At the start of the new year, we all tend to reflect on what we accomplished and what we don't wish to repeat from our past. Maybe it is our relationship with people, the gym, or something of primal importance to your health, your food.
Regardless of how we learned to enjoy the foods we love, many of us have no idea of the unhealthy relationship we have with food. Topping this off is the vast journals of what appears to be conflicting information on healthy food, so we often just keep doing what we have been doing, but we tweak it here or there. Unfortunately, when 1 in 2 people get cancer and 1 in 3 get heart disease in Canada, there is overwhelming evidence that our relationship to food isn't getting healthier as both of these diseases are largely impacted by food.
So what is the best foods to eat? Well, that depends on what type of foods you like to eat! I love Dr Michael Greger's response to the question "Is (place the name of food here) healthy to eat?", and his response is "In comparison to what?". We nearly always have a choice. Will I choose to have a few potato chips or an apple? When you want to get into the minutia of whether to have broccoli, kale, or cauliflower, then you are already deeply entrenched in the details of nutrition. Unfortunately, that is not where most of us are struggling. We are bombarded with conflicting information as to whether eggs are healthy, lean grass-fed beef or conventional beef, the baked potato chips vs the fried ones. In the end many choose "moderation", which has been tested to see what people feel is "moderation". Seems the definition of "MODERATION" in the study of 294 men and women was, "The amount they wanted to eat of food they particularly liked”. People are poor judges of moderate consumption partially because the amount of consumption is left up to the individual (Popper).
I have now spent hours daily and weekly for years trying to come to grips with the dichotomy of information to improve my own health. After seven years of taking out every book from the library, purchasing books, attending online training, watching hours upon hours of nutrition experts from all sides, meeting with Doctors in the nutrition field, and ultimately going to school and becoming a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, I can tell you that it still comes back to the most basic information you have always known. Eat your fruits and vegetables. So how much should we eat? That is where things seem to vary. Making them the staple of your meals is where we fall down. They are all too often the colour decoration to the plate instead of the majority of the plate. The most common vegetable eaten in North America is the white potato, in the form of French fries.
Green is the magic colour for health and there are many more green vegetables than just broccoli and lettuce. Getting high nitrate vegetable are so important because they are vasodilators which allow your arteries to dilate to their fullest capacity. This is very important as your arteries need to be flexible to allow for different levels of blood flow. More when you are moving, less when you are still. Nitrate rich vegetables include KALE, SPINACH, SWISS CHARD, ARUGULA, BEET GREENS, BEETS. A few other greens to round out the variety include, bok choy, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, napa cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, cilantro, parsley and asparagus. Green is not the only colour you should eat, but if you only choose a few vegetables to put on your plate, green should be the first colour you consider.
I feel I must mention a little something about nitrates which are naturally occurring in many vegetables. Nitrates turn into nitrites by fermentation which begins on the tongue. Nitrates themselves are not carcinogenic but become harmful when they turn into nitrosamines and nitrosamides. To do that, amines and amides must be present and they are found in abundance in animal products. In plants there are other elements such as vitamin C and antioxidants that block the formation of carcinogens in your body. (Bartsch H)With animal products such as processed meats (known to be high in nitrites), the transformation can happen in the meat itself or in your stomach after you eat them. In processed meats the result has been linked to kidney cancer, but no increased risk was found with intake from plant sources. (Dellavalle CT1)
References
Bartsch H, Ohshima H, Pignatelli B. "Inhibitors of endogenous nitrosation. Mechanisms and implications in human cancer prevention." Mutation Research 202.2 (1988): 307-24.
Dellavalle CT1, Daniel CR, Aschebrook-Kilfoy B, Hollenbeck AR, Cross AJ, Sinha R, Ward MH. "Dietary intake of nitrate and nitrite and risk of renal cell carcinoma in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study." British Journal of Cancer 108.1 (2013): 205-12.
Popper, Dr Pam. Why Moderation Does Not Work AND Doctors Lack Knowledge About Drugs. 26 April 2016. 7 January 2020. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3pdF2UIQ7s>.