Choosing a Sensible Diet, Healthy Appetite

So you like to eat! That's normal. A healthy appetite is one of the greatest assets in life. The whole body seems to respond to the sight, smell, and taste of a well-prepared meal. Every organ responds to the occasion. The glands work more vigorously, the digestive organs operate more efficiently, and the nervous tensions relax. That is why eating is such a pleasure, especially when you are healthy.

Many people, however, are neither sick nor well. They are somewhere in between. They drag themselves around, feeling half dead much of the time. Yet, they are not sick enough to go to bed. What is the cause of their trouble? Many times it is due to a faulty diet. Some victims of nervous conditions could be completely cured if they would only learn to eat properly. The same is true of many others who suffer from digestive complaints. They could all find relief from their miseries by choosing better meals.

So much depends on the right choice of food. This human body in which we live is a superb machine. It is capable of operating smoothly for seventy or eighty years, provided that we treat it well. But if we fail to supply it with the materials it needs, the results may be well-nigh disastrous.

Every time we open our mouths to eat we make an important decision concerning our future.

Good health always begins in the garden. A well-balanced diet naturally includes plenty of wholesome fruits and vegetables.

What we choose to eat will either help to keep us strong and healthy or it will leave us weakened and less prepared to meet the stress and strain of living. The kind of health and the length of life we enjoy probably depend more on the type and quality of foods we choose than on any other factor. The choice is up to us.

It was the Creator's plan that the foods we eat should keep us young and healthy. Many bring on premature old age by wrong eating habits.

Unfortunately, a great many people never give much thought to their diet. They will eat anything they can get their hands on or that may appeal to their perverted appetites. In their minds one thing is as good as another—or as bad. They will eat at any odd time whether they are hungry or not. No wonder they are sick! The human digestive system was never intended to sustain this kind of abuse.

Don't Be a Faddist

On the other hand, there are some who react quite differently. They take great pains regarding what they eat. They are so careful to avoid anything that they suspect might cause them trouble. They are so particular in everything they do. Every now and then they go on some newfangled diet in the hope of winning back their lost energies. This means that they often deprive themselves of the very things they so much need. Such people are slowly starving themselves in the midst of plenty.

In most cases there was nothing radically wrong with such people. They simply didn't know how to feed themselves in a proper manner. They were not intelligent on some of these most vital issues of life.

It should seem perfectly obvious to everyone that our bodies are built up entirely from the things we eat. We have no other way of getting these important substances into the system. Yet how few of us really think very much about this. To keep well we must develop different tastes. Our appetites need to be educated. For instance, we must realize that we cannot continue to eat devitalized foods without paying for our folly.

Foods that are highly flavored with sugar and condiments are usually devoid of some of the most important elements needed by the body. The seasonings often cover up the natural flavor to satisfy an abnormal appetite. But such foods may be completely lacking in the vital elements necessary to maintain a person in good health.

Rules for Choosing a Sensible Diet

Choosing a sensible diet is not so difficult. There are a few simple rules that anyone can follow. First of all, it is important to have plenty of variety in your diet. Don't be satisfied with the same old humdrum meals. Look around for something new and different—avoid monotony. Find new ways of preparing food. It is a fact that the more variety you have, the less you are likely to suffer from some dietary deficiency.

The second rule is to learn something about the different materials your body needs. For instance, if you are going to build a house, you will have to buy certain supplies, such as timber, glass, bricks, plaster, nails, paint, and many more. In the same way the human body needs different building materials for the important job it has to do. These things are essential at every age of life, but more particularly during those rapidly growing years of childhood and youth. They are also necessary when one is recovering from some serious illness or injury, or during pregnancy and lactation.

What are these different materials? Doctors refer to them as proteins, fats, carbohydrates, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and water. These are the materials of which the body is composed. They are present in our foods. When these various substances are absorbed into the blood stream, they are usually stored in the liver and other organs until they are needed. With the exception of water, each must undergo certain changes before being used in the human system. Myriads of chemical reactions are taking place within your own body at this very minute. This is what keeps you healthy and strong, so that all your organs will be working at full capacity.

