It’s time to get back to the basics…
Have you ever noticed how people in their later years–60s and beyond–had far fewer illnesses and health problems than the people today? Diabetes, AIDS, cancer, and food allergies are just A FEW of the sickness that have become way bigger today than they were 30 to 50 years ago.
So what changed? I’ll tell you what: our diet!
If you want to know why your grandparents are/were so much healthier and had so few health problems, here’s some of the food choices they made:
- Healthier “Sides” — The French fry has only been around for 150 years or so, but they were definitely not served as a side until McDonalds became huge. In your grandparents’ day, burgers and meatloaf were usually served with mashed potatoes or mashed turnips, both much healthier options.
- Natural Desserts — When you want something sweet to have as a dessert, most of the time you head to the cookie jar or the cake plate for a treat to end the meal. Your grandparents, however, usually ate prunes or dates as a special treat, or a homemade fruit pie whipped up by their mother. Desserts were much healthier and far more natural in their days!
- Homegrown Foods –– Fruits and vegetables were often grown in the backyard, as many people simply couldn’t afford fresh produce every day of the week. This means that there were far fewer chemicals used to spray the fruits and vegetable plants for bugs, meaning far less exposure to these chemicals.
- Unprocessed Food –– Back in your grandparents’ day, there were no factories to process food. Most of the factories were busy building war machines, as World War II was in full swing. Food processing only became hugely popular in the last 30 or 40 years, but most food back then was prepared using all fresh ingredients.
- Whole Grains –– Without food processing plants, there really was no way to bleach grains like wheat and rice to make white flour and white rice. This means that most people ate A LOT of whole grains, loaded with complex carbs.
READ MORE: Don’t Try the Paleo Diet
- Gravy/Butter –– Both of these foods were fairly high in fat, but when you consider how much time your grandparents spent walking, running, and riding bicycles–both as a means of transportation and for recreation–it makes sense that they were so much healthier. These high-fat foods provided them with lots of energy, which they burned up getting around.
- Fresh Fruits — Bugs and insects were simply a part of life back in the day, not necessarily something to be feared. Fresh fruits were often harder to come by, but the fruits that your grandparents did eat were free of chemicals and pesticides.
- Meat and Potatoes –– A diet of meat and potatoes is actually a fairly balanced one. While it may not have quite enough fiber to keep your digestive tract healthy, it does offer a balance between protein, carbs, and fat.
- Soups/Stews –– With so many people being unable to afford costly cuts of meat, the only option was to buy the cheaper, tougher cuts. This forced your grandparents’ parents to cook soups and stews, which allowed the meat to boil for hours on end–softening it. However, the soups and stews eaten back then were loaded with veggies to stretch the meat, and had NO artificial flavoring.
- Natural Drinks –– Soda was hard to find back in the day, so lemonade was the drink of choice. The lemonade they drank was much lower in sugar than the stuff you drink today!
