How we eat often depends a lot on how we were raised, what our cultural background is, and a multitude of other factors. If our favorite comfort food was chocolate ice cream our, favorite food may still be our favorite comfort food. Each time we eat that comfort food (whatever our favorite comfort food is) we may remember other times we ate it when times were good and worries were few.

There are a lot of studies out about how we should eat. To summarize them:

Eat chicken; don't eat chicken that is cage grown; only eat boneless, skinless breast meat of the chicken.

Pork is good for you; pork, the other white meat; pigs eat nothing but garbage—that has to go into the meat; pork can't be good for you.

Eat red meat; it's OK in moderation; don't eat red meat.

Eat raw veggies; raw veggies are too hard to digest, so they should be cooked; not overcooked, but cooked.

No wonder we struggle with all the conflicting evidence that is out there.

No longer is there a single food pyramid, but several different food pyramids. If you head over to Web MD, there are links to several (mediterranean, vegetarian, latino, asian, etc).

As you can see, there are many different ways of eating (and many different diets) that are available to us in today's global world. A hundred years ago (even 50 years ago) most people were only able to eat what was available in season or what they were able to preserve or can. There were fewer foods available that were genetically modified.

There were also fewer foods that were so heavily fertilized, grown under conditions that most people didn’t know about, and that families didn't grow on their own. When you ate something 100 years ago, the chances were good that unless you were traveling, either you or someone you knew produced or grew the food you ate. In today's world, this is no longer true.

Other things that can affect how we feel are things like pesticides and fertilizers that are placed on the foods while they are growing. Many people choose organic foods whenever possible.

Another thing that has been happening is the huge amount of sugar and salt being added to foods. One example of this is that green beans from sometimes have sugar added to them. In many different types of packaging, sugar goes by different names. When this occurs, and four or five different types of sugar are used, people may not realize just how much sugar is in the food they eat. If all the types of sugars were added together, then sugar might be the number one ingredient, but since (for example) five types of sugars are used, then sugar doesn't rank as a higher percentage in the list of ingredients.

Sometimes the names for sugar don’t include the word sugar (or even syrup) at all. Some say, oh, you just have to look for the “ose” (as in sucrose, fructose, etc.)r; but it's become much more complicated than that.

There’s beet sugar, castor sugar, cane sugar, date sugar, demara sugar, cane sugar, brown sugar, golden sugar, raw sugar, confectioner’s sugar, icing sugar, powdered sugar, grape sugar, turbinado sugar, yellow sugar, muscovado sugar, and just plain sugar, sugar. Should cane juice crystals be put here or with the juices? Is honey a syrup?

Then there are all the different syrups; high fructose corn syrup, refiners syrup, malt syrup, molasses, caramel, corn syrup, rice syrup, golden syrup, maple syrup, carob syrup, buttered syrup and sorghum. And where do corn syrup solids fit into all of that?

Next are the “ose’s.” lactose, fructose, glucose, sucrose, dextrose, maltose, galactose. Should glucose solids be here or somewhere else?

Then there are fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.

Also existing as sugars are; diastatic malt, barley malt, malto-dextran, dextran, sorbitol, maltol, ethyl maltol, panocha, and treacle?

Last but not least in the sugar category, there is High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) which seems to be in many processed foods. While researching high fructose corn syrup, you can find many pages where google adwords  will take you to a website that tells you what the producers of high fructose corn syrup want you to think is true about it.  HFCS is used in many things because it keeps products soft and protects freshness. People were getting anxious about the HFCS, so the farmers asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) to be renamed to corn sugar.

Many foods are highly processed to the point that nutrients need to be added back in to try to make the food healthy again.

Throughout the world scientists, doctors, researchers and others are trying to figure out what is best for us to eat. They then lobby others to eat the way they do, or think they should. Who is right? It is very hard to tell. The Oldways Food Trust Food Pyramids referred to above are a good place to start.

When you look at the development of the food pyramid and the large changes that have taken place in the last few years, one becomes more aware of how complicated it is. Trying to find out what works and what doesn't work can be frustrating.

Here are some links to tips from other Michigan Peers about what has worked best for them. They were asked to provide tips and recipes that have worked for them as they have tried to become healthier. Being more healthy and caring about what you eat and do each day is a large part of people's recovery journey.

*Note: Please consult your doctor before making any major changes to your diet.

Here are the pages: