The Zoo!!
I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE (are you getting the picture?) ZOOS!! My husband takes me to the zoo whenever we move to a new place. Every time I think I've surely seen all the animals out there, I go to a zoo and see, at least, a dozen new ones that I had no idea about or ever even heard of! Last week, Kevin took me to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC, which is only about 40 minutes from our house. It was a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning with temps hovering around 55 degrees...perfect for walking around and admiring all of the amazing plants, animals, reptiles, fishes, and more....
I know you're thinking that it's very strange that I'm talking about zoos on a gluten-free website, but there's a point, I promise!
Animals, by instinct and for self-preservation, have very limited diets, unless they're introduced to new foods by humans. Think about, for example, the panda bear...their diet, in the wild, consists of 99% bamboo, with just a few other grasses thrown in--that's it!
Elephants are strict vegetarians that eat between 300 and 500 pounds of vegetation per day!
Flamingos feed solely on brine shrimp and a blue-green algae. If they do not get the required amount of shrimp, they lose that fabulous pink/orange color and turn white.
So, what's the point to all of this animal talk?? Just this...animals have no choices when it comes to food. They are hard-wired, if you will, to eat certain foods in order to survive. They can't just pop down to Sonic and order a cherry limeade when the notion strikes, nor would they want to, because that is not "food" designed for them (and please, I have absolutely NOTHING against cherry limeades...in fact, they're one of my favorites and I was just thinking of one, which is why I included it here :)
As human beings, our food choices are limitless! It's up to us to decide what we will eat and in what quantity. We can eat veggies or meat or chemicals....or whatever we choose to put into our bodies. Because our food choices are limitless, we often forget that we, too, eat for survival. "You are what you eat" is one of the truest statements ever!
Any of us who suffer from a disease that is affected by food are, perhaps, more conscious of what we eat. Celiacs need to stay strictly away from gluten; diabetics need to stay away from sugars; the list goes on and on. But, are any of us truly as careful about our food choices as we should be?? Every day we should take a few moments and re-evaluate what we're putting into our bodies. Are we getting enough fresh fruits and vegetables?? Are we eating whole grains?? Are we substituting cookies or candies for snacks?? Are we eating too many deep-fried foods??
It's totally up to us! So, next time you're at the zoo, or out in nature, maybe you'll be reminded, as I was, that what I eat is as important to my personal survival as it is to the animals.
Animals, by instinct and for self-preservation, have very limited diets, unless they're introduced to new foods by humans. Think about, for example, the panda bear...their diet, in the wild, consists of 99% bamboo, with just a few other grasses thrown in--that's it!
So, what's the point to all of this animal talk?? Just this...animals have no choices when it comes to food. They are hard-wired, if you will, to eat certain foods in order to survive. They can't just pop down to Sonic and order a cherry limeade when the notion strikes, nor would they want to, because that is not "food" designed for them (and please, I have absolutely NOTHING against cherry limeades...in fact, they're one of my favorites and I was just thinking of one, which is why I included it here :)
As human beings, our food choices are limitless! It's up to us to decide what we will eat and in what quantity. We can eat veggies or meat or chemicals....or whatever we choose to put into our bodies. Because our food choices are limitless, we often forget that we, too, eat for survival. "You are what you eat" is one of the truest statements ever!
Any of us who suffer from a disease that is affected by food are, perhaps, more conscious of what we eat. Celiacs need to stay strictly away from gluten; diabetics need to stay away from sugars; the list goes on and on. But, are any of us truly as careful about our food choices as we should be?? Every day we should take a few moments and re-evaluate what we're putting into our bodies. Are we getting enough fresh fruits and vegetables?? Are we eating whole grains?? Are we substituting cookies or candies for snacks?? Are we eating too many deep-fried foods??
It's totally up to us! So, next time you're at the zoo, or out in nature, maybe you'll be reminded, as I was, that what I eat is as important to my personal survival as it is to the animals.
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