Healthy eating is simple
I loved this article on Eating Made Simple at Scientific American. It’s just one more voice in the chorus of experts who agree that a plant-based diet is the way to go if you want to take care of your body. The author, Marion Nestle (a nutrition professor), cuts to the chase in the first paragraph:
Yes, nutrition advice seems endlessly mired in scientific argument, the self-interest of food companies and compromises by government regulators. Nevertheless, basic dietary principles are not in dispute: eat less; move more; eat fruits, vegetables and whole grains; and avoid too much junk food.
The article goes on to discuss meat, dairy, organics, and some other important topics. Read more to challenge your food choices.
Interesting that you post this as I was thinking of writing a blog talking about the “difficulty” of eating healthily.
The article you link to is excellent. It highlights some dramatic facts:
- 3900 calories consumed per day in America whereas daily recommended limit is 2500 for men. A modern plague.
- supermarkets display as much as they can to encourage shoppers to buy what they didn’t intend to. I understand this is business but when I compare it to people like Pacific Islanders who go out and fish enough to feed the community each day and do not waste, I can’t help being alarmed. Yesterday again I popped to the supermarket at the end of the day and I saw countless packages of ham and pork pies on the “reduced to clear” shelf. We create a world of waste.
- I got confused by what is referred to as “conventional agriculture”. When I first read it I thought automatically of organic agriculture as conventional but no, I was wrong, conventional is seen as involving treatment of some sort. Shocking how perception has been manipulated…
Definitely one to bookmark. Thanks for sharing it!
Great points, Celine. It’s important to remember that food manufacturers do not have our best interests at heart!
And you’re right about “conventional agriculture” being somewhat confusing. For whatever reason, this term has basically come to mean “agriculture which isn’t organic”. As if humans had been spraying crops with chemicals since the beginning of time…