Nutrition, Evolution, and Having a Healthy Diet

Nutrition has everything to do with health.  This isn't news, exactly, but looking around at the crazy information on the market, one wonders if anyone actually makes the connection: what you eat affects how you feel.  It's that simple.  Your health depends on the food choices you make in both the short and long term. 

Take a pill, and all you've done is treat a symptom.  Change your eating habits, and create a lasting change in your well-being.  There are so many approaches to eating, however, and so much conflicting information that it's come down to this simple question: does whatever you're eating right now make sense?

Well, sense isn't common, and it does depend on some good information.  So here is something to consider: what kind of foods are humans evolved to eat?  Cheetos?  Don't think so.  That's a no-brainer, but what about some others that we counted as healthy staples until recently, like bread and pasta.  Go way back in your imagination, to hunter gatherer days - before agriculture and the obesity which followed for the first time among humans - and consider what would be part of our ancestors' normal diet.  If you're about to pop something into your mouth that wasn't around before agriculture, (a relatively recent development in human history), then eat it knowing it's not considered a 'normal' food by your body.  Foods your body considers 'normal' contribute to your health, other foods are either neutral or harmful.  How simple is that?

A well-known exploration of this concept that certain foods help our bodies thrive is Dr. Peter D'Adamo's book, "Eat Right 4 Your Type," in which he bases his lists of what to eat and avoid on blood type.  D'Adamo asserts that type O is the oldest type, and the newer A type didn't show up on the scene until agriculture.  So, Os should eat lots of meat and veg because that blood type doesn't know how to handle too much grain.  Type As can eat grain, but not dairy.  Dairy is a category reserved as a 'normal' food only for the yet more recent human blood type, AB.  (Maybe we'll evolve a new type that can handle Cheetos and red licorice, my personal favorite abnormal foods).

D'Adamo supports his blood-type theory with all kinds of careful research, and so what?  Does it make sense that humans should rely primarily on foods that occur naturally?  Absolutely.  If you're going to eat a grain like wheat then, eat it whole, or don't eat it at all, and don't eat much of it anyway because humans pretty much made wheat up!  I'm not going to take the, "Does it occur naturally?" debate too far, because it's time to look at another researcher's take on the food and evolution connection. 

Dr. Phillip Lipetz wrote "The Good Calorie Diet," a book for the weight loss market, but he also has supported his theories with all kinds of careful research.  His describes how the human response to starvation that was developed during the ice age carries on today.  Ironic, isn't it, that the food available to us today - rich and sweet and abundant - causes our bodies to behave as though starvation is at hand.

The short story for how this works is that up until the ice age, humans ate whatever was readily available, like roots, plants, fruit, and a little tasty carrion now and then.  Along came the ice ages, and those foods became scarce.  Now humans were forced to hunt, but it was dicey and the weapons were primitive, so spans of time occured between kills.  The result: our ancestors evolved ways to make the most of the conversion of excess blood sugar into stored nutrition in the form of body fat.  When they starved, they lived off stored fat.    

Today's diet mimics the ice age diet: high fat and high protein, and our genetic programming says, "Uh oh, we're facing starvation again.  Better store up some fat."  Lipetz goes into convincing detail about food combinations in his book.  He describes some that cause the creation of excess fat, such as butter on bread.  More useful are his combinations that actually inhibit fat formation, like lean meat with most vegetables.  In a society where obesity and its attendant health issues are rampant, these food combinations are helpful places to focus our attention.  Yet the single most useful bit to remember from his research is that foods which cause our bodies to create excess fat all have one thing in common: they weren't part of our ancestors' normal diet. 

Armed with this overview, next time you're about to pop something in your mouth - whether your focus is health or weight - you don't need to have a bunch of rules and whacky information in mind.  Just use common sense.  Ask whether it's a food that was around before the advent of agriculture.  If it was, go for it.  If it wasn't, then consider that your body won't consider the food 'normal,' and in both the long and short run, that's got health consequences.  

Judith Schwader earned a Master's degree in Education, and has written extensively on health and nutrition.  She has a background in social science and addressing chronic health conditions through nutrition.  Judith invites you to visit http://QandAHealth.com, an excellent resource for health. 

