All that Glitters is Not Gold
On the face of it, you'd be forgiven for believing that the Nutrisystem product is generally a healthy way to lose weight.
The product looks good and the meals look pretty OK and they're backed by some science on its nutritional value.
I'm just not buying it (at least not all of it).
There are one or two things about the food sold by Nutrisystem that raise my red flag on the health front in my opinion.
Not as Healthy as it Appears
In fact, there are a few of them. Here they are:
The meals are basically processed. In my book, that spells unhealthy.
The processed meals do contain preservatives. In my book, that's bad.
Many of the meals are based on pasta or white rice, both of which are not exactly the healthiest staples around.
The low calorie element of many of the meals comes from their soy and corn content.
Soy and corn are mostly genetically modified (the absolute worst ever!). Soy also has a tendency to raise estrogen levels in the body.
There's a whole plethora of reasons why you do NOT want that!
OK, here's where I'm coming from.
Avoiding Refined Carbohydrates
I don't eat any white flour-based staples (white bread, pasta etc) simply because of its high Glycemic nature (it releases sugars fast causing big insulin spikes).
Also, because it comes from wheat that is genetically modified (oh no, not that again) and sprayed with a cocktail of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides.
Most notably, it gets the glyphosate treatment, which is a weed killer that is getting a very bad press of late. Wheat is genetically modified to resist glyphosate, if you're wondering.
Gluten Intolerance... Really?
I have been hearing a lot about the problem a lot of people are having with gluten intolerance. I have also been hearing that it's not so much an intolerance to gluten as it is an intolerance to glyphosate!
Now that's just my opinion based on what I've been reading lately. You are allowed to have your own opinion about that.
In any case, in my healthy life, wheat-based foods are not allowed! Nor are corn- or soy-based foods, for that matter.
I have also been researching some of the problems that high levels of estrogen are responsible for both in women and in men.
For us guys, we definitely do NOT want to have high estrogen levels!
It plays havoc with our bodies, reduces testosterone levels and screws up our endocrine systems. That last thing is the same for the girls.
I've been reading a lot about the endocrine system lately, because it interests me and it has a big part to play in our health. In a nutshell, its about the relationship between the liver, the gall bladder, the pancreas and the small intestine.
Suffice it to say, you want those four organs working efficiently as possible if you want to maintain a healthy body weight and a healthy body!
Guess what happens when too much estrogen gets into the loop?
Yep, you guessed right! The body is less able to break down fats leading to higher fat storage. And you all know what that means: unhealthy weight gain!
There is a healthy option that rules out all the artificial and GMO garbage that's in a lot of processed food-based diet programs like Nutrisystem and Medifast for example. You just need to spend some more time on yourself (and your family, for that matter) in the kitchen.
Personally, I only eat whole foods.
That's food in its original state that you buy from the fresh food counters. We're talking fresh vegetables and fruit, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices.
Oh yeah, did I mention I'm pretty much vegetarian these days? Well, I'm mentioning it now.
I'm not strict vegetarian or heading for even stricter veganism, but I lean heavily on the side of the vast majority of my food being plant-based.
So plant-based meals make up the bulk of what I eat, although I will still eat some fresh-caught fish (not the farmed variety) and I do still eat eggs for protein.
I also eat a little dairy if I know for certain it came from grass-fed animals that were kept humanely and not in some giant food factory (they also call them farms). I stopped drinking milk long ago, but I prefer goat's cheese to anything from cows, mainly because of the indigestible lactose in cow's milk.
In general, I don't feel in the least bit tempted to eat meat any more. I prefer the clean feeling inside I now have on this veggie diet.
Sure, it means I have to buy all my food in an organic food store or at organic markets (my preferred food source).
I have to peel and prepare those fresh veggies and then cook them or have them raw depending on what I feel like eating at the time.
Quick note here about raw food: Most vegetables can be eaten raw and actually taste a lot nicer than cooked when prepped the right way.
Things like carrots, beetroot, turnip, sweet potato etc. can be grated and mixed into salads. Zucchini, celery, cabbage, onions for example can all be finely sliced or chopped into salads or salad-like dished and topped with a healthy olive oil and apple cider vinegar dressing.
Prep Food the Way You Like It
Other tougher vegetables like potatoes, parsnips, string beans etc. should be cooked to make them more easily digestible of course. The choice of how you prep your food is naturally up to you.
I prefer the added nutritional value of eating raw foods for the increased natural live enzymes they contain that get destroyed by cooking. Plus I just love the taste of most raw veggies.
What could be better than enjoying the food that's making me healthy!
Now, I'm not saying don't get on a Nutrisystem diet plan.
Of that's really the only option for you because you don't have the time for preparing and cooking real food, do it if you need to lose weight.
If you're overweight and need to lose some or a lot, it does work in the short term and can set you up to break old, bad eating habits that got you overweight in the first place.
A lot of people had a lot of success with Nutrisystem.
So it's a viable solution if you need to lose weight and want to do it as easily and conveniently as you can. You can read a pretty good review of Nutrisystem by following the link below:
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