{"id":3197,"date":"2017-10-24T19:22:10","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T01:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197"},"modified":"2017-10-24T19:25:06","modified_gmt":"2017-10-25T01:25:06","slug":"the-10-most-important-things-ive-learned-about-healthy-eating-over-50-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197","title":{"rendered":"The 10 Most Important Things I\u2019ve Learned About Healthy Eating Over 50 Years"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m not a scientist, nor am I a medical professional. I just love well-prepared food and a feeling of good health. I like to read and test out on myself theories that make sense and judge them based on experience.<\/p>\n

These are the 10 things I\u2019ve learned about healthy, satisfying eating over more than fifty years of experimenting with myself, my family and friends and in my cafe:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Eat real food. By real food, I mean whole foods from the earth as little manipulated as possible other than by your own preparation and cooking processes.<\/li>\n
  2. Eat until you\u2019re satisfied, not stuffed. There is a delay before the satisfaction message reaches your brain. Allow for that.<\/li>\n
  3. If you\u2019re not satisfied after meals and if you experience cravings, something needs adjusting in your diet.<\/li>\n
  4. Be careful about eliminating categories of food from your diet. There\u2019s a lot of \u201cfake news\u201d about the disaster that will overtake you when you eat certain foods. There\u2019s also a lot of imperfect nutritional knowledge.<\/li>\n
  5. Be careful about eliminating \u201cfood\u201d categories, that is, except for added sweets of all kinds, natural and artificial. Get rid of those as much as you can. That includes most commercially processed foods.<\/li>\n
  6. Eat fiber. When appropriate and possible, buy organic and don\u2019t peel things.<\/li>\n
  7. Don\u2019t let the excuse that you can\u2019t afford organic fruits and veggies stand in the way of eating them. It\u2019s much more important to consume those whole foods than it is to avoid chemical residues. For the path of moderation, ewg.org provides a Dirty Dozen list of the worst offenders, updated each year.<\/li>\n
  8. Aim for at least 80% plant foods in your diet.<\/li>\n
  9. Nuts and seeds and avocados are your friends. They are the best source of healthy fats.<\/li>\n
  10. Enjoy your meals! Remember, it\u2019s always a work in progress. You learn more, we all learn more, we get lazy and need system rechecks and adjustments, perfection is never a possibility, and if you put healthy whole foods on your table, you can savor the taste and experience instead of counting calories or \u201ccarbs.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I have found the best way for me to experience healthy, satisfied pleasure from what I eat is to work with my CSA. On the days I spend out in the field, I often accumulate 15,000 steps or more. I feel the wind and the sun and the rain. I enjoy the beauty and the colors that surround me. I have my hands in the food chain and can\u2019t imagine much that is more satisfying than knowing I have a direct relationship to the food I eat and feed my family.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

    Best of all, I am challenged to use 3\/4 bushel of seasonal produce and more every week. I try things that are new to me, that I\u2019ve seen in stores but haven\u2019t bought because they were unfamiliar. There just isn\u2019t a way to eat more healthfully than by using up my box of beautiful whole foods that I had a hand in producing.<\/p>\n

    For more, visit my blog, vegetatingwithleslie.org<\/b><\/a>, \u201cLike\u201d me on FaceBook\/Vegetating with Leslie<\/b> or follow me on Twitter, @vegwithleslie<\/b>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I\u2019m not a scientist, nor am I a medical professional. I just love well-prepared food and a feeling of good health. I like to read and test out on myself theories that make sense and judge them based on experience. These are <\/p>\n

    Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[150,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-csa","category-health"],"yoast_head":"\nThe 10 Most Important Things I\u2019ve Learned About Healthy Eating Over 50 Years - Vegetating with Leslie<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The 10 Most Important Things I\u2019ve Learned About Healthy Eating Over 50 Years - Vegetating with Leslie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m not a scientist, nor am I a medical professional. I just love well-prepared food and a feeling of good health. I like to read and test out on myself theories that make sense and judge them based on experience. These are Read More\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Vegetating with Leslie\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-10-25T01:22:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-10-25T01:25:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/IMG_1708.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"333\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Leslie Cook\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Leslie Cook\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3197#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3197\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Leslie Cook\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0896a9176262075b4139523533e2d382\"},\"headline\":\"The 10 Most Important Things I\u2019ve Learned About Healthy Eating Over 50 Years\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-25T01:22:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-25T01:25:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3197\"},\"wordCount\":544,\"commentCount\":4,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3197#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/IMG_1708.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1\",\"articleSection\":[\"CSA\",\"Health\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3197#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3197\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3197\",\"name\":\"The 10 Most Important Things I\u2019ve Learned About Healthy Eating Over 50 Years - Vegetating with Leslie\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3197#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3197#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/IMG_1708.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-10-25T01:22:10+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-10-25T01:25:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0896a9176262075b4139523533e2d382\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3197#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3197\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3197#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/IMG_1708.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2017\\\/07\\\/IMG_1708.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1\",\"width\":500,\"height\":333},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?p=3197#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The 10 Most Important Things I\u2019ve Learned About Healthy Eating Over 50 Years\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Vegetating with Leslie\",\"description\":\"Joyful Compassionate Abundance\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0896a9176262075b4139523533e2d382\",\"name\":\"Leslie Cook\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d8e3d3fd7177fedeb197ec5ce2b5373b5b9cb5ca5e473882efe967605724d496?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d8e3d3fd7177fedeb197ec5ce2b5373b5b9cb5ca5e473882efe967605724d496?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d8e3d3fd7177fedeb197ec5ce2b5373b5b9cb5ca5e473882efe967605724d496?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Leslie Cook\"},\"description\":\"I am the mother of two sons, the mother-in-law of two daughters and the grandmother of one grandson. I raised a family, owned a farm and enjoyed tending a large organic garden and orchard 40 years ago. I restored a log cabin and enjoyed it as an energy conscious home way before energy consciousness was publicly conscious. I hold a number of advanced degrees focused on religion, literature and languages. I published a chapter in a book on women's rituals in Judaism. I have enjoyed a variety of careers including teaching, educational programming in the not-for-profit sector, technology and web management. For the last eight years I have owned a five-star (YELP) vegetarian cafe. This year we were voted best vegetarian dining experience in McHenry County by the readers of the Northwest Herald. I write articles on food for a local newspaper. My current task is to figure out how this all fits together and what to do with it.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\\\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The 10 Most Important Things I\u2019ve Learned About Healthy Eating Over 50 Years - Vegetating with Leslie","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The 10 Most Important Things I\u2019ve Learned About Healthy Eating Over 50 Years - Vegetating with Leslie","og_description":"I\u2019m not a scientist, nor am I a medical professional. I just love well-prepared food and a feeling of good health. I like to read and test out on myself theories that make sense and judge them based on experience. These are Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197","og_site_name":"Vegetating with Leslie","article_published_time":"2017-10-25T01:22:10+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-10-25T01:25:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":333,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/IMG_1708.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Leslie Cook","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Leslie Cook","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197"},"author":{"name":"Leslie Cook","@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/#\/schema\/person\/0896a9176262075b4139523533e2d382"},"headline":"The 10 Most Important Things I\u2019ve Learned About Healthy Eating Over 50 Years","datePublished":"2017-10-25T01:22:10+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-25T01:25:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197"},"wordCount":544,"commentCount":4,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/IMG_1708.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1","articleSection":["CSA","Health"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197","url":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197","name":"The 10 Most Important Things I\u2019ve Learned About Healthy Eating Over 50 Years - Vegetating with Leslie","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/IMG_1708.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1","datePublished":"2017-10-25T01:22:10+00:00","dateModified":"2017-10-25T01:25:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/#\/schema\/person\/0896a9176262075b4139523533e2d382"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/IMG_1708.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/IMG_1708.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1","width":500,"height":333},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?p=3197#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The 10 Most Important Things I\u2019ve Learned About Healthy Eating Over 50 Years"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/","name":"Vegetating with Leslie","description":"Joyful Compassionate Abundance","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/#\/schema\/person\/0896a9176262075b4139523533e2d382","name":"Leslie Cook","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8e3d3fd7177fedeb197ec5ce2b5373b5b9cb5ca5e473882efe967605724d496?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8e3d3fd7177fedeb197ec5ce2b5373b5b9cb5ca5e473882efe967605724d496?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d8e3d3fd7177fedeb197ec5ce2b5373b5b9cb5ca5e473882efe967605724d496?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Leslie Cook"},"description":"I am the mother of two sons, the mother-in-law of two daughters and the grandmother of one grandson. I raised a family, owned a farm and enjoyed tending a large organic garden and orchard 40 years ago. I restored a log cabin and enjoyed it as an energy conscious home way before energy consciousness was publicly conscious. I hold a number of advanced degrees focused on religion, literature and languages. I published a chapter in a book on women's rituals in Judaism. I have enjoyed a variety of careers including teaching, educational programming in the not-for-profit sector, technology and web management. For the last eight years I have owned a five-star (YELP) vegetarian cafe. This year we were voted best vegetarian dining experience in McHenry County by the readers of the Northwest Herald. I write articles on food for a local newspaper. My current task is to figure out how this all fits together and what to do with it.","sameAs":["http:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org"],"url":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/?author=2"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4E03N-Pz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/IMG_1708.jpg?fit=500%2C333&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3197"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3265,"href":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3197\/revisions\/3265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vegetatingwithleslie.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}