Dr. Joe Galati's Blog : Guest Column: Chuck Garcia and "God Food"

GOD FOOD

Chuck Garcia

Welcome to the first entry of GOD FOOD. I chose this title because no matter what God you may believe in, he/she intended us to eat food that was present on Day 1. When the world was born, there were no food processing plants that could turn corn into corn starch. Who knew how much we would abuse that concept in the 20^th century? Our creator intended us to eat and drink what was readily available from our planet. As I have stated many times on Dr. Galati’s radio show, let’s break what we eat and drink into 2 camps:

1. God Food: Food that comes from the earth. What we consume is in its raw form, with no notion of processing or refining any of it. Example: Vegetables and fruit.

2. Man Food: It is a misnomer to call it food. It should be called food product, only because food product is actually based on something that was once God food. Consider that potato chips actually originated from potatoes…go figure!! By the time the potato is sent to the food processing plant, stripped of its nutrients, loaded with preservatives and artificial flavors, put inside a bag and sealed, only to sit on a supermarket shelf for months, how is that food??? It’s food product. It has no nutrients and is laced with chemical additives. Have you read the ingredients? It should scare you when you consider what is about to pass into your digestive system!

Bottom line: The only food you should eat either grows out of the ground or has a mother (beef, chicken, fish…you get it). Man Food is off limits and should be put into the Axis of Evil.

I have been a health enthusiast my entire adult life. I hope that my passion for good health leads others to think about the importance of nutrition and how taken for granted our dietary habits have become…leading to a terrible obesity crisis in this country. I firmly believe that a path to sound nutrition (we seem to have lost the concept of nutrition) will lead our population to happier, healthier lives.

Given my enthusiasm for achieving excellent health, I have the good fortune of being able to help many people who are totally stressed out and confused when trying to answer a simple question, “What should I eat?” Given how confounding that question has become, I have concluded that when it comes to this subject, people are looking to me and other health professionals like Dr. Galati for two things:

1. Advice

2. Inspiration. People ask me all the time, “How do I stay focused on God Food given the numerous temptations to eat Man Food? Staying focused comes with being inspired!

Going forward, I will provide both advice and inspiration (God willing). My goal is to inform, educate, inspire, and, maybe, just maybe entertain. We need some comic relief to help keep us stay focused and to remind ourselves that this should not be a chore. Eating right should be fun, pleasurable, and worth sharing with your friends.

For those of you who don’t know me, I am not a physician or a trained nutritionist. I am a regular guy, married, with 4 children and have worked in skyscrapers in New York City for 25+ years. I was a very fat kid and know what it is like to struggle with food choices. I left that fat kid in the dust years ago and made up my mind that I would never look back.

I have learned a great deal about health and nutrition over the years and can relate to you in what I hope are very pragmatic, concrete examples of how to attain good health. It’s up to you! You are in charge on your health. With advice and inspiration, you can achieve great health!

I dedicate myself to fighting the obesity crisis and hope my enthusiasm is contagious. I will post this blog with many different entries in response to the nutritional challenges we face every day. Thank you for taking the time to share this journey with me. I welcome you to the initiation of GOD FOOD and look forward to your comments.

All the best,

Chuck