Nutrition 101 - Introduction

"It is likely that the poor farming people of developing nations have a better diet than North Americans do," states Elson Haas, MD, in his book, Staying Healthy with Nutrition.1 Why would he say that? The majority of people in the world do not have access to the kinds of processed foods that Americans eat. Poorer people must make meals of whole foods like rice, beans, vegetables, and fruits.....foods they are able to grow themselves. In contrast, Haas claims that most Americans ingest 128 pounds of sugar, 15 pounds of salt, and 9 pounds of typical food additives each year.1 Many foods that we eat are lacking in important vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, essential fatty acids, and fiber, all of which are important to maintaining good health.

So what does a healthy diet look like? According to Luise Light's book, What to Eat, there are 10 components of a healthy eating plan:

Eat lots of fruits and vegetables
Eat whole grains, including pasta, rice, and bread
Eat organic foods when you can
Eat natural fats, not chemically made fats
Don't eat refined flours and sugars
Eat wild-caught fish and organic meat and eggs
Eat foods that naturally contain calcium
Don't eat a lot of salt
Don't eat foods with a lot of preservatives, additives, and colorings
Drink clean water (3)

These are all things we have heard before, but maybe there are a few new facts we can learn. In my next 10 entries I will explore each of these 10 components in detail and explain why they may be important to overall health.

As Dr. John Gray points out, "A healthful body always hungers for healthful foods."2

1 Haas, E.M., & Levin, B. (2006). Staying healthy with nutrition: The complete guide to diet and nutritional medicine. Berkeley: Celestial Arts.
2 Hilton Johnson Productions, Inc. (2010). Health Tip of the Day. Retrieved from http://healthcoachtraining.com/.
3 Light, L. (2006) What to eat: The ten things you really need to know to eat well and be healthy! New York: McGraw_hill.