[email protected]

In a message dated 7/11/2006 11:53:18 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,
[email protected] writes:

Are my personal food choices and those I make with my family based on fear
or fact?<<<<<<

For me, I can say both. I know my parents were very much in control of
food, at least in the house, and I can see (fact) what it did for me, LOL. I so
did not want to pass that baggage onto my children (fear) so I did a lot of
research and soul search (fact) and dh and I decided together that we were
going to handle food differently. We have no restrictions in this house, no
meal times, no mandatory foods. We do have what some might consider junk food
in the house etc. Actually I can see my boys halloween candy bags from where
I am sitting now.


>>>It is unfortunate that the American diet has moved in so many directions
that what is best for human consumption is unclear to most people in our
country. <<<<

I am not sure that is fact. I would bet, now I don't know for sure but just
thinking about my own community of friends, that most people know what the
body needs and how to best feed their body. I know I do, doesn't mean I eat
that way though.

>>> it is about their physical health as well, which I believe integrates
inextricably with overall health and the aforementioned subcategories.....Most
individuals who have not had food restrictions still do not make ideal or
close-to-ideal health choices.... The majority of humans, especially Americans,
don't automatically do what is best for our
bodies ....We no longer supply the house with low- or no-nutrient foods. If
we go out, they get what they want, and when we stay in, they get what they
want within those options<<<<

So you believe it is a fact(?) that if you don't limit their food choices
they can't do it for themselves? That is not our reality. I have never
limited my children but we have worked together to really be able to sense what
their bodies need, so that they will never have to rely on anyone else for food
help. They can "instinctively" eat, for lack of a better word. My oldest
was having migranes a couple of years ago, and occasionally does now, we did
some research and found out that 95% of childhood migranes come from lack of
protein. So he is aware of that and knows when he hasn't eaten enough protein
and will come to me and say, mom can you stir fry me up some tofu. My
youngest has figured out that if drinks coke he gets a stomach ache. We shop
together and they pick out what they want and I pick out what I want. And they
are just as likely to put carrots and apples in the cart, knowing we are
getting low as soda or chips.

People here know that I don't restrict my children and have this image in
their mind that they eat nothing but candy all day long. But in reality they
don't. They eat less candy than I do. When we go to the movies we always get
candy, they will eat a little and bring most of it back to the car with
them, it sits in the car until it is a melted blob and then it gets tossed. My
on the other hand, I have to eat it all within the first 30 minutes of the
movie.

My children, as I have said before, have never had food controlled, they
make great choices on what they want to eat. Me on the other hand, I have grown
up with food control and I make terrible ones. So I am not sure your
statements work out in reality. I do believe it is what most people THINK would
happen. I also think it is great for you and your family that you care so much
and are really thinking about the choices you make. More than most people
do.

Now can I show my brothers your statement about smoking "Many people quit
smoking after learning about lung and other smoking-associated cancers". We
have had several people in our family die of lung cancer at a young age and
they continue to smoke.

Pam G










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