We humans are a strange lot, aren't we? We spend an absolute fortune on gyms, bottled water, vitamin supplements and low-fat, low-calorie and low-salt meals in order that we can live more vital and healthful lives, yet on the other hand we sabotage our efforts with our poor food choices that doom us to failure from the outset. It's almost as if none of us actually want good health!
Then again, to be fair, for most of us poor diet really isn't our fault. We are literally bombarded with mixed messages from the government, food manufacturers and the media that we don't stand a chance of making sense of what we're told. One tells us high fat is bad, another says eat more protein, while another still says that a balanced diet and five pieces of fruit and veg a day are all that you need to safeguard your health. Deciphering all of this conflicting evidence is like trying to work out the Bible code, only 10 times more difficult!
So what are we to believe? WHO are we to believe? Well, if results are anything to go by, there are very few reliable sources that we can trust to gain anything even slightly resembling good advice. Think I'm being too harsh? Consider our sources.
The media
Easily the least reliable source of health information, the media is interested in the new, the unusual, and the 'next big thing'. Ultimately looking for a new story every day, the press jumps from fad to fad, leaving confusion in its wake.
Take Atkins, for example. The press put its full support behind the diet until it became 'old news' and then sought to trash the whole idea, even calling it 'the killer diet' after the deaths of several Atkins dieters.
So, does this make Atkins good or bad? And by what standard?
Food manufacturers
The companies that produce, promote and sell us our food are in a truly unique position of power.
They can grow, process and package our foods in the manner that suits them best (ie, creates greatest profit), while at the same time spending billions of pounds per year on advertising that brainwashes us into eating it. Even drug dealers don't have it that good!
With such a vested interest in selling their own products, we'd have to be mad to trust the food giants' claims about what's healthy and what's not. After all, aren't these the same companies that put all of the E-numbers and chemicals into our diets in the first place? Aren't those same chemicals now being linked to obesity, diabetes, depression, asthma, eczema, cancer and too many other diseases and illnesses to mention?
The government
Though well intentioned, the governments of the last 25 years have probably contributed more to the ill health and disease of our population than any others that came before them.
That's a pretty strong statement to make, yet consider the evidence; there are currently more people suffering heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis, Alzheimer's and chronic pain and fatigue than at any time in history, despite the government's recommendations that we should eat diets low in fat, low in cholesterol and higher in fruit and veg. Or maybe BECAUSE of this advice!
As it stands, the politically correct nutritional recommendations offered by the Department of Health may actually do more harm than the conditions they were supposed to alleviate. For example:
Avoid saturated fats – This information, though seemingly sensible, ignores the vital role that saturates play in maintaining our health and immune system, protecting the liver and strengthening bones.
Fact - during the last 25 years our consumption of saturated fats within our diets has decreased dramatically, yet we are witnessing the highest level of immune-system diseases and osteoporosis ever reported.
Reduce dietary cholesterol - Cholesterol isn't the deadly enemy we're led to believe. In fact, its absence in our diet puts our health at risk. As well as maintaining the strength of our cell walls, cholesterol also contributes to maintaining a healthy bone structure and nervous and immune systems. As an antioxidant, cholesterol protects against free-radical damage attributed to heart disease and cancer.
Fact - Despite the many low-cholesterol foods that are crowding our supermarket shelves, heart disease, cancer and nervous-system diseases are at an all-time high.
Eat five servings of fruit and veg per day - While it is difficult to dispute the benefits of nutritious fruit and vegetables in our diets, a word of caution is necessary before you rush out for this week's shopping. From seed to harvest and storage, the average 'natural' product is sprayed 8-10 times with pesticides KNOWN to suppress the nervous and immune systems. So, maybe that banana at lunchtime isn't such a great idea after all... unless it's organic!
This is just the tip of the iceberg. So much of the information that we are given relating to our diet is not only wrong, but actually harmful to us in ways too numerous to mention. In fact, with few exceptions, our current health-based nutritional advice is about as back to front as it could possibly be.
If you disagree, then I urge you to look at the declining health of not just the UK, but all First World countries that adopt the same government-led nutritional strategies. The results are the same. Increasing disease and decreasing health on all fronts.
So who are we to trust?
With so much conflicting advice, it's almost impossible to find a single source with all the answers to our nutritional needs. Whether the advice is high protein/low carb or low protein/high carb or, indeed, any other generic advice regarding what we should eat, it is clear that there will never be a single approach that will work for everyone.
The human body comes in many different shapes, sizes, colours and races, each with so many individual characteristics that any attempt to apply the same rules to us all is not only pointless, it may be potentially harmful, too.
That said, regardless of your unique biochemical profile, there are some rules that apply across the board:
Avoid all processed foods – The very act of processing foods renders them useless. Anything that was once good about the food has been removed or chemically altered in order that it can last longer on the shelves. As a general rule, if it can last longer than four or five days without going bad, then don't eat it. Likewise, if it has an E-number on the package.
Avoid genetically modified foods – We still don't know enough about these foods to be sure of the long-term effects of their consumption. Are you willing to risk your future health on a 'best guess'?
Eat only organic produce – I know what you're thinking - 'it's too expensive', yet organic foods are the ONLY way to remain free of the chemicals that have been PROVEN (not suspected) to cause numerous diseases in humans and animals alike. You have a choice, pay from your wallet now or pay with your health later.
Eat foods from all three major macronutrient groups – Regardless of whether your body is protein- or carbohydrate-dominant, you still need protein, saturated fat and carbohydrate in your diet in order to maintain your health.
Drink more water – Dehydration alters the chemical balance of your blood and affects the way in which you absorb and utilise the chemicals in your food. Maintaining optimal hydration allows you to make the most of your unique biochemistry to maintain your health.
Most of us pay very little attention to what goes into our mouths - after all 'it's only food', isn't it? Yet think on it this way; if the old saying 'you are what you eat' is true and at the same time we're becoming increasingly more sick and diseased, then what does that say about what we're eating?
You think on it. I'm off for a fry-up! Organic of course!
