I just realized that I've neglected to suggest a plan for American eating that would be more beneficial than the Food Pyramid. I've spent most of my time complaining about what is wrong without clearly defining what should be changed. For my plan, I am going to do away with the Pyramid. It would be impossible for me to rank one food as more important than the other.
Without further a due, here is my plan:
- Eat lots of vegetables. It doesn't matter if they're cooked or raw, just eat them. The more variety of color the better.
- Eat some fruit. Fruits are delicious and packed with nutrients.
- Eat meat. Don't just eat white meat, don't just eat red meat. Remember, Saturated fat is healthy and provides vital energy for the body.
- Eat small amounts of nuts and seeds. Nuts and seeds are valuable sources of fat and protein. They are also very dense sources of nutrition.
- Anything else, eat in moderation. This includes bread, milk, and sugar. These foods should be limited. Too much of them will throw the body out of homeostasis.
How'd you like it? It is pretty vague isn't it? It's supposed to be vague though. Different people need different amounts of food. This plan gives everyone a rough outline to follow that is nutritionally sound without going overboard in either the low-carb or low-fat direction. Most anyone could follow these simple directions and see positive health results.
Another topic I'd like to bring up is school lunch. There are very few people that would not agree with me that school lunches are terribly unhealthy. I remember that my middle school offered square pizza, fries, and chicken sandwiches pretty much every day and maybe a salad covered with dressing if we were lucky. High School offered pretty much the same thing. Even the food pyramid would balk at the atrociousness of this lunch. In addition, it is horribly easy to influence kids. If a child grows up eating garbage, I have no doubt that they will most likely continue eating garbage. School lunches need to change so that kids know what a healthy lunch looks like, so that as they grow up, they gravitate towards healthier foods. If school lunches followed the plan I outlined above they would definitely cost more. The extra money should be thought of as an investment though. Not only will the kids be performing better in school but if they actually continue eating healthily, they will be less of a burden on the health care system as they age. I would also not be surprised if there was a link between attention disorders and malnutrition. I have read about it before but the research is still to recent for there to be a consensus in the scientific community.
Additional readings:
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