by Garden Gerty

Created on: September 03, 2008

Does Diet Matter?

This is a very broad question. Does diet matter for what, or in what way? At one time we were taught that a calorie was a calorie, was a calorie. You can get calories from carrots or you can get them from chocolate, just do not get too many of them and you will be fine, fit, and healthy. There are still people who believe that, and eat nutritionally empty calories, and manage to be thin, and appear healthy, but are sabotaging and poisoning their bodies. Does it matter what fuel you put in your car? Yes, it does. When operated with a good quality fuel of the proper octane, your car runs further and better. It lasts longer. The same is true for your body. Food, your diet, is your fuel.

Every day we make dietary choices. We choose drinks that have no or few calories, chemical coloring, chemical sweetening and water. Your body needs the water, but not the chemicals. A calorie free beverage might be a favorite tea, instead. Or water, with a squeeze of fruit juice. Instead of chemicals that pollute your body, either of these choices will give you antioxidants that fight disease and provide energy to your cells. We choose grain based foods that are made from wheat that has been processed to the point of being white paste. It makes our pancreas churn out insulin. It raises our energy level and then causes us to crash. A better choice would be grain based foods that have fiber and germ retained. One might point out that grain products are enriched, and fortified, and therefore must be healthy, but that would be missing the point. Grains that are left whole are metabolized more slowly. There is more chewing satisfaction, more fullness it has the effect of more satiety. Chewing the food longer also increases the bioavailability of the naturally occurring nutrients that were there in the first place. Why settle for second best? Our diet would be healthier and more satisfying if we processed it less. The latest research is telling us that what we do to fats, which are necessary to use some vitamins, is killing us. Trans fats clog our arteries, and kill our heart tissue. Corn, a naturally sweet vegetable, is being chemically processed to be a weight magnet known as high fructose corn syrup. Avoiding those two things in our diets would greatly add to longevity for a broad cross section of society, but they are pervasive. Check your food labels, those two culprits are everywhere.

Diet does matter. It makes a difference in our energy levels, our moods, and our longevity. It is a key component that is within our control to benefit our overall health.

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