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Super Foods Eating Right for the Healthy Homo Sapiens
Wouldn’t life be simple if all the foods available today were good for us? The truth is that some are very good for us; while others are much worse. Food just isn’t like it used to be. More and more we are seeing the term “Super Food”. It is important to understand the word “super” as it is used in the world of nutrition. Even the “Man of Steel” wouldn’t be able to hop across the street if he didn’t pay attention and read nutrition and ingredient labels. For this discussion, Super Foods are foods that are loaded with nutrients and antioxidants (including phytonutrients) low in salt, high in fiber and usually lower in fat (I’ll explain this disclaimer later), and low on the processed-food scale.
Differences of Opinion: When you ask a hard-core Nutritionist about “Super Foods”, you are likely to get a stern look, a finger-wag, and the lecture, “All foods can be a part of a healthy diet…”. As a not-so-conventional Certified Health Educator/Nutrition Coach, I’d beg to disagree. I don’t believe partially hydrogenated oils, most candy, high fructose soft drinks, meats soaked in nitrates and nitrates, fatty-salty snack items, greasy-fatty meats, nor many of the high-fat-antibiotic-laden-hormone-injected dairy products on our grocery shelves or served in restaurants today should be part of a healthy homo sapiens diet. You and I are different—many folks don’t want to know about foods that are bad for them because it may indicate the need for a change.
Nutrition History: Hippocrates was born in 460 BC and died at the age of eighty-three. That’s better than the current predicted lifespan for most of us today, which according the 2004 CDC tables is just shy of seventy-eight years. There must have been some truth to his philosophy, “Let food be your medicine and your medicine be your food”. It is unfortunate the medical establishment of today knows and teaches so little about the importance of nutrition, digestion, and “diet”, since it is such a huge determinant of our health. In understanding the term “nutrient”, we have to remember that too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Too much sugar—which is a nutrient that is broken down for energy, creates fat. Most people look pretty good with the right amount of fat-in the right places. However, one of the major causes of diseases and death these days is too much fat. Yet, populations that get the majority of their fats from cold water fish or plants, which have “good” fats, are healthier than most. Another essential nutrient our bodies need is sodium, but too much sodium (salt) is not a good thing. For many individuals, even a tiny bit of salt can send their blood pressure through the roof, leading the way to heart attacks, kidney disease or strokes.
Don’t mess with Mother Nature: Over-processing of food robs even the hardiest and most nutritious food of any measurable amount of vitamins and minerals. Processing may take the form of heating, condensing, preserving, concentrating, or even pasteurizing. Anything that comes in a sealed box, can, bag, pouch, sack, or tube is suspect. Again, many conventional “Nutritionists” may disagree. So, now that we’ve eliminated 75% of the items in our cupboards, what’s left? Plenty! Sam Graci, author of “Super Nutrients”, says we need foods that are, “…the naturally occurring, nutrient-dense foods Nature has provided for millennia—of course, grown in sunlight and infused with the energy of soil and rain…(including) fruits, wild greens, nuts, seeds, vegetables, sea veggies, herbs, fish, fowl, wild lean animals, berries, and roots”. The USDA (our “authority” on nutrition in this country—who is also in charge of promoting meat and dairy products) lists many selections we should be familiar with: broccoli, oranges, bananas, spinach, beans, tomatoes, dark green leafy, dark yellow veggies and berries of any sort. These bright green, orange and red and yellow selections offer a host of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients—all essential to our healthy homo sapiens diet.
Good Chocolate: Stick with dark. It’s loaded with flavonoids. Just a pinch or two will do. (Good luck)
Wine: The question, “Is wine good for my health?” has finally been answered, and the answer is “Maybe”. Many wines have an abundance of the antioxidant resveratrol (especially red and muscadine varieties), which are still being studied for its anti-cancer, anti-aging, anti-inflammatory properties. But questions remain—which wine is best and how much is enough or too much. We know alcohol kills brain cells and is a major cause of liver disease…and doesn’t grape juice provide the same benefit? We have just scratched the surface on what mysterious super-nutrients lie hidden in the purely-natural plant world. For years, the American Heart Association has recommended a minimum of five fruits and vegetables a day, (but try for nine or ten). Since the majority of the population has three or fewer a day, which usually includes French fries and canned tomatoes, any increase would be super!
Nuts and Whole Grains: Many nuts would qualify as Super foods—containing large amounts of healthy fats, folic acid, niacin and vitamins E and B6, and minerals like magnesium, copper, zinc, selenium, phosphorus and potassium. The USDA now proclaims,“…eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease.” The key is to limit our consumption—and to limit or omit nuts with salt, cooked in oils, or dipped in candy. In addition to monosaturated and polyunsaturated fats and protein, whole grains have the bran and germ which provide us with an abundance of vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Try to eliminate refined (“Enriched”) grains from your diet and always ask for selections made with whole grains when you eat out!
The Bottom Line: If we’re lucky, we will continue to have great foods and food products introduced to us like pomegranates, kiwis, Gogi juice and a myriad of other offerings. Occasionally you will see the words “Super Food” applied to a food or product because of the expense in marketing, producing, or distribution or simply because it is new. However, don’t equate “cost” with “health benefit”; keep in mind the numerous long-time food items on the market that are loaded with benefits and won’t burst your bubble. Be sure you are getting a good supply of them first. There is no single food or beverage that will overcome an abundance of bad choices and poor lifestyle management. The most important Super-Cheap, Super-Nutrient has been around since time began and most of us get too little of it. Without it most life would perish in a matter of days. How many glasses of water have you had today? |
