Food for Thought
By Lisa DeForest, DC
Our new foods have changed our bodies and our brains. We look very much the same as our ancestors looked, although, statistically speaking, we are taller and heavier. Our babies are fatter when they are born, and our girls reach puberty several years earlier than their mothers and grandmothers.
Our new foods, however, are altering the ability of our brains to think. They are altering both the structure and function of our physical brains, leaving us less able to cope with stress and more susceptible to the forms of mental illness.
While nearly one in two adults experiences a mental disorder at some point in his life, each year one in four people will be victimized by a mental disorder. Depression seems to be the most common. Several groups of prisoners have been studied. Dietary changes were made for a 6-week period. The results showed a direct correlation has been established between the quality of food and the mental stability of the subject. A study was done on 4th graders. The students were tested using a Profile of Mood States. The results showed that the children who had only changed there morning meal (a drink Supplement) showed a clear improvement in mood. A significant difference was seen in:
Tension-Anxiety
Depression
Anger-Hostility
Vigor-Activity
Fatigue
Confusion-Bewilderment
The results are clear, our diet feeds our brains and if we don’t stop and take time to think about the foods we are putting into our bodies, soon we will not be able to think. The Western world has gone astray in the most fundamental of life issues: The quality of food supply. Marketing efforts have been so successful that we no longer think it strange or even unhealthy to drink a liter of Coca-Cola per day instead of water, or that our lunch consists of a bagel with cream cheese, a meal so stripped of nutrition that laboratory rats perish on it. Holiday Helpful hints for eating out during this busy season. No cooking, no dishes, no guilt. Who could ask for anything more!!!!! Well????
- Keep the first course simple
- Don’t butter the bread (choose olive oil over butter over margarine)
- Choose whole grains over white refined flour
- Keep the vegetables naked
- Choose fish then chicken and last red meat
- Portion control – a deck of cards is a serving size
- Dressing and sauces on the side
- Fast food if you must- choose food not fried
- Drink water not soda
Food you should eat (super foods)
1. Sweet potatoes
2. Whole grain breads
3. Broccoli
4. Watermelon
5. Beans
6. Cantaloupe
7. Spinach and kale
8. Oranges
9. Oatmeal
Foods to avoid:
- Processed hot dogs
- Donuts
- Cup of Noodles
- Potato chips
- Lunchables
- Haagen-dazs ice cream
- Campbell’s red and white label soups
- Rice-a-roni chicken and vegetables
- Alfredo sauce