“I Eat Pretty Healthy”

Diet Nutrition Food Perspectives

I hear the statement “I eat pretty healthy” time and time again when I discuss nutrition with people. The problem is, the choices most people make in diet/nutrition is based on limited knowledge and biased information sources.

T.S. Eliot once said, “Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?”

We are on information overload in our society.

We have a plethora of information available to us but it lacks depth. Not that information depth isn’t available, it simply takes more time and effort; something we seem to have much less of today. This is especially true when it comes to food and beverage issues, and education.

To make things worse, there are always those that will manipulate the information for secondary gain! What some call Perverted Capitalism

The information overload and the manipulation creates a great deal of confusion; which leads to cognitive dissonance, dissension and ultimately discord. Most of the time discussions and debates on diet and nutrition are based on false dichotomies and false narratives on both sides of the issue, thus leading to unyielding disagreements.

The actuality is that most foods we eat have some nutritional value.

However, if you want the best health bang for your buck you have to look at the pros and the cons of everything you consume.

For example, protein from animal products produce pro-inflammatory and toxic byproducts that are associated with cancer and other degenerative diseases; plant proteins do not.

Another example might include simple (refined/processed) carbohydrates which, because of processing and refining have low nutrient value, and are associated with; weight gain, inflammation, and high glycemic index, just to mention a few. However, (complex) carbohydrates, in unrefined, unprocessed whole plant-based foods are not associated with these negative attributes, and can actually help prevent, manage and reverse most degenerative diseases.

Whole food plant-based carbohydrates (carbs are found in all plant foods) have very little downside or toxic effect and actually help fight disease because of the fiber, antioxidant activity, and nutrients.
Simple carbohydrates and animal products lack these healthful attributes.

So, when you say you are eating pretty healthy, that might not all together be accurate!

Here’s where the rubber hits the road! What I mean by that last sentence is this: You have a choice… to make healthy decisions about the food you eat based on evidence-based information and critical open minded thinking, or remaining a pawn to a flawed system, driven by greed, one that plants seeds of confusion, and takes advantage of our weaknesses (gluttony, laziness, lust for food, makes us feel good).

We have to, as a society, come to realize that sometimes we are the victims of perverted capitalistic endeavors that brainwash us, manipulate us, influence us, propagandized us and condition us to believe that certain foods are good/healthy when they are not. Thus, because of the information overload and the confusion, we have a tendency to become complacent and submissive minions that no longer question the system.

I would implore you to pull yourself out of the disinformation quagmire that we’ve been exposed to over several generations, and dig a little deeper with a critical attitude, for objective information.

Additionally, realize we should not be divided! This is not about vegan versus omnivore, right versus left, its about health science, and consuming foods that to the best of our knowledge have the highest nutrient values, and consuming the less foods with the highest toxic/no-nutrient values.

A good place to start is Nutritionfacts.org by Michael Greger, MD.
Link: NutritionFacts.org