The issues with dietry guidelines today….
Do you often feel lethargic, bloated or deflated?
Do you get confused trying to decide what foods are best for your health?
I like to use the analogy that you wouldn’t put bad fuel in your car, so why fuel your body with bad food?
I get it though, our dietary guidelines are pretty rubbish.
One of the biggest issues with government dietary guidelines is that there is almost zero focus on micronutrients. Foods are lumped into larger groups not taking into account all the individual benefits that foods can offer. Think of vegetables as an example- they vary widely with available vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fibre.
Having them lumped in one section does not clearly show the importance of eating a wide variety of colours. What would make more sense is grouping them all into colours like blue and purple, green and yellow, red and orange and white and recommending that we ensure we eat one -three servings daily from each group.
Protein is another example – you could easily separate the group into 5 separate: meat, eggs, fish and shellfish and organ meats(yep can you believe it- organ meats are some of the most nutrient dense food available in our modern food supply) as each of these groups offer such an incredible array of micronutrients.
Something to note is the current recommendations are to eat a diet high in heavily processed carbs and grain based products. Now these foods are abundant in calories, but deficient in most of the essential vitamins and minerals. Also given that many grain based products contribute to a high amount of blood sugar spiking they should actually be classified in the same food group as sugar. Dairy is an interesting one and probably the only group that has been included with a focus on a micronutrient – calcium. How ever did you know that it has been scientifically proven that we actually absorb more calcium from cruciferous vegetables like kale, then we do from daily! How did the guidelines become so misguided? Lets change how we eat, lets focus on foods that support our health. Let’s start by making better choices. Foods that are minimally processed, fresh, from a wide variety of sources and ultimately better for us. What do you wish you could change about the current guidelines?