From our foods we get the materials out of which the bones, muscles, nerves, skin, and all the internal organs are formed. From our food we also derive the energy we need in carrying on all the activities of life. In addition, we must have other important chemicals that are needed to regulate the activities of every organ in the body. Unless these materials are present in our daily diet, we are likely to suffer from some deficiency. Sooner or later we will find ourselves in real trouble.

The average diet of many families today is lacking in certain of these nutrients. Sometimes the trouble is due to insufficient protein. At other times it may be a loss of vitamins or minerals, which may have occurred during the preparation of the food. Some people try to make up for a deficient diet by taking extra vitamins in the form of pills. These may help, but they will never take the place of good food in supplying the needs of the body. There is always danger in trying to follow some haphazard, unbalanced diet. Only a sensible way of living will enable us to enjoy a full and satisfying life, free from diseases that could have been avoided.

How Fresh is Fresh? (Vital vitamins)

Almost every day, we're bombarded by television and radio programmes, books, newspapers and magazine articles, all telling us that the way to good health is a low-fat, high-fibre diet loaded with fresh vegetables and fruit. So we scour the supermarket shelves for the cream of the crop and (hopefully) plan our family menus around the suggested mix of 12% protein, 30% fat with the 58% balance made up of complex carbohydrates in the form of breads and other grains, pulses, fruits and vegetables. Many of us have taken things one step further, reducing animal protein, lowering fats and upping the quota of fresh produce. In theory at least, we're doing all the right things.

There's just one potential fly in the ointment. Optimum nutrition relies on optimum foods - in many instances, ones that are as close to their natural state as possible and that are on our forks almost as soon as they're out of the ground. In this respect we are in the hands of our suppliers and we owe it to ourselves to shop wisely, to make informed choices on available options (wilted 'fresh' carrots - or would frozen or canned be better?) and to prepare and cook fresh foods as carefully and conservatively as we can.

But before we begin to look at the passage of produce from farmer to family, let's consider the foods in which freshness is a real priority:

Vital vitamins

First on the list has to be the fruit and vegetable group. Although this group is one of our most important sources of vitamins (notably A and C) and minerals, we know there is a deterioration in the nutrient content of the produce that starts as soon as it's harvested and which can be accelerated by poor storage, inadequate transportation and excessive exposure to climatic extremes. Whilst few would suggest that a four-day-old carrot isn't worth eating, none would argue with the fact that a four-minute old carrot has more to offer!

Remembering that one of the most critical factors affecting vitamin loss is the storage of vegetables and fruits after harvesting. Asparagus can lose up to 50% of its vitamin C after one week of storage at 0 °C and a staggering 91% if stored at 21 ^°C. Potatoes, too, are vulnerable: stored at room temperature they lose about 15% of their vitamin C content each month. And apples, when stored under domestic conditions, are reduced to about one-third of their vitamin C value after only 2-3months.

Even worse, green cabbage loses almost all of its vitamin C after just a few days. Orange juice, as long as it is stored in sealed containers, retains almost all of its vitamin C, but once thecontainer is opened, between 30-50% will be lostin one week.

However, since munching away in a farmer's field isn't a practical option for most of us, we need to know how to make the best and freshest choices from available produce. Let's consider a quick comparison between the food values of vitamins A and C, plus the iron and calcium content, of 8 popular fruits and vegetables in their fresh state and when they are cooked.

The most interesting fact to emerge is that in almost every case, the fresh foodstuff offers higher values (in the few cases where cooked values appear to be higher, it's primarily because the raw food has become more compact as part of the cooking process).

Apart from fruits and vegetables, however, there are other foodstuffs in which freshness is unquestionably a desirable factor. Top of the list are the protein foods - meat, chicken, fish and eggs. Freshness here doesn't relate so much to the nutrient value of the foodstuff as to its safety. (For example, egg consumption in the UK recently took a terrific tumble when the then Minister of Health, Edwina Currie,linked them to possible salmonella risk.)

Then there are the foods presented to us as fresh yet which have undergone some form of processing, preserving or packaging treatment. These include fresh fruit juices, fresh milk and herbs and spices, which have been subjected to vacuum packaging, pasteurisation or irradiation, among other processes.

