HOW FOOD HAS CHANGED
Last week, I wrote about food allergies and the immune response. It's worth taking a look at the ways in which our food supply has changed over the centuries, the ways in which we can optimize our eating, and understand the way our bodies respond to the foods available today.
In the beginning, we hunted and gathered our food. Geography and season dictated what we ate. People in northern climates ate berries in the summer and nuts in the winter. People in southern climates ate differently. We ate what was available around us. Our concrete, physical dependence on the earth for survival was more direct than it is for many of us today. Today, we can ship foods quickly and efficiently from one hemisphere to another regardless of the season. New Englanders never would have dreamed of being able to eat an apple in the springtime.
We evolved from hunting and gathering and developed agriculture which allowed families and tribes to stay in one place more. There are multiple theories about why we started farming. One theory is that farming evolved as a result of an abundance of food, which allowed time for things other than hunting and gathering, and the leisure to experiment with plants. Another theory is that farming resulted in response to food scarcity – it was the result of overpopulation, exploitation of natural resources, a changing climate, and the need to supplement foraged diets. It was, by some measures, easier to plant food, to control where it grew, to know what was readily available than to have to find where the seeds happened to fall.
Farming has changed A LOT in the past few centuries. Family farms are few and far between, though I consider myself extremely lucky to live in Maine where we have a strong organic farmers association and many people who are passionate about growing quality food on a small scale. The 1950s ushered in the age of industrialized agriculture, with a focus on growing as much food as possible as inexpensively as possible. With this transition to industrialized agriculture came the practices of using pesticides, treating animals with antibiotics, and feeding animals with corn as opposed to allowing them to graze upon the landscape.
The Standard American Diet, also known as SAD, reflects the shift from small-scale farming to industrialized agriculture, and with it, the over-consumption of red meat, high-fat dairy products, processed food, fast food, refined carbohydrates, added sugars, added salt, and lots of calories. The SAD is deficient in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats. The SAD diet, combined with the increase in sedentary lifestyle, is a significant contributor to chronic disease and illnesses in this country.
Most of us know that caring for an older car, as opposed to a new car, requires more care. As cars age or any machine ages for that matter, they don’t run as efficiently. Belts get tired, filters need to be cleaned, tires need replacement. Our bodies are not dissimilar! As we age, our bodies, our machines, run less optimally and require increased levels of support to function efficiently. While a half a tank may have been enough for us to run on in our twenties, by our fifties, a half a tank often does not do.
The food with which we fuel our body is central to how our machines run: Better food, better performance. Let’s break it down further.
What do I mean by ‘better food?’
I mean food that comes from the Earth – food that we could hunt or gather – food without a package and a list of ingredients. A variety of foods that come in a variety of colors.
What do I mean by ‘better performance?’
I mean fewer aches and fewer pains, normal bowel movements, clear cognitive function, smooth skin, less fatigue, less depression, less anxiety, and balanced hormones.
I am always surprised when a woman is surprised by how profoundly the food she eats affects how she feels. We so rarely consciously experiment and pay attention. We can learn so much. Food is our first medicine and we want it to be of the highest quality we can access and afford. Food provides us with the biochemical substrates necessary to drive every physiologic function in our body, from making cellular energy, to making hormones, to making our brains function. If we don’t get the right nutrients to make the necessary substrates, the machine simply cannot run at peak performance.
So, what exactly is best for us to eat?
I’ll start by saying there is no one ‘best’ food or diet for everybody. Each of us is physiologically unique. One-size-fits-all approaches to nutrition have profound limitations. Some people have cured cancer by adhering to a macrobiotic diet, while others have been in the emergency room due to malnutrition resulting from a macrobiotic diet. There are, however, a few general principles that apply universally, in my opinion, and they follow.
Eat a lot of vegetables. Vegetables are rich in phytonutrients – molecules that prevent disease. Vegetables are the best source of fiber. Fiber fuels the cells in the colon. This ensures a healthy microbiome, which minimizes inflammation, which protects and supports our immune systems. Fill half your plate with vegetables at every meal, even breakfast when possible.
Eat foods that are a variety of colors. Those colors are indicators of different phytonutrients. See above. Rinse. Repeat.
Be mindful of your carbohydrate intake. Limit or eliminate simple carbohydrates like processed foods, bread, muffins, cereal, bagels, pretzels, white rice, and white potatoes. And booze. Carbohydrates convert to sugar in the bloodstream and too many can result in insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, midsection weight gain, inflammation, and all the downstream consequences of excessive carbs. Complex carbohydrates like brown rice, sweet potatoes, and squash are better than simple carbohydrates like white rice, white potatoes, and baked goods made with white flour.
Eat plenty of protein, be it animal or plant-based. Nuts, seeds, and beans are good sources of plant-based protein, minerals, and omega 3 fatty acids. Eat them every day and as many different kinds as you enjoy.
The one thing I advise people to never, ever, ever consume are artificial sweeteners. They have been shown to cause cancer in laboratory animals and they are at least inflammatory for humans. I can’t count the number of women whose IBS resolved by eliminating Splenda. Use small amounts of honey or maple syrup when needed.
And one last guiding principle: Mix it up! Avoid eating the same thing every day. Eating a variety of foods ensures the consumption of a variety of nutrients. If you only ever eat an orange, you never get what blueberries have to offer. We want as many different nutrients from as many different foods as we can get.
Have a ‘nervous stomach'? Get ‘butterflies in your belly’? Next week’s blog, Who’s In Charge Here?, explores the gut-brain connection.
This series of “doable” weekly-ish installments, focused on gut health and immunity, is designed to help you understand the ways in which your defenses might be down and your overall health degraded. It’s meant to empower you to act in measurable and realistic ways. In the middle of a global crisis, you can take it upon yourself to get stronger. I want to help you understand your vulnerabilities and suggest ways you can realistically improve your health. Chances are, these are changes your body has been asking you to make for a while now.