A Few Words About Nutrition 2 July 2006

By Fitness Expert Nash Jocic

In order to survive, every living organism needs a constant supply of nutrients. Humans are not exempt. Throughout our evolution we were constantly struggling to secure enough food and in the process adapting to the living environment. Our ability to adapt to different environments has resulted in our current shape and body content. Our anatomy, physiology and biochemistry are the results of adaptation through a period of some 4 million years. Our genetic engineering is the same as it was in our ancestors some 100 thousand years ago. We are literally the same people but living in a very different environment and with very different lifestyles.

Our ancestors had to rely more on their physical strength in order to protect themselves; to walk long distances, to hunt, to gather and to fight. We use different technological discoveries today (cars, machinery, etc.) in order to preserve energy and disengage ourselves physically from everyday life. We don’t walk as much as we used to, we don’t lift heavy objects as we did in the past, we don’t hunt, gather or fight, so therefore we expend much less energy than our ancestors.  Conversely, thanks to our technological advances, we have food in abundance.  A high availability of food is extremely tempting and the majority of us eat more than we need. Most of us eat more frequently during the day than we did in the past and more food is consumed individually on a daily basis than before. In addition, new modern kinds of foods (with dense carbohydrate content) have caused new types of diseases often chronic, which were unknown to our ancestors. 

When more calories are consumed than burned daily, the body stores them as fat deposits. Storing body fat is an important cability of a healthy body, one of the most important functions for survival. Stored energy in the form of body fat offers a good chance for survival during periods of famine, and thanks to that ability we have managed to survive as long as we have. But in modern times, famine is only a historical reality in the developed world. So, the body doesn't get to use stored fat-energy in emergency situations. What the body does then is keep storing more and more body fat without an opportunity to use it and eventually runs into difficulties because of this. In other words, we don’t have to store much body fat because we will never be forced to use it.  Most people in the developed world are overeating a huge amount of calories on a daily basis that results in different many health problems caused by excessive body fat accumulation.

One of the most obvious reasons for overconsumption of calories is the composition and biological value of food that most people eat. Eaten in its natural form and properly selected, food is very difficult to overconsume. In unprocessed forms, foods like vegetables and fruits are extremely satisfying, delaying hunger pangs and easily eliminating different types of cravings. A high percentage of fibre and water in these foods gives them large volume but low calorific intake.

In combination with the right sources of protein and oils, vegetables and fruit in their natural form offer a perfect diet, full of essential proteins, oils, beneficial carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and enzymes. It offers all necessary macro and micronutrients, including fibre and water in the most perfect combination. Nutrients offered through this diet are the ones that the body needs for optimal functioning without the extra calories stored as spare energy in the form of body fat.

Let’s now identify the most common problems in our modern diet.  These are

• Overconsumption of carbohydrates in the form of sugars and grains
• Undereating of quality proteins
• Dominance of processed food over fresh food

Regarding carbohydrates, we have to first understand how the human body responds to them. Food that has been available to humans for millions of years has determined and shaped our digestive and hormonal systems. We have evolved and developed around the food that has been available to us and we still respond to that food perfectly. Eating the same types and amounts of food that have been eaten throughout our evolution enables us to perform perfectly without getting fat and developing many of the chronic diseases that are now devastating us. Once we stop eating like that and introduce more carbohydrates and processed foods to our daily diets, everything changes. Our hormonal response suddenly changes and the body becomes a fat-storing machine, extremely vulnerable to chronic disease.

Fruits, vegetables and roots contain only 3 to 12% carbohydrates. Now compare that to cereals, rice, bread and other carbohydrate-dense foods that contain 60 to 75% carbohydrates! The whole picture changes instantly. Eating these high-carbohydrate foods trigger totally different hormonal reactions, forcing the body to produce high amounts of the hormone insulin. The major role of insulin is to lower the high blood sugar content, transport glucose to muscle cells and glycogen stores, storing the extra glucose in the fat deposits. Not just that, but the person who overeats carbohydrates will get fat and the constant overproduction of insulin will cause a chain of unwanted health problems, starting with insulin resistance, diabetes, cardiovascular problems, hormonal imbalance, etc.

