This is the question. Many of us believe that a healthy diet is common knowledge. Common because the govenment has made it so, with their food pyramid charts gracing most health clinics and scientific literature. The problem with this is that the government is not in receipt of the most cutting edge of nutritional science data. But eventually the small groups of nutrition savvy researchers have enough of their works published that eventually they infiltrate the mainstream, which in turn affects a change in the science that regular folk read in our papers and see in our hospitals. The problem is, there is a lag. And in the meantime a generation of folk will be riding on the old bandwagon, afraid to get off when they are exposed to small and what seems contradictory news about what foods constitute health. It is all very interesting to see a generation of people advocating for brown rice and whole grains, looking down their noses at their parents who are still eating white bread, and believing whole heartedly that they are the pinnacle of health. These people do not recognise that there is a connection between what they eat and their sub-optimal health. They will use statements such as: "I am healthy" and "I eat a healthy diet", yet never consider that there is something better, and all the while continue to catch the seasonal flu each winter, and a cold or two besides. They still suffer from hayfever and eczema, and perhaps some other allergies. They continue to have achey joints when it is cold and gum disease periodically.
I think another pertinent question that ought to be considered, perhaps even before the one above, is "What consitutes good health?" and then we can work out from here. Presently there are many conflicting ideas about what constitutes a good diet, and I shall be working to distill some of this information here on this blog and perhaps reveal some answers.
No comments:
Post a Comment