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.

---

Fat Burning Compatible Foods

Fat burning compatible foods seem to be a popular topic... Read More

How Good Is Your Health?

It is a question we must ask ourselves continually if... Read More

The No 1 Reason Why Most Diets Fail & What to Do About It

How many times have you tried to diet/lose weight in... Read More

Whats That In My Food!

If you drop a bomb, you kill not only your... Read More

5 Ways to Get the Best Out of Radishes

They sit left behind on relish trays. They're often by-passed... Read More

Creating Your Target of Health

Creating Your Target is easy.What I use to help create... Read More

The Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup

High Fructose Corn SyrupBefore we get to high fructose corn... Read More

Are Your Cells Talking To Each Other?

Are Your Cells Talking To Each Other?Communication! It permeates our... Read More

How To Get Fit And Slash Your Health Insurance Costs

Okay, before we start, let me explain the purpose of... Read More

Nutrition, Evolution, and Having a Healthy Diet

Nutrition has everything to do with health. This isn't news,... Read More

Minerals, Minerals, Minerals

You are a mineral bodyEvery part of you is made... Read More

Nutrition - Its Whats Eating You That Counts

"It's not what you eat, it's what's eating you that... Read More

What Would You Think if I said that You could Overdose on Water?

You would probably think that I was writing a lot... Read More

Olive Oil, the Healthy Choice

Olive oil is a healthy choice over other fats such... Read More

Omega 3, Close to A Medical Miracle of our Century

OmegaRx Fish Oil, quoted as being close to a Medical... Read More

Facts About Virgin Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is less known compare to olive oil, corn... Read More

Healthy Eating Myths Destroyed

Some of the things you think you know that just... Read More

Bumble Bee Fish Oil - Do You Need It?

The makers of Bumble Bee Tuna generated some buzz today... Read More

Not All Protein is Created Equally

America's focus on nutritious eating began to receive national attention... Read More

Ever Hear of This Fruit?

I want to tell you about the most healthful and... Read More

5 Secrets of Reading Food Labels Revealed

Whether you're concerned about cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or simply... Read More

Cherries - A Natural Joint Pain Killer

Fruit Advantage Tart Cherry capsules are a nutritious, all-natural alternative... Read More

Why Many Fat Free Diets Do Not Work

Most people understand that it is wise to limit the... Read More

Take Back Your Life 5

In parts 1-4 of this series of articles titled "Take... Read More

Alkalize Your Way to Better Health

Today we're shifting our focus from wealth to health. First... Read More

Being Proactive With Your Health Decisions

In today's world, there's a definite need to be proactive... Read More

Refrigerator Water Filters vs. Bottled Water: Round 1

Water is the single most important element for human existence,... Read More

Is Chocolate A New Health Food?

Could it be possible that our beloved chocolate may actually... Read More

Understanding Nutrition

With the release of the new dietary guidelines, in the... Read More

Fattening Foods: Not So Fattening After All?

Have you seen those "fat free" foods in supermarkets? Have... Read More

Building Better Bones

"It is a bone-deep change you are going into, my... Read More

5 Tips To Lower Your Cholesterol

Cholesterol has been around for thousands of years. It's a... Read More

What Really Happens To The Food You Eat

After we have eaten a meal -- and often we... Read More