A body for all diets

   The human body is a marvelous set of systems. Eating and processing food seems relatively simple but, as seen in previous blogs about nutrition and inner bacterial colonies, it is not really that straight-forward. Nevertheless, our bodies can definitely be considered omnivorous -- able to eat anything that is not poisonous (and a limited amount of some foods, such as alcohol, that are poisonous).

   Our bodies need certain "building blocks". These include calories (for basic energy), amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and basic nutritional blocks (such as fats/oils, carbohydrates, general proteins, and so forth). Since I have already spent a number of blogs on this subject, it does not make sense to go into further detail at the time. The point is, these building blocks are required for a healthy body -- but the form in which we take these building blocks in can vary a lot.

   For the sake of argument and categorization, let's say that there are four types of diets available. The first is carnivorous -- eating only meat. The second is omnivorous -- eating foods that come from other animals as well as plants and items that are difficult to classify. The third is vegetarian -- eating only foods that do not require animals to be killed. The fourth is vegan -- eating only foods that are considered to come from the plant side of biology.

   As mentioned earlier, our bodies are designed to be omnivorous. Thus, this can be thought to be the "easiest" type of diet. Eating a mixture of meats, plants, and animal-derived foods gives the easiest access to our nutritional building blocks. This does not mean that it immediately gives rise to a healthy diet. For all diets, it is still needed to make sure that quantities of calories and the balancing of other building blocks is kept in mind. Most people in the world are omnivores.

   One of my sons calls himself a "carnivore" -- but he still eats pasta (and cheesecake) and other items from the rest of the planet's living matter. A true carnivore eats only meat (some large carnivores eat a small amount of grasses for fiber and minerals but not for calories). For humans, this only occurs naturally when living in an area where plant food is very scarce -- such as the Arctic regions. The Inuit eat an almost exclusively carnivorous diet and, in general, stay quite healthy. Upon study, it has been found that this relies on two things. In order to get a full set of nutritional building blocks, they must eat most of the animals including bones (or bone marrow), internal organs, and other parts that many humans avoid. It is also important that some of the animal bodies be eaten without cooking as cooking can destroy many vitamins and amino acids.

   I always thought that vegetarian meant eating only non-animal-based food. It turns out that the original definition of vegetarian meant to eat a well-rounded diet -- to curb the excesses of the diets that were eaten by those who had access to many types of foods. However, in the modern era, vegetarian is considered to be not eating animal tissue. Animal-derived foods, such as eggs and dairy products, are also allowed. A vegetarian diet can be very healthy -- especially if animal-derived foods are kept to a minimum -- but it is very important to watch the needed building blocks carefully.

   Finally, there are vegans. The word vegan was derived from the beginning and end of the word VEGetariAN. No animal-derived products are allowed. Since this means eating exclusively from the bottom of the food pyramid, it is difficult to find an overweight vegan. It is also relatively easy to become unhealthy if the diet is not watched carefully. Traditional vegetarian cultures and religions work with this and adopt a cuisine and menu that naturally balances out the needs of the body. A self-imposed vegetarian must devise this for themselves. Luckily, it is much easier to do that with an abundance of literature and products in our global economy.

   Which diet is "best"? Telling an Inuit to become a vegetarian would be telling them to starve. If the entire world's population decided to become strictly carnivorous, then probably 90% (or more) of the world would starve as there is not enough animal substance to feed everyone in the world. There are also hybrid eating philosophies such as "vegetarian with fish". Being vegan is the easiest burden on the planet since it uses foods from the lowest levels of the food pyramid. However, this is also not possible for all people, without a global economy, because some areas of the world do not have enough human-edible plant-based food on which to survive (but other animals CAN eat those plants and provide a higher-level food for humans).

   In a global economy, we have choices. Foods can be grown in one place and eaten in another although this places a burden on transportation, fuel, and storage costs onto the planet. Locally produced foods are a lighter burden but is not possible everywhere. Many people choose vegetarian (or vegan) diets based on their individual morals that determine that unnecessarily eating animals is wrong. Vegetarian/vegan eating is also less expensive but requires time for balancing and preparation.

   Our bodies may allow us many choices in diets but the choices are still individual for people. What choices have you made and why?

The Science and Economics of Nutrition, Part 5

In the past few posts, I have talked about the three caloric supports of nutrition -- fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. Carbohydrates only supply energy but fats and proteins also supply necessary "building blocks" for the body to build and repair itself. However, these are not sufficient -- it is also necessary to have other components which we usually call vitamins and minerals.

Vitamins are organic compounds that cannot cannot be synthesized by the human body. Thus, some items (such as Vitamin C) are needed vitamin for humans but not considered such for other animals. Vitamins primarily act as catalysts for building processes within the body. This means that they help the body produce needed cells and substances but are not directly incorporated into the body.

Minerals are often thought of as the "basic elements" such as Calcium, Iron, Copper, and so forth. However, most minerals in the diet are actually combinations of elements -- often with Oxygen but possibly a combination of various elements such as Calcium and Carbon. Since Oxygen is such a high percentage (about 46.6% by weight) of the earth's crust, it has to be expected that Oxygen will be incorporated in many minerals.

Minerals and vitamins interact in various ways. For example, it is difficult for the body to use Calcium unless sufficient quantities of Vitamin D (particularly D3) are present in the diet. On the other hand, if the body doesn't have enough Magnesium, then the Calcium will "substitute" and there might be a deficiency of Calcium available in the body. Some minerals help regulate specific processes in the body -- Chromium is often considered to be important in insulin production within the pancreatic glands.

Vitamins and minerals can be obtained via meats and other animal products. However, since vitamins can be weakened, or destroyed, by cooking, meats are not a preferred source of vitamins.

Fruits and vegetables really shine when it comes to providing the body with vitamins and minerals. They are usually cooked less, or left raw, and this means the nutrients are left intact for the body to use. In addition, the organic compounds which contain the minerals are thought to be better utilized by the body than those from an inorganic source.

Alas, fresh fruits and vegetables are quite expensive on a per-calorie basis. Canned produce are less expensive but often have reduced nutrients due to the canning process and, in the U.S., are often compromised with added salt and sugar. Frozen fruits and vegetables are often the best balance of nutrition and cost -- but, of course, requires a freezer for storage.

One of the biggest challenges in food preparation of fruits and vegetables is countering the media advertising for processed foods. The more processing, the more profits. The more home processing (or preparing a recipe, if you prefer), the more time needed. We will go more into these trade-offs in the next blog, which will be a summary of nutrition with an emphasis on economics.