You want to live to 120 – well eat wheatgrass and algae for health, beauty, happiness and old age. Some time it was all juices. New food sages are appearing all the time! Is food a fashion industry?
Is food science evolving at all? It should be possible to arrive at some consensus about what constitutes healthy food.
Low-carb regimes have some followers, fruit and veggies are good – but are high-carb – food is processed, GM, with antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, other chemicals, additives of many kinds, taste enhancers, colorings etc. are added. The earth is devoid of most nutrients so we get less and less nutrients in ordinary food. The solution seems to be eating raw, untreated, ecological, plant-based food. Illnesses will disappear, weight be OK, allergies go away.
Some of this may be true.
We know that food matters – lots of foods are said to have have excellent properties in preventing illnesses. But few scientists are prepared to name what a particular food can do: good foods are berries, varieties of cabbage and green tea is OK, plant oils can be had and so on. And the rest of the foods – what about them?
And eating food must also feel good!
The body’s metabolism is the mechanism that controls the processes in the body. We eat basically carbohydrates, proteins and fats that are converted in our body to produce energy for use and build up of the body. Enzymes and hormones do this. Vitamins and minerals are needed to facilitate these processes.
- Anabolism is the constructive metabolism building cells and new tissue, stores energy, builds complex molecules of carbohydrates, proteins and fats
- Catabolism is the mechanism that breaks down large molecules to free energy, removes waste
The process of metabolism is balancing these processes: building and using, removing.
Basal metabolic rate BMR is given, but can be changed by how you live: eating, exercise, psychology, lifestyle, medication.
The metabolism is said to involve about 500 substances from foods, about 16 of which are essential. A varied diet should therefore be possible, making you able to eat healthy and at the same time what you like.
It must be possible to say with some degree of certainty what is good and benefits metabolism. Or is the complexity such that we all must be left to our own devices?
This is not satisfactory! Can we prolong our lives by “advanced” eating? Science must get better and communicate better. Can we combine all these factors?
Tags: metabolism