Four: Modern Diets— A Reevaluation
Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels.
Isaiah 47:13 We have looked at various models that explain the properties of food that affect us above and beyond their quantity of nutrients and calories. Let us now reevaluate the common dietary practices from this new perspective. I would like to limit the discussion to those diets that are relevant to our contemporary lifestyles: the standard American, the recommended American, specialized diets( the Pritikin diet, high-protein diets, lowcalorie diets), the fortified natural-foods diet, the vegetarian diet in its various versions, and macrobiotics. In the following chapter I will examine what I like to call the Health-Supportive Whole-Foods Eating Style— my own choice, and the way of eating that I feel is most flexible and workable in our society. THE STANDARD AMERICAN DIET This is a difficult diet to define, as there have been no works written specifically about it( except for those that decry it). Let’ s take as an example of our basic Standard American Diet( S. A. D.) the fare served in coffee shops throughout the country. It represents, I feel, the middle ground between TV dinners and martini-and-steak lunches. Generally speaking, the diet is based on esthetics and technology. Foodstuffs are considered appropriate or inappropriate first because of their appearance, aroma, and taste; and, second, according to the number of their component material parts, or nutrients( vitamins, minerals, proteins, and so on), as identified and quantified in laboratory studies. Technological methods are applied to the preservation of foods( canning, freezing, chemical preservatives), and their effects are noted only on flavor and appearance. The S. A. D. rejects the age-old premise that food affects health greatly and in a multitude of ways. In tandem with modern Western medicine, the only health effects it attributes to food are those of obesity or malnutrition— that is, variables that can be measured in numbers. Intrinsic qualities, being nonquantifiable, are ignored. IT CONSISTS OF:
• Meat( especially hamburgers and hot dogs), chicken, eggs, bacon, cold cuts, some fish( especially canned tuna)
• Milk, cottage cheese, butter, ice cream, and other dairy products
• Refined wheat products( bread, cake, cookies, pasta) and other refined grains with sugar, preservatives, flavorings, and synthetic nutrients added( as in breakfast cereals)
• Tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, green beans, peas, carrots, celery, corn, spinach, peppers, cucumbers, and a few other vegetables, often canned or frozen
• Sugar in desserts, candy, jellies; as an additive to many foods, such as bread or ketchup; or added directly, as in beverages or breakfast dishes
• Fruit: citrus, apples, grapes, bananas, watermelon( in the summer), strawberries, and a few others
• Peanut butter, potato chips, and other snack foods high in fat, salt, or sugar
• Chemical additives in canned, frozen, and commercially prepared foods, such as soups, salad dressings, and ready-to-eat and heat-and-serve foods
• Artificial or imitation foods: margarine,“ whipped toppings,”“ diet” foods with artificial sweeteners,“ bacon bits,”“ non-dairy whiteners,” and so on
• Stimulating beverages: coffee, soft drinks( with or without caffeine and heavily sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners), alcoholic beverages
• Orange juice and other fruit juices IT FORBIDS: Nothing. IT IGNORES: Whole-grain cereals( except token amounts of whole wheat), beans( except for some lentils, navy beans, and split peas in soup), many vegetables( for example, kale, chard, rutabaga, kohlrabi, collard greens), sea vegetables( except in industrial uses, such as agar for jelling). THE S. A. D. TABLES OF OPPOSITES CONTRACTIVE
EXPANSIVE
Salt Eggs, bacon Meat, chicken, fish Hard, salty cheeses
Sugar Juices, fruits Lettuce, potatoes, tomatoes
Coffee, alcohol Yogurt, milk, cottage cheese