What’s the healthiest diet?

One of the most confusing areas of human health is what to eat to create a health, happy body.   There are billions of dollars spent each year in marketing and promoting the latest diet and the food and supplement industries are ever expanding to produce convenience food-like substances for our sensory pleasure.  

So how do we know if Veganism, Paleo, Low Carb or any of the other multitude of ways eating are appropriate for us?    The labelling is quite divisive;  a way to create ‘movements’.  What’s important is what food/drink is being consumed, where it originates from, nature or a lab, and how suited to our human biology it is.  A Vegan with a processed, fried, sugar and alcohol ladened diet is no healthier than a carnivore who eats convenience meals, snacks and takeaways.

Science plays an important role in popularising the latest ‘fads’ but as we know science is constantly discovering new ’edges’ and disproving previously held theories and beliefs.  A Nutritional Therapist can support you in transitioning your diet.

All species have a ‘natural diet’, one that they are biologically adapted to eat.   When we look at non-human mammals we notice that, without exception their diet is raw, uncooked - we have never witnessed a lion BBQ their prey before eating it, nor a cheetah for that matter.   Their physiology is also suited to the diet they eat, for instance, horses and cows, are herbivores who graze on grass or hay all day long, have elongated necks which allow them to reach their food on the ground, multiple stomachs for alkaline digestion and multi-directional jaws to be able to ‘chew the cud’.   Giraffes are biologically adapted with longer necks so they can nipple away at leaves on tall trees.  

Birds are omnivores with beaks to allow them to peck up worms from the soil,  or seeds, with a wide opening to catch flies and an acid digestive system to break down meat.

Our nearest relatives, we are told, are primates who are frugivores, with a diet of over 65% fruit, some seeds, nuts, berries, sweet vegetables and herbs.  Supplementing very occasionally with honey and in very minute quantities  (<2%) with insects.  Their digestive system is alkaline, like ours, their teeth are primarily for chewing and grinding, they walk upright on 2 legs and have hands for picking, peeling and tearing.

What all animals who live in their own habitat have in common is they eat from nature, no burgers, sushi or pizza delivery and no processed foods.  

Since the mid 1950s the human diet has changed dramatically becoming increasingly more processed, denatured and genetically modified.  In the same timespan the deterioration of human health has resulted at an alarming scale. 

- natural sugars in the form of glucose/fructose in their simplest form in order to provide our energy, brain and nerve function,  

- amino acids in their simplest form to provide the structure and substance of our muscles, tendons and bones.  Protein is complex amino acid structures that have to be broken down into their original simple form stripping nutrients from our body in the process and robbing our energy

- natural fats for brain function and protect our cells and organs

All three of the above are found abundantly in raw fruit and vegetables, are impacted by cooking and when interfered with by man, for instance, genetically modified, hybridised, sprayed with chemicals or created in a laboratory.  Some people find the support of a Wellbeing Coach an essential aspect of understanding how their body functions.

A diet that closer mimics our primate relatives will detoxify the body from the acidic wastes produced by our processed and cooked food diet, provide more energy, greater concentration and could even alleviate many of the medical challenges we encounter from ‘convenience’ eating.     If you require help with food, or any other addictions, a session of Access Bars energy medicine could create the necessary change.

So the diet ‘label’ that we use is much less important to consider than unpacking what it actually is that we are building our body with.