organic vegetables in a basketSo You Want To Live Organic…

Not everyone likes organic vegetables. We understand that and can empathize with you and your loved ones. When someone starts on the path to a more organic lifestyle, they often start with food. What if you have always been a meat lover and you don’t just want to live organically, but also want to add more vegetables to your diet? You want to see your family eat organic and healthier too. You need to go from being a vegetable hater to vegetable lover.

Free Your Mind and The Rest Will Follow

Habits probably hold us back more than anything else. We get used to a certain standard of living, a certain way of doing things, and we get comfortable. Human beings are creatures of habit. We like consistency and routine. To some extent this is true of our food too. We like what we like! But have you ever noticed that sometimes when you want to do something that is good for you, it can seem extra hard? For example: Any regular day you can live without ice cream. You could take it or leave it without much thought. Perhaps you are at a dinner and the hostess serves a little cup of ice cream; you may have some without a thought or you may not. However, once you have made the decision to go on a sugar-free diet, suddenly there seems to be ice cream everywhere and you feel like you could almost lick a small child’s cone when they aren’t looking. Why is this? As it turns out our brain releases a feel-good hormone (Dopamine) every time we eat junk food or sugar. In the most basic sense it’s like we have trained our brain much like you would train a puppy. When you say, “sit” – puppy gets a treat. Now before you even have the bag of treats in hand, the puppy sits. As soon as your brain thinks you absolutely can’t have your treat – that is all you want. One of the best solutions I have come up with is to disguise the good food as a treat. Before your brain knows what is happening you are craving broccoli. Retrain the puppy!

It’s Time To Reinvent Your Food!

Maybe it’s your brain or maybe it’s your taste buds that need a little help to acclimate to new flavors. For example, Brussel sprouts can seem bitter to some people, which is especially true for young children. This is where a little preplanning and some creativity comes into play. If you make it an adventure, it can be fun to discover new ways to incorporate foods that you thought you didn’t like. In my house we have reinvented Brussels sprouts. They used to be boiled, little, dejected, orphaned, baby cabbages and were reinvented into delectable, sautéed, and lightly-browned nibbles of delight! All it takes is a little coconut oil in a pan placed on medium heat. I add a couple small cloves of fresh, pressed, organic garlic, a pinch of white pepper, a dash of cumin, and just as they are getting tender, I remove them from the heat – and give them a light spritz of Braggs Liquid Aminos. I have a tater-tot loving husband who now loves organic Brussels sprouts. Now to get him to lose the tater-tots. (One battle at a time – you can find that battle here.)

Applications & Resources for Organic Vegetables

  • Check out the short video posted by Authority Nutrition on how sugar affects your brain
  • Find out how to trick your brain with Healthy Pizza! (Just remember your organic veggies.
  • Go to Swanson for 18 Food Hacks, ideas to replace unhealthy food choices
  • Read more at Prevention Magazine for 23 ideas for eating healthier and a few recipes

  iGOZEN is a philosophy and a way of life. As you embark on your organic journey don’t forget to find a chemical-free, organic, non-toxic vegetable wash, like iGOZEN.