My Journey to Good Health
My Journey to Good Health
It started when I was in my early twenties, the 1980's looking at the ingredients of food that I had bought. I’d heard of E numbers and colouring's that were very harmful for the body; many were banned in the USA and people wanted them banned over here in England.
I realised how many questionable and unnecessary chemicals were in our food (processed food, packets, tins, sweets, cakes and drinks) and always tried to choose food items that did not contain them.
That really was the extent of my knowledge on food, and the fact that lots of fat was bad for you (I didn’t know about saturated, unsaturated and mono saturates) and the importance of eating lots of fruit, vegetables and salad, which I very rarely did.
It was only about 5 years ago that a whole new world opened up to me, when I went to a series of talks by various people like Juliette Bryant, Jo Mason, and Diana Herve, to name but a few. I slowly began to understand much more about my body and the food that I consumed and its impact on animals and our planet.
I didn’t understand the importance of eating nutritionally dense food that provides your body with all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals that it needs. I was eating a lot of food, but with hardly any nutritional value - empty calories. I also started learning about the importance of gut health and how that affects the whole body. Someone said, “If you drove a car, would you fill it with the worst, cheapest petrol?” None of us in our right minds would do that, so why do we do that with our own bodies. I often read about people saying how carbon gas could be reduced if we all ate less meat, and never really understood why this would be so, until I watched a couple of documentaries called “What the Health” and “The Game Changer.” I totally ‘got it’ then, that farming for meat used up much more land and produced more greenhouse gases, and, if this land was converted to producing vegetables, it would produce more available food for everyone; healthier and with no greenhouse gases being produced, and animals would not have to be mass produced, harmed or pumped with hormones and antibiotics. There is also the benefit, I realised, of plant based food being less fatty, by not containing animal fats (I now had an understanding of healthy fats and bad fats). I discovered that plant based foods are very nutritious and there are so many lovely combinations and new flavours to be enjoyed.
Around the same time as my developing new knowledge, I had a food allergy test, which showed me to be intolerant to wheat, dairy and cheese. I was shocked because most of my diet consisted of this. I was advised to avoid those foods and I found it so very difficult, for a long while, to adjust my diet and to learn how to eat differently; like many, I was used to eating meat and dairy, just as my mum had fed me.
I also hated cooking, so “Chef Mike” (the good old microwave) was perfect for ready made meals!! Now I shudder at the thought, knowing of all the additives, salt and saturated fat that they contain.
I’ve been very fortunate because I married a Head Chef who has been in the business for over 40 years. However, for much of our marriage, he has been away working during the week, leaving me to cook for myself, which would mostly always be convenience food.
But recently I had a realisation, that for me to become healthy, eat well, be well and feel well, I had to take action. Only I could do that; I had to do it for myself.
So, when I reached for the ‘bad’ food, I knew I had to learn to say no because my health would benefit and I would feel better. As Jo Mason says “It’s not the food that is a problem, it’s your relationship with the food that is a problem.” A piece of cake will always be a piece of cake, it’s knowing it’s bad for you and making the right decision.
I knew, if I wanted to feel good, I had to eat well, and bit by bit I did; I finally ‘got it’ and I researched different recipes and tried them out in the kitchen.
I discovered that I liked them, so I built up a repertoire of recipes that I enjoyed. I started feeling so much better than I had; more energy, my tummy was not bloated any more, I felt good, and I looked better.
So it became my passion and my husband’s because I shared everything I learned with him. As he saw the benefits in me, he also wanted to adapt his eating habits. This has been amazing; to be on the journey together, to eat healthy food with no additives, and organic as much as is possible; it’s been inspirational.
As we followed our journey we got frustrated that there was nowhere locally to order good healthy plant based food to be delivered. Then, due to the COVID 19 crisis, my husband and I were not able to go back to our usual work for the foreseeable future. So the idea was born; for us to start a plant based food home delivery service to your front door... serving you food that we like to eat ourselves... Babakins Kitchen To Go.
We hope you will enjoy our food and enjoy discovering healthy, nutritious plant based food which is good for you and good for the environment. We look forward to sharing our experience with you.
With love M & A
