Macaroni and cheese. Noodles and sauce. A big plate of pasta. These foods falsely satisfy our natural cravings but are low-nutrient impostors.
They fool us so well you’ll even hear them called “comfort food” because they feel good to eat. They’re created to have the taste and smell of things in the natural world that are actually good for you, and that’s why you crave them.
But the only ones who really feel good when you eat heaps of pasta are the world’s biggest, most powerful agriculture companies. They make billions creating and selling you cheap grains that have caused chronic diseases to become the biggest killers in the world.
To me, there’s nothing comforting about eating a bowl full of grain that has no nutritional value and leaves me hungry again in a little while.
The truth is, foods that occur naturally and that you can eat without processing are nature’s true comfort foods. They’re the real key to good nutrition.
For example, protein from fish and meat. It promotes muscle growth and overall health. Eating more protein than you need for daily metabolism signals to your body that “the hunting is good” and lets you burn off carbs and fat for energy. Eating processed grains like pasta does the opposite.
So how did a fake food like pasta come to be known as comfort food?
They Tricked Us
Big Agribusiness companies want you to eat more of their grains, but to get you to do it, first they had to convince you that what you’d been eating up until then was deadly, and that grains are the answer.
So they misinformed you by telling you that the steak and eggs that used to be your comfort foods will kill you. Instead they taught you that pasta – which has to be “fortified” with nutrients you would normally get from steak and eggs – is the healthiest thing in the world. And that you should eat it every night for dinner no matter what.
Then they tricked you. The packaged things they stick in the grocery store sort of have the same appeal as something that’s actually good for you. Whole grains… whole wheat … it almost sounds healthy. But they aren’t any good for you. It’s fake food.
The real food you crave is packed with nutrients – omega-3, vitamins, minerals. And it has fat to help deliver the nutrients. And it’s salty so you know there’s animal product in it, which will deliver you the fat. Naturally occurring fat is the best food you can eat.
They took your native disposition for those qualities in food and fooled you. They combined chemicals that mimic salt and fat and combined them with things that are horrible for you, to attract you to eat them.
Grains Aren’t Food for Humans
And those foods are completely devoid of nutrients. It doesn’t matter how much you eat, you’re going to still be hungry, because your body is still craving real nutrition.
All the grain products are in this category. When you encounter grain in its native form, you wouldn’t want to eat it for anything in the world. It’s lousy, bland, bitter, tree-leaf kind of a flavor that you wouldn’t want to touch.
But they took it and added artificial flavors and texture of the things you love to eat to make huge profits off your “health.” They’re happy when you think of their pasta as comfort food. They want you to eat it every night and think it will make you healthy. It won’t. It’s not food for a human being.
They tricked you into denying yourself the things that are good for you, and instead into eating their junk.
But you don’t have to eat their junk to have noodles. All you have to do is make a couple of easy substitutions and you can have a bowl full of nutrient-packed noodles.
My Top Three Favorites
Here are the three foods I eat that have the look and feel of pasta but are much more nutritious and won’t elevate your blood sugar or leave you hungry:
1. Spaghetti squash is a great substitute for grain-based pasta.
You split it open, roast it in the oven and then use a fork to scrape out the noodle-like strands. Then you can put whatever sauce on it you like. I like mine with butter and some basil and oregano.
2. Zucchini ribbons are also an alternative to noodles made of processed wheat.
Use a vegetable peeler and you can make zucchini resemble spaghetti noodles. Heat the strips in a skillet with olive oil and you’ll have a fresh pasta replacement that gives you a huge boost of vitamins A and C, and is a great source of potassium.
3. A very glycemic-friendly answer to traditional manicotti, cannelloni or lasagna is wide, thin strips of peeled eggplant. Eggplant has protein, B vitamins, magnesium, and potassium, too.
All you have to do is slice the eggplant, lay the slices on paper towels and sprinkle a tiny bit of sea salt on them to allow water to drain, and cook them in a skillet with your favorite oil. Let them drain again and you’re ready to go.
To Your Good Health,
Al Sears, MD
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