01/04/2015
January 4, 2015 - The most bang for your buck
It seems to me that we are making good nutrition far more complicated that it needs to be. We have gotten content and who can blame us, we are busy. Let’s stop and take a look at the big picture for a second. It was not too long ago that families could survive off of one income. Dad could go to work and mom could stay home and raise the kids. Unfortunately, that just is not as easy today. The average cost of living has risen dramatically. Thirty years ago in 1985, the consumer price index (CPI) was 105.500; in 2014 it was 233.916, more than double. Today, the average cost for a middle class family to raise a child from birth to 18 is nearly a quarter-million dollars. So what does this mean and how does it relate to my nutrition? The answer is that with both parents having to work, combined with school, extracurricular activities, sports, friends, etc. we are much more rushed today than ever before. A large majority of families do not prepare dinner at home and eat together anymore; rather they grab something from the drive through on the way home. Occasionally a homemade dinner will consist largely of processed boxed and canned foods, in fact nationally, 37.7% of adults consume fruits less than one time a day and 22.6% consume vegetables less than one time a day.
Fruits and vegetables are supposed to be the lion’s share of the food we consume. They are by the best source of the essential micro and macronutrients that our bodies require on a cellular level in order to function optimally. So why in the world would we not eat them? Maybe because it’s more expensive to eat only organic, maybe we don’t have the time to prepare them. Allow me to tell you that if either of those reasons fits you then you are right. Organic fruits and vegetables are a bit more costly, and yes it is much quicker to prepare a frozen or boxed meal, however, that is only because you have decided that it is not a priority. I hate to burst your fantasy bubble and send you spiraling back to reality, but it is your own fault and not anybody or anything else’s. We have become content and the reason is because every single part of our society has successfully strived to simplify our entire lives. Almost anything that a person can do, literally, has been simplified by technology. We can have our groceries delivered, we can compare product costs across town by scanning a UPC code, we can vacuum the house by pushing a button and walking away, and the list goes on and on, and this does not exclude how we eat. Yes, I hate to tell you this but it was not and is not a matter of cost or time, it is a matter of importance and priority.
The other day about two hours after breakfast I was going for a walk. I had walked roughly a mile when I began to notice I was hungry. Unfortunately I was between paychecks and didn’t have more than a few dollars to my name. The area of town I was in has a relatively low concentration of fresh food options; rather, it consists mostly of fast food and convenience stores. I waited a while as I walked and after some time I had just decided that it was better to eat something not so healthy than not eat at all, so I was weighing my options as I walked when I passed a small independent market type store. I was able to get two bananas, an apple, and small bag of unsalted almonds for less than $4.00. So as I was leaving I looked around me and did some simple math deciding what else I could have gotten for that same $4.00, I thought of 4 cheeseburgers from Wendy’s, Burger King or McDonalds. At Taco Bell I could have gotten a number of items, and at any convenience store I could get a hot dog, soda, chips, etc. But how is that little bit of food going to satisfy the hunger of a man who is 6’2 and 190 lbs with the appetite of a horse? The answer is dietary fiber. Dietary fiber, a non-digestible plant carbohydrate, aids digestion, lowers your risk of coronary heart disease and type-2 diabetes. On a 2,000 calorie a day diet, 900 to 1,300 calories should come from carbohydrates, including 28 grams of fiber. Excluding the almonds, just between the bananas and apples there is roughly 11g of fiber. Additionally there are roughly 94g of carbohydrates. Wait, did I just say carbs? Yes, carbs are not evil; in fact carbohydrates should be between 45-65% of your total daily intake. Raw fruits and vegetables are a great source of simple sugars, essential vitamins and minerals, as well as simple carbs that we can break down and use for energy. Furthermore, each banana provided roughly 110 calories and the apple about 130, about 350 total and not one gram of total fat. Now the only downfall is that fruits and vegetables are a great source of everything other than protein, but nuts do. Almonds are a great source of mono-unsaturated fats, yes I said fats. These fats are crucial to the development to the brain in a child helping to improve memory, concentration and focus. Monounsaturated fats also can help reduce bad cholesterol levels in your blood which can lower your risk of heart disease and stroke. They also provide nutrients to help develop and maintain your body’s cells. Oils rich in monounsaturated fats also contribute vitamin E to the diet, an antioxidant vitamin most Americans need more of. Almonds also contain about 11 g of dietary fiber per cup, 20 g of carbs and 20 g of proteins.
So what did I get for my money? I would first like to tell you what I did not get. If I wanted to save $1.00 I could go to McDonalds and get a mcchicken, a mcdouble, and a coke, providing me with; 35 g of fat, 11 g of which is saturated fat, 1,765 mg of sodium, and just shy of 1,000 calories (960). To top it off I receive 4g of dietary fiber, and very minute amounts of vitamin A and C as well as iron and calcium. To sum it up I save a dollar, gain nearly my recommended daily amount of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium and get a very small amount of nutrients form it. To add to it, the sheer amount of high density lipoproteins (HDL) will essentially make that burger turn in to a thick dense mud like substance in your stomach that will leave you feeling like you swallowed a brick.
Going forward, I will dive further into the science behind nutrition and what it means for you on a cellular level. Don’t worry; along with helping you to understand the science of your food, I will help you to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to your body. I am not, nor have I ever been financially affluent, and for many years I ate what was available and easy and cheap because I thought that was my only choice, I was wrong, and I will help you to learn from my mistakes and the only compensation that I ask is your open mind and a reasonable effort to improve your quality of life.
