By Cat Wilson
Guest Columnist

This was our “whatever’s in the fridge for dinner bowl.” Warm farro grain, warm broccoli, raspberries, walnuts, tomatoes, power greens, radishes, avocado, cucumbers and feta drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Photo by Cat Wilson.

We all need to put our healthcare in the forefront of our busy days, which is easy to say, yet some days are nearly impossible. Right? I am right there with you.

It’s true that every bite improves or damages our health and our fight against disease in the long-term, so let’s recap a few items as we think about the holidays and 2024.

• Constant eating is bad on the gut biome. Your body needs time to digest and use the energy you have consumed already. Fifty percent of Americans eat from 8 a.m. to 10:45 p.m., nearly 15 hours.
• Reduce your eating window to no more than 12 hours by either pushing breakfast to mid-morning or eating earlier in the evening and then being done — nothing else — done. Do not eat within two hours of going to bed.
• Forget about KETO. Logic alone tells you consuming vast amounts of fat, animal meat and all the cheese you can consume will not make for a healthy body. It is not sustainable, does not give you the micro nutrients you need, it has a higher all-cause mortality rate, causes fatigue, hair loss, and a 30 percent higher rate of birth defects.
• Don’t be afraid of the good, complex whole food carbs like the simple potato or beans; be afraid of simple trashy carbs like over-processed breads, desserts and sugary drinks. You already know this, but it’s hard and they are everywhere.
• Speaking of fiber: per day women need 25 grams and men need 35 grams — minimum. Get it from food. Eat more plants.
• Sugar — we could talk about it all day. Visualize it — a can of soda has 39 grams of added sugar, divide that by four, it equals nearly 10 teaspoons of sugar in one can! Use that formula for every can, box or package you pick up. Women should get no more than 25 grams (6 teaspoons) a day and men 36 grams (9 teaspoons).
• Table salt is composed primarily of sodium chloride. Daily recommendation is 2,300 mg per day, which is 1 teaspoon. Only 13 percent of the salt we consume comes from the shaker we use at home. The biggest culprits are restaurants, processed and packaged foods. Be aware.
• Every bite counts — make it be a whole food. Add vegetables to everything. Eat raw & cooked. Fill up with fruit & vegetables and you won’t have room for the high calorie/low nutrient foods. Make and eat soup all winter long. Make bread that has five ingredients instead of 25 ingredients.

It’s so easy — whole unprocessed food, but the world makes it so hard. Hang in there and be your best self.

Wishing you all good health, happiness, and God’s blessings in the new year.

Cat Wilson lives in South Bend and transitioned from a vegetarian diet to eating a plant-based diet over two years ago. She may be contacted at [email protected].