How Do You Know You're Getting
Good Nutrition?

Food is the third health essential after air and water. But how do you define good nutrition? How can you sort through the myriad opinions that you come across daily in women's magazines, newspaper articles and lifestyle television programs, not to mention the ever-expanding range of nutrition books in your local bookstore?

In the 21st century, not only is choosing what to eat confusing, but there are other factors that have a great bearing on our overall health. There's a whole range of environmental toxins to consider, not to mention the questionable modifications made to our foods to serve the interests of the marketplace. Then there are the problems inherent in importing foods from countries whose standards of health, especially in the areas of pesticides and food contaminants, are different from our own.

While it's tempting to throw up your hands and say, "I give up – I'll just eat whatever I like!", these concerns make being informed about good nutrition more important than ever.So let's start with the basics.

Without getting too heavily into the science of nutrition, traditional human diets include the following components:

• Carbohydrates
  
  Purpose: To provide the energy or fuel necessary for a variety of bodily processes. The heat or calories released by carbohydrates is used to facilitate digestion, including fat and protein metabolism, brain and nervous system functioning, and muscle movement.
  
  Sources: plants, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes and grains
  
  
• Protein
  
  Purpose: To provide building material for the body and thus maintain healthy tissues, bones, nerves and internal organs. Protein is broken down into amino acids, each of which has specific properties essential for maintaining health.
  
  Source: Animal products including meat and dairy, seafood, eggs, plants (in smaller quantities)
  
  
• Fats
  
  Purpose: To provide concentrated energy (twice the amount of carbohydrates) and supply essential nutrients. Fats also act as carriers for fat-soluble vitamins, protect and hold in place various organs, insulate the body and conserve body heat, prolong digestion to allow the absorption of nutrients, and promote healthy skin and muscles.
  
  Sources; animal fat, fish oils, vegetable oils, seed and nut oils
  
  
• Fiber
  
  Purpose: To maintain the digestive tract by exercising the internal muscles so that waste products are eliminated regularly.
  
  Source: Carbohydrate foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes and grains
  
  

• Vitamins
  
  Vitamins are organic substances that are essential in maintaining the body's health. Although they're found in both plants and animal products, many people prefer to cover all bases by purchasing them in supplement form from pharmacies and health food outlets.
  
  
• Minerals
  
  Minerals are inorganic substances that can be most easily absorbed by the body in chelated form. Dr Joel Wallach, author of the controversial book Dead Doctors Don't Lie, claims our bodies need 87 minerals every day to perform all the functions necessary to maintain good health.
  
  
• Water
  
  While there's no actual scientific evidence that you need to drink 8 glasses of water a day, this seems to be the magic number agreed up on most of the nutritionists we've studied. Others believe that you can cut down on that total by consuming more water-bearing foods such as fruits and vegetables.
  

• The High Protein Prophets:
  Lelord Kordel, Gaylord Hauser and Adele Davies wrote a number of best sellers in the 1960s and 1970s advocating high protein meat-based diets that included substantial amounts of carbohydrates. The exceptions were Robert Atkins and Herman Tarnower of Scarsdale Diet fame, both of whom had phenomenal success with their high protein/low carbohydrate diets.
  
  
• The Vegetarians
  Paul Bragg, Arnold Ehert, Paavo Airola and Bernard Jensen emphasized a semi-vegetarian diet based on whole grains. Many writers have published best sellers on both vegetarianism and raw food diets.
  
  
• The Hi Carb Camp
  The 1980s saw writers like Robert Haas promote high carbohydrate diets. The Haas diet was used to train athletes and the phrase 'carbohydrate loading' came into usage as a result. Heavy meat consumption fell out of favor and vegetarianism became more popular.
  
  
• Low Fat Diets
  The 1980s also saw an emphasis on fat free diets, and a large number of fat free foods were introduced into the market place. The result of these two developments – high carbohydrate and low fat programs – was an alarming increase in the girths of many citizens in affluent countries.
  
  
• The Low GI Gurus
  The late 1990s and early 21st century saw the rise in popularity of the Glycemic Index (GI). Robert Atkins came back into vogue, and Michel Montignac wrote a best seller called The French Diet: Why French Women Don't Get Fat. Good nutrition swung away from vegetarianism and back to red meat.
  
  
• Current Thinking
  Over the past five years, expert opinion has rescued carbohydrates from the 'sin bin' and encouraged the inclusion of small but regular amounts in each meal. Barry Sears' bestseller, The Zone Diet, offers one method of doing this. And the GI offers a way to evaluate your choices in terms of carbohydrates.
  

[click on image to see a larger one] The proportions are roughly as follows: Grains: 27% Vegetables: 23% Fruits: 15% Fats & Oils: 2% Milk & Dairy: 23% Meat & Beans: 10%

• How fresh is the food?
• Is it locally grown?
• Is it organic (pesticide free)?
• Is it overly processed (especially packaged foods)?
• Where does it rate on the Glycemic Index?
• How balanced are your meals (protein, carbs, fats and fibre in each meal)?
• Do you need supplements as well?

Art Dragon has created the food balance wheel as a simple way of understanding the food pyramid and other approaches to nutrition. His book is called Balanced Eating Made Easy with the Food Balance Wheel, and you can click on the graphic to read the reviews.

To grow your own fresh produce, check out these top quality seeds from Green Village Seeds.

> > Health Essential #4: Detoxification