food for thought

I've been wanting to write a blog about diet/nutrition/health for a while and found it quite ironic that it was decided RIGHT after posting a picture of a giant, greasy hamburger and bragging about how (with the help from my daughter), that entire thing was devoured in one sitting. Yep….this blog may seem a bit contradictory, but here it is. :)

I recently took Andrew to a GI specialist and nutritionist. My head was filled with an abundance of knowledge pertaining to the gluten/dairy free diets along with eating ORGANIC fruits and vegetables, one specific brand of turkey sausage (I won't advertise that brand on my blog because I honestly don't find it any better than others we have tried), and 2 very specific brands of vitamins and probiotics. I may sound like a conspiracy theorist…but after speaking with another parent,  I found it odd that the exact same brand names/types of vitamins and foods were recommended by a completely different nutritionist. Right on the box of the recommended probiotic, it says something along the lines of, "#1 probiotic recommended by pediatricians!" Which if I'm being honest, seems more like a marketing scheme than something I'm going to run out and buy. I guess what I'm trying to get at is this: If I'm going to run out and spend bundles of money on foods/supplements I've never tried, I need to speak with actual parents of children that have witnessed the results. I've been giving my kids a probiotic for a while now (not the "#1 recommended by pediatricians"), but it's one I researched and decided it was best for my kids. It is also refrigerated versus the other being in individual packets. The one we've been using seems to be working pretty well, but I'm no expert.

What I'm trying to get at is this: I want to hear the success stories from real people. So with that said, let's talk organic foods. Now, my husband is quite the skeptic when it comes to overly priced items that are promised to be "better for you." I was too until recently. I haven't seen "huge results" with buying organically, but with all the chemicals/modifications/processing happening to our "fresh produce," and all the food we put into our body, I started wondering.  What we can't see MIGHT actually be slowly hurting us. As I said- I'm no expert and definitely need to live by my words as far as eating better, but I really really want the evidence. Does organic food really make you feel better? Will it prevent disease/illness in the future? hmm…I've made lots of changes in what we are eating, but I haven't been buying everything organic just yet. And I'm still cheating quite a bit when it comes to "eating better" (as evidenced by my previous blog).  I need evidence…from real people. So that's food for thought.