Texas, you're doing it wrong

There's something very wrong in Texas. Namely, there's hardly any produce of merit. 

Which is odd because people farm there. All over there, and all kinds of crops, too.

Still, walk into any store in Aubrey or Denton and/or a neighboring town and you will be hard pressed to find a decent and diverse produce section at the market, much less a truly healthy restaurant at which to dine. (I realize that Denton is a college town and therefore there are some vegetarian options -- I heartily endorse this. It is not, however, the norm for the area.)

I was good enough to remember to pack healthy food the day of the trip. Hummus with vegetables on a whole wheat wrap, water, fruit. But that lasted only a day. Once in Texas and after eating the mobile stores, well, I got hungry again. And went out to eat with the family. 


Honestly, and I'm not trying to be elitist --- I was downright shocked. The first restaurant we went to was much like them all, for the most part, with everything fried beyond recognition, battered, buttered, butchered. Inevitably I began getting sick the second day I was there and was in fact sick for the duration of my entire stay. From family meals replete with fried catfish and hushpuppies, to sauce-soaked barbecue and sides of chips and cookies, the parade of bad food never stopped. Water was eschewed for an abundance of sweet tea and soda; what salad there was, was served from a bag and was hard, old and covered in ranch.


When did we forget how to eat? When did we start thinking that chips were better than salads, cookies preferable to whole grains? When did we stop caring about health, stamina, energy, vitality, nutrition and weight? It all seems so unconscious to me, so much eating because it's what we've been eating forever, as opposed to mindful consumption of the foods most likely to improve our health, happiness and life. Apparently the practice of eating well and eating often is a lost philosophy. We need to resurrect it.


People don't want to eat healthfully because by this point they don't like the way real food tastes. They think beans are bland, herbs are weird and fruits are boring. Chips, cookies, battered and fried foods, sugars, fats and processed foods --- these are what people want to eat because it's what they grew up on. That doesn't make it okay and nobody has an excuse anymore. The information is out there. If you're living your life eating this way you are harming yourself. If you do not do whatever it takes to reacquaint yourself with whole, healthy and real foods, you are not only being a bad example, you are shortening your life and quite possibly your family's as well. 


There simply shouldn't be more obese young people walking down the street (hi Amarillo) than fit and healthy ones. Steak should not be the norm but the occasional center of a meal, if that. Vegetables should be at the fore, as well as fruits, seeds, nuts and beans. Period. 


Any other diet is just plain wrong. That's blunt but it's true. If you're eating the way Texas is eating, or most of America is eating, you're not eating right. And you've got to do better.


It's never too late to start. Need to know how to begin?

Meet Dr. Furhman.