NUTRITION CONFUSION

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NUTRITION CONFUSION
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What do you like to eat? Are you a meat and potatoes person? One who likes a hearty breakfast of sausage, eggs and biscuits with lots of butter? Do you prefer fruits and vegetables with a little beans and tofu on the side? Do you like your veggies cooked or raw? Maybe you love dairy products - whole milk, rich creamery butter, ice cream and puddings. Whatever your culinary preferences may be, there's a diet out there for you.
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If you're a meat lover then any of the currently popular protein diets should make you happy. If you love rice and beans, fresh or lightly cooked vegetables, why not go vegetarian, macrobiotic, or even vegan for a while? But if a plate of uncooked zucchini, celery sticks, a glass of carrot juice and some freshly-shelled nuts makes you drool, you could join the small but growing ranks of "raw foodists" who follow the Paleolithic diet. You could do the Atkins diet, the blood type diet or the Mediterranean (if you love pasta and veggies cooked in olive oil). Then again, if fruit is your passion, you could follow the Fit for Life diet. Or, if you're into the Eastern philosophies, and you don't mind doing some self analysis to determine what the right foods are for you, you might want to look into Chinese Nutrition or Ayurveda. Then there's the Ornish Program, the Pritikin Diet, the McDougal Plan, the Longevity Diet and the Cabbage Soup Diet, just to name a few. Go ahead, pick one. As long as you're on a diet, one's as good as another, right? Just be aware that whatever diet you choose to follow, there's going to be a news flash next week telling you how you've been misguided and exactly why you've chosen the wrong one.
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Nutrition has got to be one of the most controversial subjects around. Milk is good. Milk is bad. To supplement or not to supplement? Saturated fat causes cancer and heart disease. Unsaturated fat is the culprit. Irradiated foods will keep us healthy. Irradiated foods will make us sick. Everyone, from Hollywood stars to Harvard Medical School graduates, has their favorite dietary philosophy and a best-selling book and video tape to promote it. And it seems as though they all disagree.
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Nutrition is not only a controversial subject but a sensitive one as well. People get pretty defensive about the way they eat. Be prepared to defend your food choices whether your dietary lifestyle is based on health, cosmetic or economic considerations, concern for other sentient life or a desire to save the rain forest. No matter how idealistic your motives may be, if the subject of diet comes up in the course of polite conversation you run the risk of being labeled a fanatic, a weirdo or someone who is just trying to be politically correct. If you're going to talk about the way you eat, you may want to be armed with lots of facts and statistical data to back up your decision. But arming oneself with information will not squelch the controversy over what is truly the healthiest way to eat.
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If we examine the question of why we eat the way we do, many factors enter into the picture. There is, of course, habit and tradition. But those influences have been tempered by all the research into the relationship between health and diet that's been done during this past century. There's the improved food packaging, preserving, and shipping capabilities; there's the government involvement in what we eat - for reasons both noble and ignoble. There's the pressure exerted by the powerful food lobbies for the meat, dairy and food processing industries. There's the dictates of our affluent society that tell us more is better and it's okay to sacrifice quality for quantity. And there is just plain greed on the part of some of the food industry giants.
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A survey of successful healing (not necessarily weight loss) diets from the past decade or two does reveal some points of agreement. The Ornish, Pritikin, Macrobiotic diets and Andrew Weil's program, for example, are all largely fruit, vegetable and grain based, low in fat, high in complex carbohydrates, with a generous portion of fiber and a moderate amount of protein. Every one of them emphasizes the importance of fresh and preferably organic produce, rather than processed or chemically treated foods. Although more and more highly convenient processed foods are becoming available to us, there's a growing body of information that testifies to their deleterious effect on our health.
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Another point of agreement is the importance of avoiding obesity. The apparent relationship between that condition and degenerative diseases such as diabetes, arthritis and heart disease is pretty difficult to refute. Holism is another common factor. All the aforementioned healing diets as well as the ancient prac-tices of Chinese Nutrition and Ayurveda incorporate exercise and mental and spiritual nourishment into their programs.
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Food is a necessity of life. If we go to the market and select a variety of whole unprocessed foods, we prepare them in a healthful manner and avoid over-indulgence; if we make our diet part of an overall healthy lifestyle, then food should also be a source of pleasure, not stress. So keep abreast of developments but consider the source from which the information comes, use your common sense, listen to your own body and don't let the latest nutrition newsflash throw you.
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This article is intended for informational purposes only. Nothing in this publication is intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical diagnosis and advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or health-care provider before starting any new diet or procedure involving your health. Prompt professional medical guidance is recommended for any health problem.