Nutrition is like fashion. Yep. While you may not immediately think to compare an organic apple to a Burberry jacket, the similarities are there. The superior products are more expensive, there are imitations everywhere, and what is considered cool and acceptable is frequently changing; only to repeat it the next decade. Remember in the 80s when low fat diets were in? (I don’t, I was only 5 years old in the 80s…but I read all about it once I started studying nutrition). Or how about in the 90s when we banned Carbohydrates? I remember “Carb Free” aisles in the supermarket. Carbohydrates were removed from any product you could think of, wrapped in a bow and put on display to practically dance around. In the 1950’s, we pushed red meat and potato diets. That is, until we all started dropping dead from heart attacks. See, it’s all about “what’s in”. Since nutrition is considered a young science, there are always going to be new studies done to sway us into a particular eating habit. Remember for every purchase you make, someone somewhere gets paid. Who is really benefitting when you decide to “Got Milk?” it. For every article you can find saying vegetarian diets are the way to go, you can find the same number of articles telling you a vegetarian diet is foolish. Both will have loads of “studies” to back themselves up. So it all comes down to how much you try to educate yourself on food, and what you decide to believe. This makes food not just like fashion, but kind of like religion. And yes, sometimes when I go into deep food thought, little light bulbs go off in my head just thinking about how the sun and soil give me the foods that are best for me. I don’t really know how the sun and soil got here…but naturally born food seems to fit well into the grand plan, whatever it may be.
Moral of the story? Just like fashion, stop trying to be trendy and stick with what we know works. It is not cool to give up carbohydrates. It may be the trend every few years, but we know that whole grains, rice, (and even fruits, Mr. Atkins) are great for us. Carbohydrates should be about 50% of your daily calorie intake. They are the primary way our body receives energy, and we need to break them down first and foremost. Select wisely. White bread is a whole grain that has been stripped of 2 out of its 3 parts, and then bleached. It is an imitator. It contains calories, but no nutrients. Choose whole grains, a variety of products, and ones that have been processed very little.
Just like religion, it is not about what is wrong, what is right, or who is going to win. It is about faith and that inner feeling some of you have about knowing what to do. You will come across articles, tv shows, news specials, you name it; that tell you processed foods are just fine for you, high fructose corn syrup is no big deal etc. Does this sound right? What do you think is better to put into your body? Food is what makes our body function (no exaggeration here). So how do you want to function? Stay as close to nature as possible, and when that is impossible, stay as close to “food” as possible.
Is it weird that I compared food to religion and fashion today? I don’t think so. Some of you value cashmere, and some of you wouldn’t know what to do if your church were to be taken away. We may come from different cities, countries, parts of the world; but everyone knows what food is. Food brings us to the table. And while I may not speak the same language as you, we can still enjoy the same meal together needing no words to connect. It is, in my opinion, the common ground.
No comments:
Post a Comment