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Be inclusive, not exclusive

Over the last three decades, many nutrition messages have concentrated on banning "bad" foods. But research repeatedly shows that when a "bad" food is removed from the diet, important food components can be lost. The result is a skewed diet missing essential nutrients. It's time to re-program our thinking to make meeting all nutrient needs is the No. 1 priority.

Question: Is there an easy way to know what we need?

Answer: Ask your grandmother. The old "Basic Four" food groups encouraged variety so you'd get all the nutrients you need in reasonable amounts and proportions. Simply put, the system recommended that two-thirds of the diet come from fruits, vegetables and grains and the remaining one-third from milk, eggs, meat, fish, poultry, beans and nuts.

Like a software upgrade, the Food Guide Pyramid is just an update of the old "Basic Four," with bells and whistles to deal with such contemporary problems as an overweight nation. Perhaps the most important of the "upgrades" is recognizing that sedentary lifestyles are likely more to blame than the diet changes of the past few decades.

About 50 years ago, the late Dr. Jean Mayer at Tufts University found that the drive to consume calories is not well-regulated when a person is too sedentary. In other words, being sedentary makes it easier to eat calories more than you burn, so you gain too much fat.

Q: But don't some "bad" foods cause diseases?

A: That's what the hype would indicate. The real message is that too much of certain foods can lead to higher risk of certain problems. It does not mean to avoid those foods all together.

For example, many wonderful components of fruits, vegetable, whole grains and beans promote cardiovascular health. But consume only these foods for too long, and your heart may suffer a lack of adequate protein, iron, zinc and calcium. Such a diet also lacks the heart-healthy long chain omega-3 fatty acids that are found in fish and algae oils.

When people make extreme diet changes in the right direction, they often begin to feel much better. But if they go too far, their health will begin to suffer in new ways.

People have heard "don't" so loudly that many "do" messages have been lost. If your diet is beginning to resemble rabbit food or is becoming too limited, it may be time to remember that variety is truly the spice of life when it comes to food and good nutrition.

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