Fresh Produce Delivered Weekly
Health and Well-Being
"You Are What You Eat"
We've all heard this phrase before and it makes a lot of sense. Feed your body well and it'll do the same for you.
Consuming whole foods whenever possible was an easy formula for my family to follow. But we quickly learned this wasn't enough. Below are some key points to consider.
Whole foods are generally those that remain close to their state in nature. They don't have added sugars, starches, flavorings, or other manufactured ingredients. - meat, cheese, grains, fruit, vegetables, nuts and bean -
How Fresh?
Vegetables start to lose their nutritional value the moment you harvest them. Research shows they lose between 15 to 77% of their nutrients within a week.
Veggies at your local grocery store may look great, but how "fresh" is it really? Apples are typically stored for 6 months and potatoes up to 11 months. Bagged lettuces can be two weeks old and spinach leaves are often picked several weeks before being packaged and transported.
"Veggies lose half of their nutritional value by the time they get to the store."
If you can't grow your own food, the next best thing is to find a farm that will be honest with you on when they harvested the crop. Your local farmer's market or CSA is the go to place for this. To provide a perspective, our produce is harvested within 24 hours of delivery.
Living Food
These are food that are consumed fresh, raw and/or in a condition as close as possible to their original, vibrant, living state. This includes fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, grains and legumes in sprouted form, seaweed, microalgae and fresh juice.
A good example of this is eating a crisp red apple vs a beige, jarred applesauce.
So what's all the fuss?
When you cook food, the heat changes its composition and it can lose up to 85% of it's nutritional value.
Microgreens are a perfect example of living food. They taste awesome raw and great for your digestive system. The sprouting process brings out many live enzymes and nutrients in the germinated seeds/legumes/grains which in turn makes them easy to digest. Microgreens are full of vitamins and minerals, rich in chlorophyll and a great source of plant protein.
What's In The Water?
Have you ever thought about the water supply used by farmers to feed the produce that we enjoy? What if I told you it's filled with contaminants like nitrogen, phosphorus, herbicides, insecticides and fungicides.
In 2010, about 11 billion kilograms of nitrogen fertilizer and 300 million kilograms of pesticides were used annually to enhance crop production or control pests.
Veggies are made of over 90% water by weight. The water used to grow your plants is very important because it'll become part of the plant (which we eventually eat).
When the Food and Safety Modernization ACT (FSMA) required the FDA to develop regulations to improve the safety of produce, water was under scrutiny. Water used in agriculture operations was identified as a potential source of pathogens that may contaminate produce. They went out creating standards but like all things, it's a business. Farmers don't have the means to treat their own water and if required, it would drive up the prices of produce to the point where no one could afford to eat it. So the solution was to allow certain levels of pathogens to get thru.
Water safety is seriously and we don't take any shortcuts here at Superhero Greens. We filter our water supply thru a 6 stage filtration process to remove as many impurities as possible. For more information, check out our article.
Supplement Your Cheat Days
Our family is generally good when it comes to eating clean, but we do have our moments. Wifey loves her Chik-fil-A, I'm bananas about Bonchon and my little boy can stuff his face with Little Caesars for days on end.
But just because we're piggy out doesn't mean we have to abandon healthy eating all together. Since you can enjoy microgreen raw, it's easy to bring them along to augment your meals.
Add some kale microgreens to that spicy chicken sandwich, toss some arugula microgreens on top of that cheese pizza or just bust out a bag of sunflower microgreens as a side dish to snack on. Healthy eating doesn't mean you have to abandon your lifestyle, and before long it will become part of it.
Disclaimer
The information presented in this article is based on our own research. We advise our customers to conduct their own to validate our findings. The information presented in this article is also not intended to replace the diagnosis, treatment and services of a physician. Any recommendations and indications are at the user's discretion. Consult your physician before embarking on any new diet, especially raw ones. For severe or life-threatening conditions, always seek immediate medical attention.
