Separate the Nutrition Facts
From the Fiction

People often get the totality of what they perceive as nutrition facts from TV commercials or from brief stories on the news of one new research study or another.

It’s a shame that most people believe what television is feeding them, without thinking critically or doing their own research to discover the truth… or to at least cause them to question what they’ve heard by the sugar- cereal hawkers, harmful soft-drink sellers, and all of the others who don’t care about our health but just want to make money selling their junk foods.

There are stories in the news about laboratory-created GMO foods that just cause bewilderment.

People throw up their hands in disgust and confusion, saying that “they” are always changing what they tell us to eat. Why bother? And off they head to the fast food joint around the corner for a bag of greasy hamburgers and fries and a mega-giant-size cola.

Well, if you’ve read this far, you know it’s important to bother about what you eat. The very foundation of your health depends upon good nutrition. It’s important to understand what the basic, foundational nutrition facts are.

All of us need the core nutrients—water, carbohydrates (including good sugars ), protein, and fats. In addition, we need micronutrients—vitamins (A, B complex, C, D , E, and K), minerals, and other nutrients such as phytochemicals, antioxidants (including one you may not think of as an antioxidant-- iodine ), and enzymes.

To help you in making informed choices, learn organic food labeling secrets here.

Water

You may not think of water when you’re considering nutrition, but water is involved in all functions of the body including those supporting adequate nutrition.

It’s involved in transporting nutrients in and out of cells, excreting waste materials from the body, and it’s needed for proper digestion and absorption of nutrients. It is also important in the utilization of water-soluble vitamins (vitamins C and B complex).

Carbohydrates

Simple carbohydrates are found in fruits and sugars (such as table sugar).

Complex carbohydrates are found in vegetables, peas and beans, and grains. Complex carbohydrates also include fiber and starches.

When choosing carbohydrates for healthy eating, always choose unrefined foods. Refined and processed foods including soft drinks, sugary desserts, candy, and table sugar are lacking in vitamins and minerals and other nutrients and have been implicated in a number of health disorders including diabetes, hypoglycemia and more.

For information about the Glycemic Index, click here .

Protein

In my many years as a vegetarian, I don’t know how many times I’ve heard a meat eater express doubt about a vegetarian diet being able to supply adequate protein.

We’ve been brainwashed in this country. The meat and dairy industries have greatly exaggerated the need for protein in our diets, rather than providing the public with true nutrition facts about protein.

The primary function of protein is growth and repair. After childhood, there’s not much growth happening. Mother’s milk supplies the growing infant with protein amounting to less than 10% of its calories. Why would adults think they need more than that?

When people express concern about getting enough protein on a vegetarian diet, I always think of the primates in the wild. They are much stronger than humans, and yet their diet is primarily fruits and vegetables.

Fat

There are good fats and there are bad fats. Fat is the most concentrated source of energy for the body. “However,” according to Phyllis A. Balch, CNC, and James F. Balch, MD, in Prescription for Nutritional Healing, “after about two years of age, the body requires only small amounts of fat—much less than is provided by the American diet.”

A number of diseases and disorders are caused by eating too much fat: obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes , and colon cancer, to name a few.

We know Americans consume way too much fat, but how much fat do we actually need? Government agencies, which are probably influenced by industry, say we should eat 20-30% of our total calories from fat.

Dr. Douglas N. Graham in his thought-provoking book The 80/10/10 Diet states, “Eating primarily low-fat fruits and vegetables—accompanied by a very small amount of nuts, seeds and fatty fruits such that the total fat does not exceed 10% of calories—provides sufficient fat to cover all of our nutritional needs.”

Other Nutrients

The nutrition facts are simple. Eating a plant-based diet is the best way to assure that you are getting all the nutrients you need. Relying on vitamin supplements and then eating a poor, junk-food diet will rob you of perhaps yet to be discovered nutrients in whole foods.

Read here about vitamin D deficiency and sunshine versus taking pills.

It seems researchers are constantly discovering the health benefits of some new nutrient. We hear of antioxidants and the ORAC measurement, as well as phytochemicals and how they support the immune system and fight disease.

The best way to know you’re getting what you need is to understand nutrition facts and eat a plant-based diet of fresh vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds, and grains. Although there is evidence that cooking destroys nutrients, including some cooked food in your plant-based diet is still much better than the Standard American Diet (SAD).

Return from Nutrition Facts to Naturally Healthy Eating .

Visit the Glossary for definitions.