The Importance Of Food And Food

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The human body is a delicate balance on every level, from individual microscopic cells to complex organ systems, and should be taken care of with the utmost respect. Human beings have particular nutritional requirements influenced by personal tastes and inclinations, natural shapes and sizes, blood types, metabolic rates, and genetic background (Seidenberg). The largest factor on how an individual feels is the quality of the fuel used for day to day functions. If the quality is junk, the body can only do so much and the individual feels lousy, or known today as ‘normal.’ Vise versa, if the quality is natural, it allows the body to run at peak performance and the individual experiences an unknown positive energy. The optimal human diet is one designed uniquely to the needs of the individual as proven by the various successes and failures of the Standard American Diet (SAD), the Paleolithic diet, the Mediterranean diet, Vegetarianism, and Veganism. To achieve maximum health status, it is imperative that an individual have a complete understanding of the relationship between the body and the foods used to fuel it. When the general public was confused and searching for structure and education in the components of a healthy lifestyle, the United State government was devising a sinister plan. The original Food Guide Pyramid was conceived in 1992 on a background of shaky science, which has since been disproved countless times (Willett). Misadvertised as healthy, this diet has led to the deficiency in one or more nutrients at the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) level of 92% of Americans (Hyman). A part of this deficiency can be blamed directly on the food. Over years marked with drastic genetic modification in laboratories, food has ... ... middle of paper ... ...also including fish, eggs, legumes, nuts, and seeds (“More People Trying”). Carbohydrates are key in moderation and should be from healthy sources that fall lower on the Glycemic Index (GI) like fruit (Berman ; Whitney). Due to the atrocities of genetic modification, foods that should be naturally able to supply all the necessary vitamins and minerals are no longer able to and the use of supplements is recommended to make up what has been lost to modern agricultural techniques (Hobson). An individual can be on the track to a healthy life if the simple advice of Michael Pollan is taken, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” (qtd. in Hobson). It is absolutely imperative that each individual take the time to understand how one’s own body reacts to all types of food and take note in order to assure subsequent meals only contain the optimal fuel for personal health.

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