Natures Guidelines

The Protein-Fat partnership
I have noticed that in nature, protiens come with various amounts of fat ranging from 4g/100g milk ( relatively low due to a high water content) to an average of 50g in nuts ( possibly due to the high protein content eg about 25g of protein in peanuts and high fiber content also present. Fiber appears, and you will know this fron experience, to be the best appetite control mechanism preventing over consumption.  The main point I am making here however is that most animal protein sources such as fish, meat, eggs and dairy products all come generously clad in fat!

 I am therefore suggesting that we have evolved to eat these nutrients together and that our palat for fat does not mearly have something to do with our nutritional fatty acid and triglyceride requirements but is also associated with proein requirements, digestion and that our feelings of hunger and satiation have evolved around this healthy partnership. Eating the fat on its own is not a natural human compulsion and so rather than removing the fat, enjoy  it with satisfaction, as part of a well balance meal which, according to guidelines published by most reputable nutritional bodies eg the BNF (largly based on studies which correlate saturated fat intake with cardiovascular disease) includes an average of 20g of saturated fat (1.5 tblespoons and equivalent to approximately 200 calories a day). http://www.netrition.com/rdi_page.html. The rest of your fat intake (a total reccommended daily ammount of 65g and  approximately 600 calories/day (30% of your calorific intake) should then ideally come from unsaturated fat sources such as oily fish, seed, olive, and avocado oils.

No Carbs Without fiber

Fiber on the other hand tends to occur in combination with carbohydrates and with plant proteins (as pointed out in the example of nuts.) Examples range from fruit to grains and pulses. Fiber appears, and you will know this fron experience, to be the best appetite control mechanism preventing over consumption. Remove the fiber and  you tend to feel less full, hence the urge to eat more. The latter can only be a good thing if you're an extreme athlete,  or worryingly underweight. So by default, should we not be eating the whole fruit rather than just drinking the extracted juice as if feeding an infant without teeth? Similarly  what business do we have extracting the sugar and consuming it in vast quantities whilst throwing away the skins (which is where the bulk of vitamins and minerals are found) and the flesh with its soluble and insoluble fiber ( our natural appetite suppressant.) ? Eat too much fibre and the bloated sensation, flatulence, slight tummy upset with frequent visits tot the loo will tell you all about it! It takes a whole lot more refined sugar and hence calories to reach this point of discomfort and for for some people, the cut out switch has all but disappeared  Instead a sugar dependence akin to addiction has developed.


Can these patterns and combinations that naturally occur in our food sources be the nutritional blueprint found in human DNA that is designed to make us best adapted to life on this planet? Surely these are not mere subliminal messages or coincidence but according to the laws of evolution, they have everything to do with how we ought to be eating in order to ensure the success of our species! In a world where we have tampered with our food from its genetics to its finished composition, and in a world where geography places no limits on the variety of choice we have on the menu every day,  looking to nature alone to provides us with solutions to our modern dietary woes would be an ignorant thing to suggest....On the other hand have others (with superior health records and life expectancy  from various religions or cultures not already led us in this direction?

To my mind this is suggestive of an hypothesis that goes something like this:
1.Our human omnivorous diet/digestive system has evolved around these food sources in their natural form.
2.Our digestive system and metabolic systems have not changed much over the 200 000 years that humans are  estimated to have been on earth.
3. Humans have altered the natural compositions quite dramatically eg extracting and refining sugars, hence consuming them in large concentrated doses, separate  from the fibre with which they naturally occur.
 Or, as in the case of fats, skimming the cream off and separating it from dairy proteins, extracting plant oils instead of eating the entire seed/nut complete with the plant protein.
4. Urgo, the human body has not had enough time to evolve to suit a refined diet, and is highly unlikely to since to do so results in all manner of dietary diseases. Only the fittest survive, so the whole foods diet is destined to remain the optimum form of nutrition for human kind, regardless of our indulgent and addictive traits.

The question is how do we turn  the clock ' back to the future'and render ourselves modern day time-tabled,button pushing, tv watching,  car driving, logging on, texting and gaming hunter-gatherers....... for the sake of restoring nutritional harmony between nature and ourselves.

The answer as with everything else is sever our dependency on The Man (this of includes the big supermarket chains) , and take responsibility for every ingredient that we put inside our body. The food industry was never going to and never will have our interests at heart so why do we sacrifice our longevity and wellbeing for the convenience they offer? Like the addicts they have turned us into we fall pray for their salt and sugar logged, nutrient and fibre depleted merchandise. What for? To save money? You know that this is false economy both in the long and the short term.(I will elaborate later on) To save time? Now who are you kidding? What you really mean is to save you the energy  expenditure.......the very reason you are not burning all those excessive calories you're consuming! Oh but I have to direct my energy elsewhere...Then I can only surmise that you do not love life enough to make health, fitness and longevity your top priorities. Or have you taken you eye off the ball? The clocks ticking, but you think you can get away with abusing and neglecting your body indefinitely, under the pretext that your having fun! Thats what they they all say when they start on drugs......A bit harsh and judgemental? You decide.

If you can afford your own nutritionist and cook or frequent an organic/ whole foods restaurant for most of your meals, then all power to you. But for the rest of us mere mortals we are faced the challenge of finding a way to maintain an optimum weight and a healthy lifestyle whilst juggling work, family and personal interests, hopefully without becoming social misfits or joining any particular lifestyle group, religion, or  cult.

This is my current endever.