Finally, there are frozen foods. Not technically fresh, for many of us some frozen products have become more a question of necessity than convenience. Really fresh fish is difficult to obtain inland, while fresh peas, for example, have a limited season and an even more limited availability countrywide, yet offer excellent sources of fibre, minerals including iron (commonly inadequate in women), and vitamins. In the absence of fresh, the frozen variety, which retain most of these benefits, are the closest to the real thing that we may be able to get.

Having established that fresh is undeniably best, and extending that principle to the point of saying freshest is best, let's now look at the methods whereby fruit and vegetable produce makes its way from the farm to your shopping basket, for this is where we need to know who, among all our suppliers, is going to give us the freshest of choices.

CHANGING THE WORLD: ONE PURCHASE, ONE MEAL, ONE BITE AT A TIME

As marketing people tend to do, they have identified a strong force on the consumer landscape—people who value a lifestyle of health and sustainability and are willing to pay for products that support their beliefs. This group, they say, has adopted a Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability LOHAS. It's estimated that 68 million Americans, about a third of the adult population, qualify as LOHAS. Without realizing it, these people have become the most influential 7 force in the recent food revolution. And they have numerous allies, including farmers who want to create a more healthy and sustainable land, public health officials concerned about toxins and antibiotics in food products, environmentalists who are concerned about pollution from factory farming, consumer rights groups wanting more accurate labeling of food sources on food packaging, and union activists who want safe working conditions for their members who run the risk of massive exposure to toxic pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

Yes, collectively we, the people, are the force that can lead to change. Every time we go shopping for food, every time we chose a meal in a restaurant, our choices—what we buy—will make a difference—not only for our own health and our own peace of mind, but also for the future of the planet. Fortunately more and more people are beginning to realize this. Every time an individual makes such a change in his or her lifestyle the number of people eating ethically and healthily increases—by one.

This philosophy—that every individual matters and every individual makes a difference every day—is at the heart of the Jane Goodall Institute's Roots & Shoots global program for youth. The name is symbolic: Roots make a firm foundation and Shoots seem tiny but to reach the sun they can break through a brick wall. Imagine the brick wall as all the problems we humans have inflicted on the planet. The message is one of hope: Thousands of young people— and there are some 7,500 groups established in more than ninety countries—are breaking through all manner of brick walls to make the world a better place.

In several African countries there are Roots & Shoots groups maintaining tree nurseries and distributing seedlings to schools that are otherwise surrounded by compacted, sunbaked earth. As the trees grow, cared for by the students, grasses can survive in the shade below them. And, encouraged by the greening of the schoolyards, Roots & Shoots groups are growing fruit trees and vegetables to improve their diet. Refugee groups are also growing vegetables, and some keep chickens for their eggs.

There are so many projects and many of them concern food and farming. Students are composting, making organic vegetable plots. Two groups (one in the U.K. and one in Belgium) rescued hens from battery farms, and studied how they grew back their feathers and adjusted to freedom. They are campaigning (always without violence) against the use of synthetic chemicals in food; the feeding of hormones and antibiotics, as prophylaxis, to livestock; the use of pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers on farmland; the use of nonbiodegradable containers in school lunch boxes. They are writing letters to legislators, raising money for all manner of causes. And they are influencingtheir parents.

Roots & Shoots groups are thus joined with all of us who are trying to change the world. In fact, many predict that in the years to come, activists will have a greater impact through consumer choices and the culture of economics than through legislative lobbying or lawsuits.

EATING TO VOTE

Remember, every food purchase is a vote. We might be tempted, as individuals, to think that our small actions don't really matter, that one meal can't make a difference. But each meal, each bite of food, has a rich history as to how and where it grew or was raised, how it was harvested. Our purchases, our votes, will determine the way ahead. And thousands upon thousands of votes are needed in favor of the kind of farming practices that will restore health to our

planet.

Our world can no longer afford the heedless consumption of the Western world that is now spreading its greedy tentacles around the globe. The price, most of which must be paid by our children, is too great. Only by acting together, by refusing to buy food that has been secretly laced with poisons and pain, can we make a stand against the corporate power that is circling our planet. So let us join hands. Let us speak out for the voiceless and the poor. Let us assert our right, as citizens of free democracies, to take back into our hands the production of our food. Let us, together, sow seeds for a better harvest—a harvest for hope.