Beyond Meal Delivery - To Education, Politics & Even Suicide

It seems like there are so many conflicting or just too-damn-long of lists out there telling us how to be healthy. The person telling you is either connected to a supplement company, arguing for a product's health benefits because they benefit in one way or another if we use it OR, the product has little to no scientific research of backing behind it. Which is precisely why here at Pantry Fuel, we feel pretty darn confident talking to you about whole foods. There are more studies out there than one can count proving the benefits and disease reversals when we get the nutrition our bodies need through whole foods. We don't really want to , but let's get political for a moment...Remember when someone brought climate change into question? Hmmm...I think you know where we're going with this. :)  We think science is pretty awesome, because sound and non-bias science should really be the basis of all opinions regarding any health claims.

At Pantry Fuel, we aren't lobbyist, political figures, nor do we have any investment in any company benefiting from the sales of the whole foods or animal products (think dairy lobbyists) we think are so great for you and us! The only 'skin in the game' we have is wanting to help others realize how good one can feel when the body receives the proper nutrition our bodies literally thrive off of. Every time we become deficient in a nutrient, it's like taking the 2nd "O" off of H2O. OH- is Hydroxide (a liquid) and OH is Holmium (a metal). This means by changing the chemical structure of these, even so slightly, they become a whole new product! This is what can happen with your body. Our bodies are always trying to return to a homeostatic state -  A simple example of homeostasis is the body's ability to maintain an internal temperature around 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, whatever the temperature outside. So, if you have too little vitamin D, you get depressed - this is the change your body makes because of the lack of the micronutrient vitamin D. Check out this Journal of Psychology explaining how this works exactly.

Looking at nutrient deficiency such as iron - if you're iron deficient, usually the first symptom is fatigue, next depression. You see, we need to understand that symptoms arise because of a lack or too much of something. They don't just SHOW UP. The reason you feel fatigued is because iron is "...an important component of hemoglobin, the substance in red blood cells that carries oxygen from your lungs to transport it throughout your body. A lack of red blood cells is called iron deficiency anemia. (source)" It is easy to see when you lack iron, you feel tired because oxygen is lacking through the disruption in transportation of it throughout your body. 

Research findings pointed out that twice as many women as men are clinically depressed. This gender difference starts in adolescence and becomes more pronounced among married women aged 25-45, with children. Furthermore, women of childbearing age experience more depression than during other times in their lives. These indicate the possible importance of iron in the etiology of depression since its deficiency is known to cause fatigue and depression. Iron deficiency anemia is associated, for instance, with apathy, depression, and rapid fatigue when exercising.[43]

Unashamed, being in the age group of women 25-45, I can relate to these symptoms, and THIS is very scary. Actually, because depression has lead to suicide in many, many cases - and not to say nutrition alone can help cure depression, but it is certainly proven to be a huge component of it, this should be something we should be talking about with our medical professionals, dietitians  and more. Depression affects adolescence quite drastically as well - due to hormonal changes, but what if nutrition were a key component? Well, not "what if" any more - plenty of sound research proves the symptoms of many lacking proper micronutrients and so, depression, then, becomes a symptom of something we have some (not always all) control over.

This stuff is all readily available to all of us, thanks to the internet, so we mustn't keep being stubborn and blaming our symptoms directly on things we cannot control. Obviously there are many things we cannot control related to genes and hereditary diseases and illnesses. I am not rebutting this and want to make that extremely clear. I'm saying, I won't really have an opinion on health issues or products or foods until sound, unbiased science has proved its benefit - not one, two, or three studies - but thousands of times. This may seem brash, but I just don't want to be involved in here-say, or as the media has called it lately, "fake news". I, the owner of Pantry Fuel, and most our team, has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to get an education and learn how to research and decipher and come to opinions about things based on this research (i.e. college). Opinions are personal, but they also should be sound - based on direct experience, proven research, and sound science - but not emotions, politic stature, nor money or power gain.

We would be a disgrace if we were to stoop to the level of having an opinion or supporting something without little evidence or direct experience. Now, we could go into defining what is good enough "evidence" and this, sadly, changes for everyone - person to person. But we need to hold ourselves to a high standard. An opinion is a Freedom of Speech - a freedom so many have died and served for us to continue to have. Don't just kind of have an opinion - we must use our (swear word inserted here for exclamation!) VOICE!! So many cannot - they are beaten down to a point of silence. If we have a voice to be able to use, we're going to use it to do good, support good, and this so-called 'good' must come from evidence, experience, and science backing - particularly when it comes to our health. 

Rant. Over. :) In the meantime, here are some AWESOME, SIMPLE tips to keep you moving towards your own health goals. Not just because it feels good to look good, but because it feels even better when someone needs your help you feel good enough to help them; when your son or daughter asks you to play with them, you can; when you want to go enjoy the good weather (or snow in our case!) you can get outside and MOVE!! Good health isn't a trivial thing - it is THE THING!