by Todd Walker
Part 3a in our series – The Essential Pillars of Preparedness for SmartPreppers
Essential Pillars of Preparedness Series
- Part 1 ~ Health: The Essential Pillars of Preparedness for SmartPreppers
- Part 2 ~ Water: The 2nd Essential Pillar of Preparedness for SmartPreppers
- Part 3 ~ Food: How to Build a Big Fat Pantry
[In Part 3a, I felt the need to supplement Part 3 with the 4 essential standards of any SmartPrepper’s healthy nutrition plan]
Six pack abs are built in the kitchen – not the gym.
Training time in the kitchen pays off! Image Source
This is not a tutorial on how to build sculpted Spartan abs. However, if that’s your goal, spend more time prepping in the kitchen than over-training in the gym.
Here’s the thing.
80% of your body composition is determined by what you eat!
You won’t reach optimal health or survival without feeding your body good stuff. Could you survive eating processed junk? Yes – for a while. But eventually your SADiet (Standard American Diet) food choices will turn into SADisease (Standard American Disease).
Here are the main SADiseases linked to the SADiet: obesity, type 2 diabetes, 80% of cardiovascular disease, and over 30% of cancers. Consuming processed food (chemicals resembling food) is the best path to leaving the land of the living.
That’s the SAD news.
Here’s the GOOD news – SADisease is completely preventable – even reversible!
Making simple chances to your eating pattern can prevent you from being a SADisease statistic. Knowledge is empowering. But only if you take action and start Doing the Stuff for optimal health.
Part of Doing the Stuff is practicing skills before a crisis occurs. We call it Preventative Prepping. You can apply the same principle nutritionally to prevent SADisease and reach optimal health.
Healthy nutrition is not only an essential pillar of preparedness, it’s the foundation upon which all other pillars rest. Nutritional professionals, aided by Big Agra and corrupt corporations, have successfully demonized what your body needs to thrive before and after any crisis.
So, what does a ‘healthy’ nutrition plan look like?
A SmartPrepper’s nutrition plan should include these 4 standards
1.) Nourishes your body
Avoid processed foods. You can only read food labels if your food is pre-package. Eat what your body needs to thrive. Most packaged, processed foods don’t meet this standard and leave you overfed and under nourished. Instead of eating chemicals resembling food, feed your body real, whole foods like these ….
- Naturally raised animals
- Plants
- Nuts
- Free-range eggs
- Healthy fats – butter from grass-fed animals, coconut oil, nuts, to name a few (if you’re fat, you’re not eating enough fat)
- Fermented foods gets your gut flora in shape
2.) Recharge your brain batteries
Here’s a study suggesting that eating foods rich in vitamin B12 will keep your brain from shrinking and stave off dementia. Meat, fish, fortified cereals or milk should be part of your balanced nutrition plan. Liver and shellfish are your best bet for boosting your B12 intake – especially for senior preppers.
More smart foods that nourish your noggin:
- Eggs – the yellow yolk are high in protein, fat, and other essential vitamins and minerals.
- Fish – your brain is 60% fat. Feed it high quality, wild caught, oily fish for an Omega-3 feast.
- Nuts – excellent for your grey matter
- Check out the Brain Pyramid here
3.) Feeling full
Does your food satisfy your body and kill hunger? If an hour passes and you’re hungry again after eating, it’s a good chance you’re not feeding your body what it needs to stay satiated. High carb, sugary meals may be the culprit.
Eat from the list on #1 above. Quality, saturated fat is the key to feeling full.
4.) Peak physical performance
Eat a diet of happy animals who ate a healthy, natural diet, plenty of green, leafy plants, and listen to what your body tells you. You body is a high-performance machine. Treat it that way.
Take action, analyze, and adjust to how your body reacts to the fuel you feed it. Action is the first step.
These are the four standards to keep in mind when making your grocery list and food storage plan. You may think this is not realistic for long-term storage. If you’d like, you can take a peek at my Primal Pantry here.
This is not a fad diet. It must become a lifestyle. Once you begin your journey to food freedom and healthy nutrition, you’ll begin to see positive results. Eating healthy stops being something you have to do and become something you love to do.
You’re plan doesn’t have to be perfect. The key is to start and make this a lifestyle change. It gets easier the more you do the stuff.
Keep Doing the Stuff!
Todd
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