Is a Healthy Diet Controversial?
Jun 02, 2022
Is what makes up a healthy diet controversial? Not really. We know that the more fiber we eat, the stronger our microbiomes, and the less risk we have for all types of disease.
What does this look like in practical terms? Dan Buettner’s celebrated work Blue Zones describes the world's healthiest populations, the ones who have the most centenarians, and strongest health markers.
The diverse “blue zone” locations range from Okinawa (Japan) to Ikaria, (Greece) and Sardinia (Italy), to Nicoya Peninsula (Costa Rica), and even Loma Linda (California, USA).
Do they all eat the same way? Largely. They all eat 90% unprocessed plant foods.
The other 10 percent? It might be fish, fermented dairy, eggs, or meat. Some are vegetarian and get their protein from beans or wheat.
A diet of 90% unprocessed plant food is the clincher. The other 10% doesn’t matter much. With 90% unprocessed plants, we get an abundance of fiber, and our guts are doing great. When our guts are doing great, we are doing great!
So, what’s the confusion? Let’s follow the money.
The Big Food industry in the US alone made $997 billion dollars in products in 2020. They sold this salt and chemical infused processed food to us.
And then Big Pharma sold $555 billion in medications to help us with the consequences of eating the standard American diet.
These industries are worth trillions of dollars! Capital T. That’s a lot of advertising dollars, and lobbyists in Washington.
It’s kind of a no-brainer that eating processed food and suffering the health consequences seems normal, and even cool.
Most of our media and advertising feature these themes and dramas as a backdrop.
Watching TV network news recently, I started counting the ads. In each block of ads, at least one would sell a drug, and another 1 or 2 promoted processed foods.
We’re talking riveting, high production mini-movies brainwashing us into cheesy entrees, pizzas, and savory or sugary treats!
And then a chaser ad for meds to make our burdened bodies work again. The people enjoying these delicious foods looked so healthy and radiant! The drug ads showed sufferers everywhere transported into a better life full of love and flowers (but listen to the side effects!)
Simply put, there’s a lot of money to be made from our choices. The more confused we are, the more we tend to glaze over and go with the mainstream. This doesn’t serve us, though, because the mainstream is chronically sick with lifestyle diseases like diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s. If we follow the mainstream, we will be sick too.
That’s no fun! Healthy is fun! Let’s see if we can make healthy cool, and champion the second half of life!
Recommended reading:
Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest. Fascinating read about the lifestyle habits of centenarians around the world!
