There are a few regions scattered across the world known as Blue Zones. These “Blue Zones” are regions whose residents experience immensely better health and longevity than the vast majority of individuals across the globe. Members of these communities are active and enjoying vibrant, exciting lives well into their 90’s and even 100’s in some cases. For them, diabetes and obesity are unheard of; heart disease and cancer, virtually nonexistent. One of the most well-known and studied of these regions is Okinawa, Japan. Long known for being a metropolis of health and wellness, the diet and lifestyle of the Okinawans has been picked apart by health professionals for decades. People have flocked to the area, all trying to figure out what in the freaking world these tiny little grandmothers and grandfathers are doing to live so long and so incredibly well. You’d think that with all our magic pills and procedures here in the States, that we would be experiencing the same vibrant, vivacious, joie de vivre during our sunset years. Unfortunately, it is quite plain that we are not. But now, neither are many of the Okinawans. You see, several years back, they experienced an epidemic. The country was infested with a pestilence that has plagued many of the world’s greatest countries for decades, but had, till several years ago, left the Okinawans untouched.

The problem…? Big Fast Food Companies moved in. Suddenly there were dozens, hundreds of new, exciting, flavorful options conveniently available to wreck the virgin Okinawan palate. The backyard gardens that had been their pride and joy for so many years were left to rot in favor of cheeseburgers, soft drinks, and angioplasties. Front porch meeting halls were suddenly left vacant; their conspirators instead choosing to conduct their business sipping sugar infused coffees and munching on “heart-healthy” pancakes soaked in syrup. And before long, chronic health issues set in. Obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and a host of other issues, once virtually nonexistent, began to crop up at an unprecedented rate.  Previously ranked 1^st in having the best life expectancy of any region in Japan, Okinawa plummeted to 26^th. The only people who seemed to avoid this disastrous epidemic were those who didn’t fall prey to the fast food bug: the people who decided to spend time in their gardens instead of a booth, or who connected with neighbors in their homes instead of a cold sterile line in front of a cash register.

The moral of this story is fairly plain. Processed foods are bad. An easy enough concept to deal with if we’re just talking about the fast food industry. Most people out there will agree that fast food is bad for you, and you shouldn’t eat it. I mean they might agree with you while they’re in line for their next quad-stack, double juicy combo meal, but at least they know that what their putting in their bodies is bad for their health. What many of them don’t realize however, is that most of the food in their pantries is just as bad. The pancake mixes, chips, crackers, gummy snack packs, pudding cups, frozen meals, bags of powdery processed flours and the like, will do just as much to turn you into a drooling vegetable as your last chicken finger basket. These “pseudo-foods” are highly processed, full of preservatives, and laced with sugar. They do horrifying things to your blood glucose levels, and consequently raise insulin levels quite a bit. They’ve been linked with diabetes, high blood pressure, cancer, poor blood lipid profiles, will leave you feeling tired and sluggish, and the list goes on. So perhaps you want to play it safe and relegate yourself to purchasing products found exclusively in the “health foods” section of the store. With their earthy tones and proclamations of promoting heart health and the like, these packaged potholes can be quite alluring. And in all fairness, some of them do have nutritive value, and can make for excellent additions to your weekly menu. The gross majority though, are, to be blunt, gross. Many of these “healthy” options are still loaded with sugar, processed grains, rancid fats, and other problematic ingredients. Many of them do not contain such high levels of preservatives however, so you can rest easy knowing they’ll grow mold a lot faster.

What’s a person to do then if 90% of the grocery store’s off limits? I mean you’ve gotta eat, right? Well, the good news is, you won’t starve. The bad news is, you might have to pay closer attention to what ends up in your grocery cart the next time you’re walking through the supermarket. The generally accepted advice for healthy shopping out there, is to avoid the center aisles, and just shop around the periphery of the store. This is where you will find fresh fruits and vegetables, good cuts of meat, fish, and the like. Canned vegetables are also not a bad option, but definitely make sure to read the list of ingredients carefully. Some of them contain sugar or other lethal additives to make them more palatable and of course, more addictive. There are still going to be items that you should avoid like your boss on a Friday, but this way, at least you’re taking as many of them as you can out of the equation.  And just to make sure you’re not tempted by those sickly sweet or delightfully salty treats, do yourself a huge favor. Rummage through your pantry and throw out anything that contains highly processed ingredients or anything that you can’t pronounce. An ingredients list should be just that, an ingredients list – a list of whole foods, spices, and seasonings you recognize – not a lesson in organic chemistry.

Now as far as eating out is concerned, it’s going to happen. If you have a job, or any sort of social life, or children, there’s just no avoiding the fact that sometimes it just makes life simpler to eat out. There are things a person can do ,though, to mitigate or even avoid problems with processed foods altogether. The first and most foolproof, is fasting. If you’re out and about, and there’s nothing else around but hamburger joints and fried chicken, it might be better to just skip out on eating altogether, but more on that in the next post. If fasting’s not an option for whatever reason though, don’t give up hope. Consider modifying the hell out of whatever you see on the menu. Replace that bun with a lettuce wrap, sub cauliflower for that super processed pasta, and for heaven’s sake, skip out on the soft drinks and the ice cream altogether. Making simple modifications like this will not only make you feel better, but they’ll also give you the opportunity to be smugly condescending to your friends who didn’t have the presence of mind to make the same health choices that you did.

The thing to remember here is that, unless there’s a medical issue you’re trying to take care of, there’s no need to be neurotic and obsessive about what’s going down the hatch. Do your level best to make healthy eating the easy, convenient norm. That way, when you go out with friends, or begrudgingly show up to that wedding, you can kick your heels up and enjoy life. What’s the point of being in excellent health if you can’t have fun every now and then? Don’t let your quest for health get in the way of making meaningful connections, and enjoying life. Just remember, that the more processed foods you shovel down, the less life there will be to enjoy.