Store What You Eat; Eat What You Store—And Make Sure It’s Healthy

Store what you eat; eat what you store.  We’ve all seen that counsel frequently enough.  And it’s important.  There’s no point in storing food you won’t eat.  If you don’t like it now, you won’t like it later.  What isn’t often emphasized, however, is the caution to make sure it’s nutritious food.  Perhaps the implication is there, but I know the message isn’t getting through to everyone, including members of my own family.  Some of them are trying.  Only one has ditched white flour completely.  Unfortunately, when it comes to white flour, most take after their dad. 

So I thought it would be good today to review why the long-term food storage staples are the healthiest choice as far as disease prevention goes.  Here is the basic long-term food storage staple list. 

·       400 lbs whole grains

·       20 lbs dry milk 

·       60 lbs dry beans and legumes

·       60 lbs sugar

·       20 lbs oil

·       10 lbs salt

Discussions on how to store and use these items are provided in other articles on the blog.  I’m also not going to address sugar, oil, or salt here, because they don’t contribute all that much to disease prevention. 

The whole grains, milk, and beans/legumes naturally provide most of the vitamins and minerals we need to be healthy.  Whole grains can be sprouted to provide vitamin C and trace minerals.  Unfortunately, many people prefer processed and ultra-processed foods.  White flour.  Excess sugar.  Excess fat.  No beans. 

And that’s what I see a lot of people storing, refusing to store much in the way of whole grains and anything else healthy.  They’re planning on diets extremely low in fiber.  Remember, a diet centered on whole grains and high fiber is associated with a lower risk for chronic disease and digestive issues.  It’s best when the fiber comes from real food rather than supplements. 

Strong or emerging evidence indicate the following diseases and conditions affected by a whole-grain, high fiber diet include:

·       Cardiovascular

-      Atherosclerosis

-      Cardiovascular disease

-      Coronary artery disease

-      Hypertension

-      Peripheral artery disease

-      Stroke

-      Venous thromboembolism

-      Varicose veins[1]

·       Endocrine

-      High cholesterol

-      Type-2 diabetes

-      Metabolic syndrome

·       Gastrointestinal

-      Anal fistula

-      Appendicitis

-      Colorectal cancer

-      Constipation

-      Crohn’s

-      Diverticulitis

-      GERD

-      Hemorrhoids

-      Inflammatory bowel disease

-      Irritable bowel

-      Obesity

·       Hepatic

-      Gallstones

-      Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

·       Musculoskeletal

-      Hernia

·       Neurologic

-      Alzheimer’s

-      Dementia

·       Urogenital

-      Chronic kidney disease

-      Polycystic ovary syndrome

·       Other

-      Cancer

Endometrial

                  Colorectal

                  Pancreatic

                  Breast

 

Emerging evidence indicates that a high-fiber diet also supports healthier intestinal bacteria, which affects the immune system and inflammation, as well as anxiety and depression.  Research, however, is ongoing.

The poor white-flour devotees have fought the advantages of whole grains for a long time, and they’re fighting back again, hoping—praying that there is something of redeeming value in their white flour.

Fortunately, there is.  I’m not saying that there is no place for refined, low-fiber foods in our preparations.  There are conditions and illnesses, usually quite temporary, that call for low-fiber, easily digested foods:

·       Bowel obstruction

·       Crohn’s disease, during acute flares

·       Diverticulitis, during active inflammation

·       Gastroenteritis (stomach flu), refined, bland foods are easier to digest during recovery

·       Gastroparesis

·       Ulcerative colitis, during severe flares

 

If we’re going to be storing food anyway, doesn’t it make sense to store what will help us be healthy and prevent disease? 

 

Links to related posts:

Review of Long-Term Food Storage and Minimum Amounts 

Calories and Recommended Food Storage Amounts

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[1] https://www.ithriveveins.com/education/how-to-stop-varicose-vein-bleeding