That's fine. I wasn't trying to impose it on anyone.Until recently, I only had one friend, who lives a few states away, understand healthy and natural eating. The ins and outs of vegetables and grains, the (not-so-secret but certainly not published) nature of mainstream foods, bad habits, and tofu marvels. In the last week I have learned that two+ friends are now vegan and one is going gluten free. This makes me rejoice. I....rabbit food eater....was able to eat a gluten-free chocolate cake among friends. The scene of the world is changing.
Friends are discovering books like Alicia Silverstone's The Kind Diet
, Suzanne Somers' Sexy Forever 
featured in Sex in the City and other books on hormones
and health, that NY housewife Bethenny Frankel's Naturally Thin
, and other diets that encourage healthy and plant based diets, ditching or at least moderating, foods that are not naturally beneficial to the human system. No meats, no dairy, and if so, do it organic. While not bragging about it since I certainly wasn't the first hippie to grace the planet and since I'm not even following a solely veggie and grain diet currently, I've been reading books like Skinny Bitch (about not eating crap food) and watching documentaries like the Future of Food (free on Hulu.con, and shocking) and changing the way I eat since I learned how to fight for my natural reaction to the movie Babe the Pig when I was eight. I just knew something lay deeper than meat is hard to digest. The story of corporate food is what is harder to digest. Please heat this if nothing else, a hard life lesson... HAD I STUCK TO MY HEALTHY DIET, I MAY NOT HAVE HAD A DISEASE TODAY.I'm so proud of my friends trying to be healthier and closer to nature. Not only discovering new lifestyles, but loving it. I've been trying to share that for a very long time without isolating myself every time I wanted to tell you that your chicken had beak pieces in it or that your cheese is affecting your puffiness. In relation to what I said in my last post about celebrities okaying certain topics of awareness, this is one that affects everyone, and can be enjoyed in so many personalized/customized ways. So if it takes Olivia Wilde to inspire vegan eating, this is one time I'm willing to swallow my words about celebrity endorsing. Go for it.
Here is one I'm beating you to the punch to though:
If you're trying to be healthy, unless you do your research, you're probably still being taken. If you think that taco meat at Taco Bell is real meat, you'll wanna read this. If you think eating an all natural carbonated beverage is any different than the average marketed death drink, peruse a little bit.
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "NATURAL" AND "ORGANIC". Label reading has not been made any easier as they're trying to vaguely promote through a smoke screen of advertisement claims, with FDA and USDA stamps....read on. And if this is the first you hear about it, I'm totally taking credit for it. If you're trying to eliminate chemicals or unnatural ingredients in your food, please consider this:
http://www.live-the-organic-life.com/natural-vs-organic.html
IMPOSTORS!
Cause now I know in a few years, everyone will believe me and not just think I'm an overbearing stickler that now falls under the medical and psychiatrist diagnosis of having an eating disorder: Orthorexia (people who abstain from chemicals and pesticides who eat a raw diet). Goes to show every one in the labeling business are idiots!
And for those who are not curious enough about changing such an embedded lifestyle in regards to food-for-fuel vs food-just-to-eat, that's understandable. It usually takes an emotional push to get there. But I do encourage you to toy with the idea. Curiosity killed the cat, but that feline had a dang good recovery rate to come back 9 times. Leaf through these books and watch these documentaries on what you are eating. Imagine what foods you can eat and enjoy, rather than what would be taken away. The best book for people who aren't ready for a full on commitment is the Kind Diet mentioned above, which teaches you how to flirt with food.
This is not fanaticism my friends, it's a way of life worth sharing for those who want to be vibrant and radiant after they eat a hearty and exciting plate of legumes, rice, and veggies; not take a half-day nap with nightmares after eating a Triple Appetizer from Chili's. Click on stuff below. Click it.
More articles on Natural versus Organic:
http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=natural_vs_organic_whats_truth_and_whats_hype
http://almostfit.com/2008/08/13/demystifying-chicken-labels-from-organic-to-all-natural/
http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-food/organic-food-basics/difference-between-organic-and-natural-food.html
Link that recently inspired a meat-lover friend to eat a plant based diet...The China Study, for you Dr. Oz fans.
For those with Autoimmune Diseases, pay attention about CRP (C-reactive protein or inflammation) levels. Please enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTdVT9UFMFY
