Jan 30th, 2008
Food not Nutrients
I thought it would be fun to make my first post of 2008 a simple analysis of all my own idiosyncrasies when it comes to nutrition. From the few posts I’ve done since this blog began it may be apparent that I’m not your every-day food & nutrition-obsessed Dietitian. Rather, I prefer to look at nutrition and lifestyle in a more reasoned and conservative manner. Here are some little things I do, inadvertently or not, throughout my day which I feel promotes a healthy lifestyle:
- Eat salad with every possible meal. Admittedly, living with my girlfriend (now fiancé) has made this endeavour far more successful as preparing healthy food for more than one person seems easier than just for yourself. However, cooking for one is no excuse for skipping your leafy greens!
- Read food labels. As I mentioned in previous posts, there is an overabundance of certain nutrients out there such as sodium and omega 6 fatty acids. It is not a cliché to say information is power. The more you know about the food you eat the more appropriate and healthy your purchases will be. However, as I’ll mention later on , do not obsess about nutrients. Be aware of them, account for them, but don’t lose yourself in the details.
- Fibre it up. William Shatner may be an anachronistic TV hack however he’s also promoting the truth. If given the opportunity I’d happily endorse All Bran bars as well (if anyone from Kellogg is reading this email me). Fibre is such an understated nutrient. It’s health benefits are as impressive as they are varied such as promoting regularity, managing cholesterol and helping achieve weight loss. And I’ll always remember “The Colon Talk” my class was given in high school. Having your Biology teacher extol the virtues of eating fibre for a healthy colon is really quite a memorable experience.
- Fidget… a lot. It is in my nature to tap my feet and bob my knee up and down when sitting. I also shuffle around a lot when doing standing work and I have a relatively fast walking pace. If you don’t have these oddities, well, then that’s a shame. Because research has shown that fidgeting and fast walking can account for significant energy expenditure if performed chronically. Take that you calm and even-tempered Bohemians!
- Whenever possible, take the stairs. I find the “path of least resistance” phenomenon fascinating. Have you ever stopped in a mall or office building where there are stairs and an escalator side by side but the escalator is “slightly” closer to the herd’s path? Invariably everyone will take the escalator, even if it means waiting in line to get on. This phenomenon occurs with little awareness and a lot of herd mentality. Break the cycle I say! Taking stairs is an excellent way to get a bit of exercise and it may even get you to the top faster.
- Lastly, water. Drink… your…. water. Maintaining adequate hydration through water and not juice or pop keeps your cells and organs happy and healthy.
So that is some of the philosophy I follow in my daily routine of life. An interesting juxtaposition to my apparent simplification of lifestyle is that I actually see nutrition as being far more complex and mysterious than most people do (probably due to my chemistry background). Sure, I adhere to the above principals (which incidentally match Canada’s Food Guide rather well) yet my lifestyle focuses on FOOD and not specific nutrients; and food is inherently complex. My answer to addressing the complexity is, well, to acknowledge it and then simplify. Following ideals like the Food Guide addresses the intricacies of food without getting bogged down in the details, which so many people seem to do.
Further, as I eluded to in my post on “Super Foods”, I feel it is more important to know what types of food you eat rather than focus on what specific nutrients you consume. I’m not saying this isn’t important of course. To know which foods are high in Omega 3 vs. 6 Fatty Acids is crucial to helping maintain a balanced diet that covers all your bases. However, focusing on single nutrients can be rather daunting and, well, distracting in my opinion. People who fixate on these are missing the larger picture; which is the amazing power of whole foods.
For example, take Vitamin C. Without this tasty vitamin you would basically bleed to death… if your body didn’t disintegrate first (Vit C is key to keeping your connective tissues, well, connected). Now, I hear of people downing Vitamin C pills or consuming high Vitamin C products in their diet because they feel it can treat colds or ease constipation. Regardless of whether these assertions are true, focusing on single nutrients in this way is unnecessary and detracts from a more holistic point of view. Instead of wasting your money why not have…. some green pepper? Or heck even a plain old orange? The beauty of foods such as these is that they have MORE than simply vitamin C. They have fibre, folate, minerals, and antioxidants which, together, represent high nutrient density. Quite simply, a pill will never exceed the nutritional versatility of whole foods.
To emphasize my point, here are some examples of nutrients that people may obtain unnecessarily from pills:
B Vitamins – Think you need B6 for depression or if you’re a girl for your PMS? Instead of popping pills, try cooking some chicken or eating a banana. B6 can be found naturally in many sources of food
Vitamin E – Taking this to help your heart? Well, first you better stop because Vit E supplementation may actually be dangerous, especially if you smoke! Secondly, why not eat some seeds or nuts as tasty snack?
Lutein and Zeaxanthin – If don’t know what these are and/or can’t pronounce them don’t worry, just stop getting it from pills and eat some eggs or carrots!
Zinc – Taking zinc to fight a cold? Why not eat some beef instead? Or if you’re vegetarian and you eat legumes then you’ll get more than enough zinc to meet your needs
The Catch
As is typically the case for such a long winded opinion article, there are some small caveats to things I’ve written here. Recent research is trending towards the belief that certain nutrients have high requirements coupled to a lack of availability from contemporary food sources. Indeed our vitamin D requirement may be higher than previously established, especially for people of northern latitude such as in Canada. Unfortunately it can be challenging to obtain sufficient amounts of vitamin D with a balanced contemporary diet. As such, supplementation may prove to be inevitable. Unless of course you are like the Inuit and like eating a LOT of animal offal.