In the previous chapter we looked at how foods can help minimize the signs of aging. But let’s back up and think, not in terms of aging, but living, because that’s what you plan on doing for as long as possible, in the healthiest possible body. Every part of you is constantly changing. In fact, your liver, skin, and blood cells are completely replaced several times a year.
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At first, good nutrition may seem daunting and tricky. An easy place to begin is by eating at least three servings of vegetables and three servings of fruit each day. Orange vegetables such as carrots and sweet potatoes; dark, leafy vegetables such as broccoli, spinach, kale, and mustard greens; and an assortment of fruits contain the antioxidants your cells need to block out free-radical damage. Eat your favorites, but don’t hesitate to try new kinds, as the recipes at the back of the book will help you do.
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Let’s look at what’s not included in a healthy menu. Chances are you’ll find a surprise or two. The new science of nutrition has led a great many people to break some old habits, with wonderful results in the process. Here are the food products we’ve learned to avoid.
Meat, Poultry, and Fish
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Fish are hardly swimming in pristine waters: Our waterways are receptacles for sewage systems and pesticide runoff. The National Research Council reports that polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs (industrial chemicals used in electrical equipment, hydraulic fluid, and carbonless carbon paper), are found in virtually every site where fish or shellfish have been tested—even in remote spots off Alaska and Hawaii. These contaminants become densely concentrated in fish muscles and then find their way into your body, where they remain for many, many years.
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One of every three chickens in the supermarket cooler has live salmonella bacteria growing inside its plastic packaging. And it is easy for chickens to pass the disease through their ovaries and into their eggs. Cooking eggs “sunny side up” doesn’t destroy the bacteria. And don’t forget about the raw eggs in popular foods such as Caesar dressing, hollandaise sauce, eggnog, mousse, and homemade ice cream.
If you thought the trouble with chicken could be cooked away, there’s more bad news. Chicken produces dangerous heterocyclic amines (HCAs) when it is heated. Produced from creatine, amino acids, and sugar in the chicken muscle, HCAs also are found in tobacco smoke, and are fifteen times more concentrated in grilled chicken than in beef.
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Dairy products are a big part of culinary traditions in America, Western Europe, and many other countries. Whatever the dish, someone is smothering it with cheese. Fast-food eateries could probably sell a cardboard sandwich if they covered it in three kinds of cheese. But when your goal is to change the role that foods play in your life and to start using them to your best advantage, it’s time to take a good, hard look at dairy.
Let’s begin with milk. Modern dairy farming presents much of the same contamination issues as chicken farming. Cows graze on pesticide-soaked lands and, since the legalization of bovine growth hormone (BGH) in 1993, farmers have been using it to produce enormous quantities of milk. As a result, cows often develop mastitis, a painful udder infection that must be treated with antibiotics.
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America’s love affair with high-fat, low-fiber foods has taken its toll. More than half of Americans are overweight. Our insides are being attacked by heart disease, diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, and other painful and costly diseases. Our outsides are expanding, sagging, and deteriorating far too early in life. And many people are desperately trying to find their way back to health.
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What does healthy eating look and taste like? For breakfast you won’t want to go near bacon or eggs, which are fattening up far too many people. So how about a big bowl of old-fashioned oatmeal topped with cinnamon and raisins, along with half a cantaloupe, and some hearty whole grain toast? If you really have to have the taste of bacon or sausage for a while, new vegetarian versions are tasty enough to fool the most skeptical, food-dissecting child at your breakfast table.
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Protein
Busy women are all in search of more energy and stamina. You may have wondered if you’re getting enough protein. After all, advertisements have loudly portrayed meat, especially beef, as the superior protein source. Today we have a much better understanding of how much protein we need for good health and where to find the best sources. Protein is needed to build and repair body structures, from tiny blood cells to major organs. Even so, excess protein doesn’t equal better health. There are serious risks associated with eating too much.
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