Besides exercise, the other important aspect in obtaining optimal health is nutrition. This is what we eat. It is important to eat whole natural food, the food our bodies were meant to eat.
The food we eat today is essentially dead. It is void of the nutrients that are needed to sustain life. Our food has changed a great deal since the introduction of farming and grains some 10,000 years ago. However, there have been no major changes in our DNA in more than that time. This means that our bodies have not yet adapted to eat this kind of diet. There are basically eight changes to our diet that detrimentally affect our health: (Colgan, Nutrition For Champions, 2007)
The food we eat today is essentially dead. It is void of the nutrients that are needed to sustain life. Our food has changed a great deal since the introduction of farming and grains some 10,000 years ago. However, there have been no major changes in our DNA in more than that time. This means that our bodies have not yet adapted to eat this kind of diet. There are basically eight changes to our diet that detrimentally affect our health: (Colgan, Nutrition For Champions, 2007)
- Introduction of cereal grains and processed carbohydrates;
- Introduction of animal husbandry;
- Introduction of refined sugar;
- Introduction of salt;
- Introduction of processed vegetable oils;
- loss of fiber;
- loss of micronutrients;
- Increased Acidity
Early 20th century studies by Price and Pottinger has shown that the hunter gatherer diet to be the most beneficial in maintaining life and health. (Schmid, 1997) The food we eat needs to be whole and natural as nature intended it. We should avoid foods that come in packages. Instead we should make our own foods using natural organic and macrobiotic ingredients. These are grown locally when the season allows, and are free of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and other unnatural food additives. It makes no sense to buy organic apples in the USA that were grown in New Zealand. These may be free of pesticides, but nearly all the nutritional value has been lost during the time of cold storage required to ship it, and they were most likely picked to soon to achieve the maximum nutritional value. When possible eat food directly from the source.
Schmid, R. N. (1997). Traditional Foods Are Your Best Medicine. Rochester: Healing Arts Press.
4 comments:
What is you opinion on the competing dietary approaches; 1) paleo, 2) what used to be known as Sears (higher protein with less emphasis on carbs - Phil Mafatone inspired) or 3)the standard endurance diet with heavier emphasis on carbs, less fats, protein? All have their proponents and are used by successful athletes. No sugar, no wheat, foods of certain acidity.... sometimes I get to thinking that in certain instances, there is a lot of opinion and no science to certain claims. Opinions?
I could write a whole blog post on that subject alone. In fact, I will be covering it detail in my upcoming book. My preference in a modified Paleo diet. That is what works for me. The bottom line is that we need to remember we are all individuals. Some people have fat feet, some people have skinny feet, some people do well on high carbs, other on protein.
There is a lot of science behind what foods to eat. when it comes to the three Macronutrients, you need to remember that you need carbohydrates, you need fat, and you need protein. The catch is to have high quality of each and avoid the processed foods.
I am currently writing a series on proteins on my blog http://holisticsportsnutrition.blogspot.com/
I will also try to post these here
Great reading on your blog http://holisticsportsnutrition.blogspot.com/ I recommend reading it for every athlete whether you agree with Wayne's conclusions or not. I have been supplementing with Whey Isolate (which is a much better choice than whey concentrate although a bit more expensive) for about 5 years now and think it probably helps avoid muscle catabolism (the body using muscle as fuel) from hard extended efforts. I would be interested in hearing about your modified paleo diet. My first rule of thumb is usually, "Eat real food", the more unprocessed the better. Start with ingredients that resemble the food in its natural form and go from there.
I agree with both accounts.
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