Nutrition For Our Body

However, what is a healthy diet and how can we be sure that we are getting the nutrition that our body needs? Do you know what you should be eating? There is a great deal of confusion about what is needed in a healthy diet - every health professional and 'expert' has a different opinion - should we eat the Mediterranean diet, a low GI diet, the Atkins diet, the caveman diet. Added to this are issues about eating refined and processed foods, wheat and cereals, animal protein and dairy products.

It is my experience that many people say they eat a healthy diet and have plenty of vegetables, yet in practice this may not be the case. They may only eat two or three vegetables at the evening meal. They almost certainly have none for breakfast and generally only a small amount at lunchtime and often very little fruit as well. I read a story about one patient. The only vegetable she ate - at every meal, was a serving of frozen peas. She was told that she needed to 'eat more vegetables'. On her next visit she proudly claimed that she was now eating sixteen different vegetables each day.

However, it was discovered that she made a vegetable stew from the sixteen vegetables. She then froze the mixture and served up a single spoonful of this for her dinner each evening!
Unfortunately there is too much consumption of animal protein, fast foods, convenience foods and restaurant meals. These make a diet that is too rich in fat, sugar, salt and calories. At the same time we are eating fewer fruit and vegetables, beans and whole grains. There is also a consumption of more overall calories. The increase in the portion size of common foods is one of the main contributors to overeating and obesity.