Thursday, February 28, 2013

Let's Consider "Essential Nutrient Density"

Mathieu Lalonde is a charismatic and intelligent chemist studying and teaching at Harvard.  He decided to analyze almost 8,000 foods based on their essential nutrients.  Let's go to the trusty Wiki for a definition:  
An essential nutrient is a nutrient required for normal body functioning that either cannot be synthesized by the body at all, or cannot be synthesized in amounts adequate for good health (e.g. niacin, choline), and thus must be obtained from a dietary source.
So basically he set out to measure what foods are really important for us to be eating on a frequent basis.  Our bodies are amazing and we have many mechanisms for survival.  But we cannot survive let alone thrive without these nutrients only available to us via food.  So this talk can get very sciencey but he has an engaging way of presenting.  Enjoy.





I understand if you don't want to or have the time to watch the full presentation.  Skip to here for the "surprise" ending.  Bottom line is when food nutrition is analyzed in an intelligent and methodical manner, it appears that maybe we've been duped about nturient values for a long time.  It would be really interesting to see the result  of analyzing pasture raised animal products.  I seriously doubt the USDA data included that.

CP

Monday, February 25, 2013

Eating for Optimal Performance



I frequently post stories on athletes eating to optimize their performance.  I wonder, why is fuel for daily performance only important for athlete's?  Most of us are professional's at something.  We have personal lives that also need to be considered.  We all perform in different ways all day, every day.  Why shouldn't everyone optimize their diet for optimal performance?  Is your diet optimized?  Is your health optimized?  Is your performance optimized?

CP

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

It is Amazing....

I have been reading about this stuff for almost 7 years now.  I am amazed to see the tide turning.  I didn't think it would happen so soon but this sort of information is now popping up everywhere.  It certainly isn't because we are hearing it from our doctors.  The internet has spread this information and made many take it seriously a lot faster than I thought possible.



CP

A New Way to Explain Healthy Eating....

I kinda like this presentation.  Nice, easy analogies.  Over the years, I have seen many ways to describe how to eat healthy.  Many are redundant but this seemed new to me.  Oh well, you never which message is going to resonate with someone.  




CP