Lets talk about Nutrition!

This past summer I took a nutrition class and I learned some things about myself. I've got an attitude problem.

I almost made a C on this class, because I became careless with a project thinking that I know it all. But the thing is, there's sooooo much to learn! I'm just like typical Joe Bloe in that I really don't want to think about what I'm eating. Eating is so personal, private--someone telling me what to eat is like being a little kid again with mom telling me to finish the food I put on my plate. It's annoying. I'm a grown up. I mean, food is one of the basic pleasures in life and to think about it seems counterintuitive to pleasure. "I am not overweight, so I figured I eat well. I don't drink a lot of sodas or sweet desserts. My eating habit is fine," at least that's my self talk.

There's a website I recommend where you can record your eating habits. Choosemyplate.gov The site has a lot of good information on food intake and what your body needs. But I'm not going to tell you you should do this or that too. I just want to put that information out there just in case you're tempted to do a food diary.

Ok, so first thought that popped in my head is: every single person knows their own need. Why would I look at a label that tells me what I need based on an average 2000 kcal diet. Who is this average? I am a fairly intuitive person, I trust my intuition, I'm not some average. So what I learned regarding this attitude is that,our minds like habits. Looking at my grocery list, I can say that there is a general pattern to what I purchase. They're practically the same things everyweek/month. Most people have this general pattern that makes making purchases easy. Once we are locked in a pattern/habit, we generally lose some of that intuition--the body saying give me healthy carbs can be misunderstood into give me more sugar. SEE !!!

Something else I learned--we can tell ourselves we are eating healthy but closer examination shows otherwise! For example, being Asian, I'm a rice girl. I found this picture online and this is how I view myself regarding rice. I've been telling myself for a long time--I'm a rice eater....

until I did the food diary project. I was actually not eating enough rice! My diary showed corn, potatoes, bread as my carbohydrate main sources, not rice. Also, the nutrition journals talk about switching from white rice to brown rice. They recommend the switch to brown rice based on these things called fiber. Also switch from white bread to whole wheat. Do I really have to have 20g of fiber everyday? Who is telling me this? The government.

Geese louise! The government. I'm a political scientist by education--but generally, I'm one of those quasi hippies who as a whole mistrusts the government. Why is the government telling me I should eat 20 g of fiber? When did the government start caring? Here's something else to consider--the government has been adding things to our food--like why is flouride on our water, or why are flours enriched and why is Vitamin D added to milk by the milk manufacturers, or why is Iodine in our salt? This is kind of scary, right? Well, I did a bit of research and it looks like the efforts of some determined physicians led to the addition of these nutrients to our diet. It's not really the government, per se. Also the American Heart Association also says the same thing about fiber. (Btw, I like them. They seem trustworthy with that cute little logo of heart on cereal boxes).

Just as a side note about the government-- I think it is to the government's best interest to get Americans to be healthy. Why? Healthcare cost, especially with the new Obamacare..... But I maintain my skepticism.

Aside from the hassle of paying attention to what I eat, I have to learn the science behind them. Like eating more avocados (technically, that's easy, because I like avocados). Avocados are said to lower blood cholesterol because it has this thing called HDL that takes the fat away from cells into the liver where they can be destroyed.

Funny.... I wrote on my food diary that I'll eat more fat because I'm eating way below my 20g that's recommended by these nutritionists whom I have never met! The key is eat 20 g "OR LESS" of fat. (Anyway, my nutrition teacher allowed me to re-write my food diary, earning me an A for that project.)

But these is the general attitude and approach that I had towards food. *Mild hostility* because I'm not fat. Can you imagine the kind of feelings/unspoken thoughts people go through when someone tells them what to eat because they're fat? Or maybe some of these people are not thinking, just eating.

I encourage anyone who's reading my blogs to pay attention to what you eat, because it's so easy to alter your thoughts based on consistent intake of some chemical whether it vitamins, drug, etc.