I have WONDERED and wondered how to begin talking to
• family
• co-workers
• and our greater community
about a few of our nutritional and health needs, in ways we maybe don't normally consider.
I thought why not begin with how I worried about a child who only would drink heavy sugar drinks and only would eat salty, at a time when at least one in five of our children in the U.S. were prediabetic:
That's one in five -- a number that has grown to possibly one in three, according to CDC analy-ses scientists want to better understand in 2025.
And I wondered whether I should start this talk another way:
And I decided to start by saying
• experienced dieticians all are different in how they approach health communications. My college background is in journalism, and I've looked to all kinds of write-ups about our health.
I've seen articles that try coaching us to pick this snack food at Chick-fil-A, or pick this one at Subway, or the most crazy thing I've seen has been to take half your bun off of your hamburger.
• But there also are a lot of absolutely sane health articles that are peer-reviewed by doctors, nurses, and diaticians. And those articles, with sometimes a little word of advice from a loved one, have helped me navigate hard times.
• I've had a lot of guidance.
But what about the child who spends more than a few months running to the store to get a little boxed cereal for him and his brother when his mom hasn't been doing well and he doesn't know what else to choose or to do?
And what about most of us in the U.S., who just don't think much of food and the body?
When it comes to our health, I think too many people have gotten wrong ideas when health professionals have generalized and oversimplified comments for magazine and blog articles and TV news.
And I think that, often, lay people run in wrong directions with those generalizations:
One result is that
• some people overwhelm the internet with stuff that says to diet, diet, diet:
to diet this way and that way, when none of it really meets us at our needs.
Some people wind up saying things that amount to, "Don't eat bread. Count your carbs. Don't drink whole milk," and on and on.
But truth is
• that bread is not the enemy, but that it helps to understand different kinds of bread and bread density;
• and that rice is among the most health-wise and affordable foods we have, if we know one rice from another, and especially if we have certain rices with certain other foods;
• and that cattle milk --
beginning from when time began for the human race --
was as much part of God's plan to sustain us as were leafy greens, beans, and peas.
I believe in the Bible that says my Savior came eating milk curds!
And I believe in science that says it's reasonable to recognize an epidemic trend in heart disease, from 20th-century food consumption, didn't come from drinking milk, but did come from trans-fats that were in a majority of what we were eating, be it foods prepared with margerine or shortening, fast foods and TV dinners, or foods more generally cooked with oils that were used and reused, on top of many cooking oils not being the best oils for cooking.
And as to what we need for food every day, it just helps us to know a little about our bodies and the goals we need as individuals.
When I've been prediabetic, I've needed to know maltodextrin is a thickener that's in everything from some commercial pizzas, to Ensure and most other complete-protein nutrition-replacement drinks;
• that maltodextrin spikes blood sugar higher than table sugar;
• and that one of the things I really need to do when times are tough is drink milk, milk, and even whole milk, especially considering I have NOT fallen prey to the lactose-intolerance that has grown among newborns today.
I've also needed to understand milk CAN help cover my hydration needs, and that the amount of sugar in a cup of orange juice is a good measure of what limits I should set on an every-now-and-then serving of ice cream;
• or that that ice cream treat goes better with a burger, because real beef's natural fat can help prevent a rise in blood sugar that wears me out and that raises the risk of diabetes.
When I've fought viruses and other infections, I've needed to understand complete proteins with vitamin D are as important as vitamin C -- that vitamin C and other dietary acids only go so far.
When I've been anemic, I've needed to understand there are different kinds of anemia, that iron isn't our only need:
• that I get more iron if I'm eating whole foods with iron and vitamin C;
• that B12 anemia means that, among other foods, I should probably decide on a once-a-week real-beef burger from a place where burgers are not fatty or greasy, and that whole chicken (including its beneficial fat) can help a little, too.
When I've considered some blood disorders can sometimes mimic sickle-cell anemia, causing cells to misshape a little when there is over-exertion and not enough hydration, I've needed to be even more mindful of all we need each day.
So the bottom line is that I want to talk about food and health awareness, or mindfulness, not special diets or trends or silly advice, but some common-sense things our foreperents seemed to miraculously understand, despite falling prey to things like alcoholism, trans-fats, and sugar-sugar!
If you're interested, we should speak to one another!
