By Kim Marquardt, RN MSN
This blog post is from the Nurse Kim archives of myth busting. I want to share some "alternative" or maybe just lesser known health and wellness viewpoints for you to chew on.
*These posts are not intended as official medical advice.
They ARE meant to be fun, informative, and thought provoking, hopefully sparking an interest for you to do your own research (you can start with the links I provide!) and discover the marvels of the human body, and how it can function at its optimal performance level if we understand how it works and interacts with our environment and our diet.
I have a passion for health and wellness through lifestyle and nutrition and have done thousands of hours of research in addition to being a registered nurse for 23 years. I have done A LOT of self-experimentation in and around diet, lifestyle, body care, and supplementation and have spent a lot of time looking into the science behind it all (or lack thereof!). Check back weekly for the latest post!
-----
Well this is a cheerful blog title isn't it?
Maybe not, but necessary to discuss I think. I just want you to gaze for a minute or two at the Pew Research graphic accompanying this blog post and really digest (pun intended) what foods are likely contributing to our modern chronic illness epidemic and those that likely aren't.
I'll give you a hint, some of the ones we have drastically reduced since 1970 are probably some things we should go back to eating and some of the ones we have drastically increased, probably need to go far far away.
Beef, Milk, and Eggs
Beef milk and eggs are some of the most nutrient dense foods on the plant. Broccoli does not hold a candle to beef and eggs in essential nutrients. Plus the nutrients in animal foods are
more bioavailable (easier for the body to absorb and use) than plant foods.
If you were born "back in the 1900's" as my kids would say, you likely grew up eating these things. When the
US government came out in the late 1970's and said we should start eating lots of grain products and other processed foods, that's when things started to fall apart, namely, our health.
"Vegetable" Oils
So let's talk about some more of the things on the Pew graphic. Margarine is one of the things I am thrilled to see we have reduced national consumption of. The reason being, margarine is a fake fat made of "vegetable" seed oils. Vegetable in quotes because as I have discussed in numerous previous posts, vegetable oils have nothing to do with vegetables and are not food for humans. Before the early 1900's, we had no means of chemically processing oils out of seeds so these are incredibly ancestrally inconsistent with anything we have ever consumed and cause massive inflammation and other problems in the body.
Unfortunately they are used in EVERY processed food product on the market and used by all restaurants and fast food establishments because the government tells us to eat them to avoid saturated fat. Bad advise.
As you see on the right side of the Pew graphic, we have indeed heeded this bad advise and drastically increased our consumption of what they are calling "cooking oils," i.e., "vegetable" seed oils. This single marker in my opinion is the number one factor that is harming our health as a nation.
Seed oils not only exacerbate inflammation due to being high in Omega 6 linoleic acid (the compound responsible for eliciting an inflammatory response in the body), but they are also full of oxidized molecules that steal oxygen off other molecules and cause
oxidative stress. They are especially oxidized when used in high heat cooking, which is exactly what they are used for.
Corn and Chicken
Now let's pick on corn and chicken. Americans have drastically increased their consumption of corn and the reason is not because we are having more backyard barbeques than ever and chomping on fresh corn on the cob. The vast majority of processed food products are made from GMO corn, soy, and grains. These crops are mass produced and subsidized by the US government. While they indeed feed the masses, they are also making us sick.
GMO food product grown via mono cropping depletes and destroys the nutrient compounds in the soil and is responsible for
10% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Some of these emissions come from livestock that are inhumanely raised on factory farms (whereas sustainable farms with grass grazing animals have a negative carbon footprint), but nitrous oxide, from agricultural fertilizer application has a direct negative impact on the environment. These crops are also COVERED in agrochemicals to keep wildlife from eating them. And it is very effective, only then, we feed them to humans.
Now I'll pick on chicken. Chicken is a monogastric animal (with only one stomach) so unlike cows (with multiple stomachs) who turn grass into essential fatty acids and protein, chickens are what they eat. If they eat garbage, you eat garbage when you eat them. Most chickens in the US are raised in inhumane conditions, pumped with hormones and antibiotics, and fed GMO grains and corn. There's that corn again. Chicken is also high in Omega 6, and if you remember from above, Omega 6 is responsible for inflammation in the body.
So what's the moral of the story?
Absolutely #1 - stop eating "vegetable" seed oils as much as possible. There are
companies now catching on to this so check your labels or search for food that doesn't contain them. Cook in animal fats like butter, ghee, or lard or
fruit oils like avocado, coconut, or palm oil.
#2 - eat real, one-ingredient foods in favor of processed food. This might be boring at first but I assure you, not having a chronic health problem like diabetes or heart disease is a good kind of boring.
#3 - prioritize animal protein. If you are vegetarian, consider eggs, raw dairy, and fish. Choose beef or other
ruminant animals over chicken.
It's been a while since I blogged so thanks for letting me get extra ranty today. Until next time my friends!
Comments
Post a Comment