Eating what is good for you

On a Facebook ad I read, with incredulity, the pit of the avocado is the most nutritious part. Hum, I thought, I’ve been tossing that out with the skin for years. My cautious mind warned me to be careful, so being a good girl I heeded the warning and clicked to open a new web page and Googled “Is it safe to eat the avocado pit?” This search led to a wealth of controversy, most with a shared wisdom; we should not eat the avocado pit until sufficient research proves or disproves this theory.

I think I’ll wait and enjoy the pulp of my avocado. My favourite way to consume this fruit is to cut it in half, remove the seed and dig my spoon into it’s green goodness. If I make dip for chips, I always buy an extra avocado to eat during the preparation of the dip!

My morning research prompted me to then inquire of Google, “Which are the worst vegetables to eat?” Frankly I am tired of the ads enticing me to click page after page on their heavily advertised web sites to finally reach the end of the list. I am also unhappy with the many sites that want me to pay for this list. Really?

The following is gleaned from many web sites, most who have repeated the knowledge that these veggies are near to bursting with Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s), pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, and ionizing radiation. I’ve listed probable issues as BADNESS:

1. potato: alkaloids, BADNESS – nerves, muscles, joints and digestive system, liver damage
2. corn: most seriously GMO modified veggie, BADNESS – common food allergen, fed to cows to marble the meat, have I marbled my body with all the corn I’ve eaten?
3. bell peppers: solanine, BADNESS – disrupts nerve function, twitching, convulsing, trembling, inflammation, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, joints, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis
4. eggplant: solanine and oxalates, BADNESS – joint damage, kidney stones, gallbladder issues
5. spinach: oxalates and purines BADNESS – gout, kidney stones, kidney issues
6. cherry tomato: pesticides, BADNESS – inflames joints, arthritis
7. cucumber: pesticides, BADNESS – unpeeled toxic skin covered with synthetic wax made from chemicals, hormone disruption,
8. celery: pesticides, BADNESS – hormone disruption
9. kale: organophosphate insecticides, BADNESS – nervous system toxicity, avoid organic if you have an unhealthy thyroid
10. squash: pesticides, BADNESS – hormone disruption, kidney stone and kidney problems – don’t plant seeds that are not organic, the bees will eat from the flowers, please save the bees

The general consensus is to avoid purchasing any veggies that are not organic. I’m up for that! Honestly, I love all of the veggies on this list. What would my salad look like without them? I also require a great variety of veggies to make meals interesting.

I recall with fondness how my seemingly ritualistic consumption of food drove the nuns to hear hysteria at each meal. I separated every morsel of food, ensuring the meat was not touching the mashed potatoes or the veggies. The one exception was my habit to pile peas onto the little mountain of smashed spuds to create a pretty speckled pile of yumminess!

I didn’t have a phobia of the food touching each other, but rather that I consumed the foods I found distasteful first and saved my favourites for last. I felt bad to see the other children punished, their fate to remain seated at the table until the last bite was swallowed. Sitting down to eat and hungry I found it was easier to gobble down the stuff I disliked and then I could slowly savour the remaining goodness of each meal.

I was a weird kid, but a very smart kid. I passed this on to my son and we played other games to make food more interesting and palatable. One favourite game was, “who can eat the most baby cabbages?” They are still not called brussels sprout in my house 🙂

© Zora Zebic 2016