Nutrition

It has been often stated that opinions are like noses, everyone has one. Nutrition and diet are no different, which you can see by taking a stroll down the nutrition and diet isle at your local bookstore. There you'll find books by supposed experts giving you their take on a healthy diet, with recommendations ranging from low fat to low carbohydrate. So who's right?

The Current Mainstream 'Healthy' Diet

Current mainstream opinion on the subject says the following are components of a healthy diet:

• Lean meats from chicken and turkey, and fatty fish
• Red meats only once a week if at all
• Dairy should be skim or low fat
• Plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables
• Mostly whole grains
• Fats should come from 'healthy' sources, which are mainly plant based (nuts, seeds, olive oil, avocados, soybeans)
• Limit sweets

What's Wrong with this Dietary Approach

This diet comes from interpretation of past and current research, and probably a lot of lobbying by specific food industries and manufacturers. But what's missing? I'd suggest it's missing common sense. For many thousands of years mankind has lived long, healthy lives by eating a variety of different diets. Many were high in animal fats. These diets ranged from the mostly animal fat diet of the Eskimos to the mostly whole grain and full fat dairy diets of people living inland. These people ate what was locally available in a minimally processed form, and led active, healthy, vigorous lives.

My personal stance on the issue of diet and nutrition is that most foods that come from plants and animals are healthy and good for people to eat, as long as they have been minimally processed (or not processed at all!) by man. And that's where we run into a problem. The vast majority of foods we eat today are highly processed and stripped of nutrition, grown with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, or treated with hormones or antibiotics. And we eat far too much of them.

If you'd like to read further on the subject of traditional diets, below is one of the best resources I've come across:

A Natural Healthy Diet

So what's a person that's trying to get in shape to do? Here are some basic guidelines:

• Eat the appropriate number of calories. Calorie Calculator.
• Eat foods with a high nutrient to calorie ratio. Fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains fall into this category because they're minimally processed and have lots of fiber.
• Get LOTS of fiber. It'll keep you fuller and have many other benefits.
• Eat healthy fats, which are fats from nuts, seeds, and olive oil, as well as from animals (including dairy) that were never fed hormones or antibiotics.
• Get white flour and sugar out of your diet as totally and completely as possible. These are empty calories and will quickly empty your stomach making you hungry sooner.
• Steer clear from trans fat or any other man-made food additives.
• If you're lifting weights you probably need extra protein.

As stated above, your goal is to eat foods as close to the form God created them as possible. Spend the time and effort to learn to prepare fresh foods for yourself. It's the best way to know you're getting a diet free of man made junk.