In recent years we have seen a rapid rise in the number of fad diets touted on the Internet. I am referring to things like the paleo diet, raw diet and blood-type diet. Whilst these solutions often contain some sensible advice re what we should consume, they are never based on 100% solid science.
I have been reading and researching nutrition a great deal over the last few months, ever since I decided to significantly increase the amount of fruit and vegetables in my diet (and indeed the diet of my children).
We have seen a massive rise in people consuming green smoothies and the like. I count myself among that number, but the liquids I am currently including in my regime are starting to alter somewhat from the recommendations of people like Victoria Boutenko. In her book Green for Life, we read about raw greens being the ideal food for humans - chimps eat like this, so obviously we should also! It contains some useful info but is built on terrible science. For starters we are the only species of animal that has learned to create fire and use it to cook our meals. This we have been doing for a very, very long time. In fact there is decent evidence that the ancestors of Homo sapiens were working with it over 200,000 years ago.
Where there is fire, there will be cooked food. Heating food items helps to break down tough constituents and render them easier to digest. Cooked food requires less digestive energy to be expended and this was a vital turning point in taking our species forward. To suggest cooked food is not suitable for our species just does not make sense.
In fact there is solid evidence that cooking actually increases the amount of certain nutrients, which trades off against the reduction of unstable compounds such as vitamin C. Cooking also reduces the volume of food items, so it is possible to consume more. Look at a bag of raw spinach for example - looks like loads when you put it in a blender, but boil it for just a minute and the same bag is reduced to nothing more than a ball in the hand. Obviously you can eat three times the amount and this offsets the reduction of vital compounds and increases the amount of available phyto nutrients. It is true that blending (in a high speed device) also significantly increases the percentage of nutrients available for absorption but it doesn't improve digestion of vegetables in the same way as cooking. I like the best of both worlds - I boil the spinach for a minute to soften the cells walls and reduce oxalates*, then I cool it down and blend as normal. We then have a cool green soupie! Tastes the same but digestibility is maximised.
*People who drink raw smoothies always cite the risk of oxalates when you consume a lot of spinach. One solution is to boil it and reduce the risk (not that it is a big problem unless you have a history of kidney stones).
Then we have the Paleo diet, where we are told that grains and legumes are evil anti-nutrients that must be avoided at all costs. Now for some people this may be true - as we all have slightly different genetic codes, which equals variations in the digestive enzymes and nuances in our overall digestive systems - but it is not true for everyone.
The argument is that paleolithic humans did not have access to grains on a regular basis and had to forage and hunt whatever was available. This is true - ancient humans would not have eaten grains in the vast quantities of modern times, but they would eat them on occasion. Seasonally of course.
Likewise they say legumes, such as lentils and beans, are negative foods for the same reasons. Never mind that we have solid evidence confirming they have been eaten for thousands of years (and before the agricultural revolution). These are items that have real nutritional benefit. Again the discovery of fire and development of cooking would have made the items more digestible.
The paleo diet also ignores the fact that most of the modern fruits, vegetables and supermarket meats are a far cry from the ones our ancestors consumed. They have been selectively bred and modified over the centuries to suit modern requirements.
I do agree that certain food types can have a negative impact in some people. I am not referring just to anaphylactic shock, which is obvious, but less dangerous issues such as the development of IBS, skin problems etc. I myself react when I eat gluten containing grains and other food items, but this is individual. Many other people will utilise them as an excellent source of protein and vitamins. Diets like paleo make too many blanket assumptions.
Personally I found that too many green smoothies made me feel weak and impacted my digestion negatively. I stuck with it for months but the problems did not abate. I rotated greens, in order to reduce the risk of alkaloid poisoning, but still did not feel quite right. The symptoms disappeared if I stuck to gem and romaine lettuce as the main green. I still drink green smoothies occasionally, which I consider a sensible and healthy addition to a balanced diet, but I am not drinking two or three a day. I found this works best for me.
They can definitely provide your body with a welter of nutrients and are still a great way to increase the amount of fruit and vegetables in the diet of fussier children like my youngest son. But I do not buy into claims that they alone can fix most health related problems.
The paleo diet also ignores the fact that most of the modern fruits, vegetables and supermarket meats are a far cry from the ones our ancestors consumed. They have been selectively bred and modified over the centuries to suit modern requirements.
I do agree that certain food types can have a negative impact in some people. I am not referring just to anaphylactic shock, which is obvious, but less dangerous issues such as the development of IBS, skin problems etc. I myself react when I eat gluten containing grains and other food items, but this is individual. Many other people will utilise them as an excellent source of protein and vitamins. Diets like paleo make too many blanket assumptions.
Personally I found that too many green smoothies made me feel weak and impacted my digestion negatively. I stuck with it for months but the problems did not abate. I rotated greens, in order to reduce the risk of alkaloid poisoning, but still did not feel quite right. The symptoms disappeared if I stuck to gem and romaine lettuce as the main green. I still drink green smoothies occasionally, which I consider a sensible and healthy addition to a balanced diet, but I am not drinking two or three a day. I found this works best for me.
They can definitely provide your body with a welter of nutrients and are still a great way to increase the amount of fruit and vegetables in the diet of fussier children like my youngest son. But I do not buy into claims that they alone can fix most health related problems.
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