Undereating of high quality protein is the second most common problem in our modern diet. The dominance of high-carbohydrate and fatty foods simply allows no room for quality proteins. The absence of quality proteins triggers cravings and creates essential amino acid deficiencies that manifest themselves in damaged hair, brittle nails, skin problems, lower immunity, loss of muscle tissue, loss of strength, hormonal problems, low energy, etc.  Proteins are essential macronutrients and have to be eaten daily – a few times per day. Individuals who eat enough protein everyday feel satisfied with food, have no craving for sugar and experience no sudden hunger. In combination with fresh vegetables and fruit, proteins get digested and absorbed fully allowing the body to maintain and rebuild every tissue and organ effectively. Choose your proteins from animal sources rather than plants because they are more complete, made of all essential amino acids and therefore more easily assimilated.

Processed foods are unfortunately the dominant components in modern diets. Everything that is cooked, dried, frozen, or enriched with different chemicals in order to prolong shelf life can be labelled as processed food. Once food is processed it is simply denatured and stripped of everything that is supposed to enter the body in order to help digestion and assimilation. Critical food components like enzymes, vitamins and minerals will be neutralized by exposure to very high (cooking) or very low temperatures (freezing). Dehydration (drying) also eliminates enzymes. This is what I call dead food. Dead food cannot offer much benefit to our health. In contrary, processed foods are difficult to digest; they put stress on the body, especially the liver, kidneys, pancreas and the rest of the digestive system, lowering immunity and making the body prone to many illnesses. Food preservatives and other chemicals that are pumped into processed foods are simply toxins for the body - weakening rather than enforcing our lives. Instead, fresh foods should be eaten, and ones that have to be cooked (meat, fish, some vegetables and roots etc) shouldn’t be overcooked. Only fresh foods bring with them essential enzymes, vitamins and minerals that make them the most powerful natural medicine without side effects.

Nash Jocic’s Healthy Diet Tips

• Eating healthily doesn’t mean starving or overdieting. Overdieting is actually counterproductive. These are the main problems caused by overdieting:

1) A decrease in the production of the thyroid hormone is the last thing that you want to happen while trying to lose body fat. The thyroid hormone helps regulate how many calories your body burns each day and in the case of overdieting, thyroid hormone levels will fall, forcing the body to burn less calories. Even though you may be eating less, you may not burn fat as effectively as when you were consuming more calories.

2) Overdieting for too long may ultimately have a negative effect on your immune system. A body with a weak immune system finds it harder to destroy free radicals. Increased levels of free radicals can lead to insulin resistance, a condition that elevates insulin levels and is a contributor to the storage of body fat.

3) Leptin is an important hormone that helps your body regulate its weight. Overdieting can cause a decline in leptin levels, which creates two dieting obstacles. First you may experience an increased intensity in food cravings (leading you to eat more than you want). Second, decreased leptin can also slow down your metabolic rate, making it more challenging to shed body fat.

• Choose your carbohydrates well. The best sources of carbohydrates for women are definitely vegetables and fruit. The percentage of carbohydrates in those foods is relatively low while the same food is rich with fibres and water, making the assimilation of carbohydrates slow and steady. If your metabolism is very fast and you feel that you can afford some complex carbohydrates, stick to the slower-burning carbohydrates such as oats, rye bread and yams.
  
  
• Increase your protein intake. Protein should be part of every meal that you have throughout the day. Choose lean sources of protein like fish, chicken and turkey breasts, egg whites, low-fat cottage cheese, and very lean red meat.
  
  
• Have enough omega-3 fatty acids in your diet. Oily cold water fish such as salmon and sardines are a rich source of the two most important omega-3 compounds, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). A third omega-3, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) is found primarily in dark-green leafy vegetables and flaxseed oil. Your daily intake of these essential fatty acids that protect you from coronary disease and insulin resistance should be around 3-6 grams of fish oil, or 10-20 grams of flaxseed oil.