This article will cover the basics of good nutrition and present guidelines on the healthiest way to eat. I am not a scientist and not particularly interested in the science of food. I am interested in practical applications and common sense thinking.
This article will have some basic definitions and some scientific jargon but mostly be about common sense.
1: the act or process of nourishing or being nourished; specifically : the sum of the processes by which an animal or plant takes in and utilizes food substances.
This definition makes me think that there is a good nutrition and bad nutrition. Common sense tells me that if I add good nutrients to my body I will feel good and if I add bad nutrients I will feel bad which is usually the case.
When I think about the healthiest way to eat I think of good nutrition. Good nutrition is eating natural, mostly whole food products such as fruits and vegetables because the fruits and vegetables in their raw state have the most nutrients that you can get from a food. More vegetables than fruits is recommended as fruits have more sugar. You can learn more about sugar here. Raw nuts are a great source of fiber and protein.
If you like to eat animal products you should look for animals that are fed properly. Cows do not digest grains, they eat grass. That is all they are designed to eat. Find a good healthy grass fed cow if you are going to eat them. The same goes for chicken and fish. Make sure the animal is healthy before you eat it. This is just common sense.
Cooking a food generally destroys some of the elements of the food like vitamins and enzymes. A few plants like cruciferious vegetables should be cooked to make them palatable and release some nutrients but most plants can be eaten raw for the best nutritional value.
We have a lot of food choices and since the 1950s the food industry has come up with some very clever ways to produce more combinations of foods and chemicals that last longer and don’t kill us right away. These food products are processed and have plenty of non-food items in them.
The disinformation industry is big business. This industry is used by big corporations who are trying to sell you their products, fake experts, fake news and government organizations just to name a few.
A lot of the bad nutrition products are marketed with disinformation. A good example of this is the wheat industry. The wheat producers have told you for years that their whole grain product is heart healthy and must be included in a healthy diet. They have been running a massive disinformation campaign for many years. Read the book Wheat Belly for the whole scoop.
Do a search for high fructose corn syrup and the number one result is a site that tells you of the healthy benefits of the product. This product can not be found in nature like maple syrup can. This is a highly processed “food product”. Common sense tells me that if I can’t find it growing somewhere maybe I shouldn’t eat it.
I agree with the author Michael Pollen who states in his book In Defense of Food. “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
This is a common sense approach that is also backed up with scientific evidence and is a healthy way to eat.
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