Why Do We Diet? An Investigation

A diet is a controlled intake of food and drink designed for weight loss, for health or religious reasons, or to control or improve a medical condition.

I understand that the obesity rate has increased over the years, but it's not because we haven't been so called "dieting." It is because we haven't been watching what or how much of what we eat. That does not require a diet.

The first thing you need to understand is how your body works and what it needs, in layman's terms I mean. Believe it or not protein plays a huge part in vital nutrients that we need. Know this, just because you were brought up eating certain foods does not mean you have to continue to do so.

Here's a thought for you to think about. America sees itself as the food provider for the world. Have you ever enjoyed a nice hot cappuccino? Let's think on that for a moment, that cappuccino that you just can't live without came from another country. As a matter of fact it took millions of acres to of agricultural land in the hungry world. So, how is it that that country being unable to feed its own people is supplying us with coffee? I'll answer that for you, that country wasn't doing it to provide food for men they were doing it for the money. Point being land that grows money can't grow food.

A change in our eating habits can only be a first step in the direction of a rational use of our world's agricultural resources. Food prices have steeply risen in recent years. The negative pressure of a general rise in food prices is an immoral method for getting people to change their diet; even if that change is in a rational direction.

The poor will continue to bear the real blunt of the price increases, and certain corporate interests will continue to be the beneficiaries.

Myths about Protein and Where to get it

There are in fact eight myths involving protein and their real nutritional facts. I think knowing the real facts versus the myths are quite important to understand.

Myth: Meat contains more protein than any other food.

Fact: Containing about twenty-five percent protein, meat ranks about in the middle of the protein quantity scale, along with some nuts, cheese, beans, and fish.

Myth: Eating lots of meat is the only way to get enough protein

Fact: The "so-called" average American actually eats almost twice the protein that one's body can use.

Myth: Meat is the sole source for certain essential vitamins and minerals.

Fact: Except for vitamin B-12 non meat sources provide more than half of our intake of each of the eleven vitamins and minerals most commonly cited. Meat is not the sole source of vitamin B-12 it is in fact found in all dairy products.

Myth: Meat has the highest quality protein of any food.

Fact: the word in and of itself "quality" is an unscientific term. It's actual meaning is usability: how much of the protein eaten is actually of egg and milk protein is greater than that of meat.

Myth: Because plant protein is missing certain essential amino acids it can never equal the quality of meat protein.

Fact: All plant foods commonly eaten as sources of protein contain all eight essential amino acids. Plant proteins do have deficiencies in their amino acids patterns that make them generally less useable by the body than animal protein.

A myth that plant centered diets are dull just isn't true. The fact of the matter is there are basically five different kinds meat and poultry. However, there are forty to fifty different kinds of commonly eaten vegetables, twenty-four kinds of peas, beans, and lentils, twenty different fruits, twelve different nuts, and nine grains. The variety's of flavor, texture , and color obviously lies in the plant world.

A myth that plant foods contain a lot of carbohydrates and are therefore, more fattening then meat is completely false. Fact is Plant foods contain carbohydrates but they generally don't have the fat that meat does. So, ounce to ounce most plant food has either about the same calories (bread being the example) or considerably fewer calories than meat. Many fruits have one third the calories, cooked beans have half, and many green veggies have one eighth the calories that meat contains.

The last myth is that our meat centered cuisine provides us with a more nutritious diet overall than that eaten in the poor world. That is just not so, The dramatic contrast between our diet and that of the "average" Indian (from India) is not our higher protein consumption, but our intake of sugar and fat. While we take in only fifty percent more protein, we consume eight times the fat, four times the sugar.

Far from being the sugar, from being undermined by a higher consumption of plant food, our diets may actually be improved.