As I write in 2021 there are lots of debates going on about the best food to eat. We are bombarded with different ideas on what to eat. The first source is when we are hungry, which can happen 3 to 6 times a day! Our tummies seem to make lots of suggestions for a start and it can be different at various times of the day. When that comes you need to have an idea on what food is best for you right then otherwise you might eat bad food continually. You need to be prepared and buy the best foods before you get hungry.
But what I want to talk about here are how do you find and buy what is healthiest for you. (How to cook it is another story again.). We are bombarded with ads on the television, magazines, Facebook and other social media. We hear different ideas from our family and friends. Sometimes we see and hear dieticians interviewed on TV and radio. I have subscribed to newsletters sometimes. I grew up on a dairy farm. Besides eating some very tasty food at home, I got exposed to the advertising of the dairy and meat industry. The end result was blocked arteries before age 60, high blood pressure and 3 stents at age 60. Then in the next 10 years I read a bit of stuff, but that turned out wrong as well, ending in my triple bypass at age 70 and a popliteal artery aneurism bypass at 73, plus an aortic artery aneurysm now about 3.6 cm wide.
We keep on hearing in the media about “latest research shows….” That can be confusing over time as well as some of these seem contradictory. Then there are diet books that try to say this research says this. So how do we really know what to do? First of all some of you have got it right, your numbers are good and no bad symptoms. But looking around, many of you don’t, and a lot of people have bad health and are really sick and a lot of people have died too early.
I have a nephew Max with a Ph.D who is a researcher and he has set me right a few times over the years but I don’t see him often and when we do there are plenty of other things we like to talk about. I said to him it is hard for the layman to find appropriate research and understand it. In the coming months I need to do a bit more. Some of the stuff I have looked at has been very turgid and boring and hard going and time consuming. Even though I did Stat Maths 2 at uni 50+ years ago I can’t remember it all and expertly interpret data. I can’t always evaluate things like the design of the study, is it big enough etc. It is obvious to me that some studies are funded by food producers that are protecting their interests. Max tells me most scientists are conscientious and seeking after truth, but many of the good studies are narrow based and you have to sort out the truth for yourself. How many times have we heard that dairy is good for you with protein and calcium that builds your bodies and your bones.
The next problem is finding the studies. A Google search, or any other good search engine search can find you quite a lot, but many studies can only be found in specialist websites. More on that later.
What I want to get to here is that you need discernment. For a Christian that means asking God to help you find the right research and articles, read what is relevant, then test it out. And that means you need to do some work! So far I stick mainly with drmcdougall.com and nutritionfacts.org with Dr Michael Greger. They and their teams have done a lot of the research and are putting it into practice. They have lots of articles, recipes and videos. For many of you that may be enough, but not for me. I am also on a few Facebook pages for McDougall & Friends, 100% Esselstyn, Dr T Colin Campbell Plant Based Nutrition, Forks Over Knives where people support each other, answer questions and suggest websites and resources. Dr T Colin Campbells book on The China Study was the first to change my outlook.
For me right now I have plateaued a bit in my weight, gained a bit and maybe strayed a bit. So I am looking again for more answers to refine my diet. I have been a bit lazy and need to experiment a bit more with beans and lentils and spices to make food as tasty as some of the frozen meals I have been trying. Maybe there are other answers in finding a sustainable diet that is easy to maintain and is enjoyable too.