RELATED ARTICLES Understanding Vegetarianism Like the Sun, Moon, and Earth, there are three kinds of vegetarians in existence: ovo-lacto, a vegetarian that eats vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, seeds and nuts, as well as eggs and dairy products. Lacto, a vegetarian that eats everything the "ovo-lacto" does, except eggs. The Two Faces of Chlorine If you are like most people, you don't enjoy the taste of chlorine in your drinking water. Nevertheless, you're willing to put up with it because it kills certain bacteria that are harmful to your health. Fruits and Vegetables and Phytochemicals I'm willing to bet you probably haven't heard the word 'phytochemicals' before. But you've been eating them your whole life and they are vitally important to your life and well-being. The Five Keys to Healthy Eating 1. Enjoy what you eatWhether someone is following the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, the advice contained in Tom Venuto's e-Book, "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" or even a program of their own design, success depends on enjoying what you eat. REAL Summer Foods Fire ElementAccording to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) there are five elements that contribute to all activities: TREE / WOOD, FIRE, SOIL / EARTH, METAL and WATER.Fire is the element of summer ? so how can this help to put more of YOU in summer? The more you use EnergyRich Seasonal Foods (rather than associational season foods - a-hem like, maybe, ice-cream?), the more energy you have available for fun!Fire Foods - to Keep You Cool1. Gift of Health People want to get the very best they can when purchasing anything.They research all of the alternatives and select what they feel is the best suited for their needs whether a car, washer/dryer or a pet. The Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup High Fructose Corn SyrupBefore we get to high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), we will take a look at two other frequently used sweeteners, dextrose and maltodextrin.DextroseDextrose is more or less an industry term for glucose. Turn to Diet for Everyday Ailments The old cliché that you are what you eat is quite true. Many people suffer from certain health conditions that even though may not be cured, can be controlled through your diet. How To Treat and Prevent Low Carb Diet Headaches Strict "no carb" phases of low carb diets have developed a reputation for giving dieters severe headaches. Dietitians have identified a number of different factors that could cause these headaches. Fluoride in Drinking Water Are there any benefits to be obtained from drinking water that has Fluoride added? Well, the jury seems to be out, and they have been out for a very long time, without producing a satisfactory answer as to whether it is beneficial or harmful.Scientists have discovered that there is a Toxic interaction between Fluoride and Aluminium, which can lead to Alzheimer's Disease. TsuNoni - Green Tea Meets Noni East Meets WestAsian cultures have realized the medical benefits of green tea for centuries. Those who drank it lived longer, healthier lives. Water - The Natural Choice Proper hydration is extremely important during exercise. Adequate fluid intake for athletes, even the recreational kind, is essential to comfort, performance and safety. Bye Bye Holidays and Holiday Eating Bye Bye HolidaysHoping everyone had a fun, fantastic, exciting and relaxing mix of Holiday eventfulness or lack thereof. Whatever it was that you did, that it most suited your moods and needs. Four Important Nutrients - Vitamin E, Selenium, Sodium and Potassium - For Good Health Vitamin EThere has been a lot of controversy about vitamin E lately. In the news last month, the news media was pushing a story that "Vitamin E can cause you to die. Protein: Common or Missing Link? Most of us equate the word diet with calorie reduction. This is understandable, since most diet marketing is relentlessly focused on offering consumers low-calorie options. 5 Favorite Summer-Break Tips You can trust me that I make sure to take care to have as EnergyRich? a vacation as possible (why come back from vacation feeling bloated, a few pounds heavier, experiencing heartburn etc, right?). So I wanted to share my 5 favorite ways (food-wise and fun-wise) of making that happen!Food For Summer Vacation1. Nutritional Support in Critically Ill Patients The nutritional support in critically ill patients can be explained in 2 ways1.Enteral Nutrition2. Is Organic Really Better for You? I had finally come to a place in my life where I was concerned about my health and that of my family. After all, it's not the quantity, but the quality of life right? And if you can increase both, all the better! We started exercising, eating healthier and taking vitamins. Whats The Truth About Fat? When I hear the word fat I usually think of a roll of it hanging over a persons belt, or that guy Milty, from the movie Van Wilder, doing a belly flop off of the top diving platform with the words, "save the swim team", written across his backside. Sometimes, however, the picture of a big, juicy, double quarter pounder with cheese will slip its way into my mind. Glyconutrients What are Glyconutrients? Glyconutrients are eight newly discovered biologically-active sugars that are responsible for making up the structure of every body cell. First discovered in Aloe Vera, Glyconutrients are essential to good health.