Keys to a healthy diet

Hey all!

This blog post will be a pretty general overview of keys to a healthy diet, hope you enjoy! (And again, feel free to comment or critique!)

Studies indicate the importance of; replacing saturated and trans-fats with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, increasing omega-3 consumption and eating more fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Foods with a high glycemic load, large quantities of quickly digested carbohydrates, should be reduced. Our physiologies are adapted to this diet, which is consistent with a pre-agriculture diet. Hunter-gatherers ate only natural foods high in lean protein, fibre and nutrients. They did not eat refined grains or sugar, aside from occasionally honey.

Calorie consumption and exhaustion has also been important in human history; hunter-gatherers led extremely active lives. In contrast, today our intake and expenditure ratios are increasing. Our cravings for high-calorie, fatty, or high sugar foods is from our ancestors who sought them for increased survival. Our bodies are adapted for sporadic bouts of sparse and abundant food availability; this is why fat stores, which were once advantageous, have become detrimental to today’s populations. Today, calorie-dense food is easily accessible- as a result, most people die of calorie-excess related problems.

We are genetically adapted to live very active lives; our current sedentary lifestyles combined with our intake of grains and hormone induced foods are maladaptive. Our current lifestyles and diets are leading to diabetes, metabolic syndrome, obesity, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and the list goes on at faster and faster rates. Fitness programs along with a healthy diet are vital for our well-being and health. Weight loss is determined by our net calorie intakes; diets higher in fat and protein increase satiety compared to high-carbohydrate diets and would be beneficial for decreasing calorie consumption. Growing evidence shows that macronutrient, e.g. fat, protein and carbohydrate, balance with low glycemic loads along with daily exercise are vital for weight management and general health. Polyunsaturated fat, monounsaturated fat, trans-fat and alkalinity are important concepts which should be actively incorporated into our diets (via addition or removal).

Stay tuned for a discussion on; polyunsaturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fatty acids, trans-fats and blood pH.

Jen

Cordain, L., Eaton, S., Sebastian, A., Mann, N., Lindeberg, S., Watkins, B., O’Keefe, J., and Brand-Miller, J. (2005) Origins and evolution of the Western diet: health implications for the 21st century. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 81, No. 2, pp 341-354.