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The Important Role of Natural Foods |
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Diet and Nutrition
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Written by Dave DePew
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Sunday, 13 April 2008 13:34 |
Time and time again you have heard nutritional experts tell you just how important raw and/or unprocessed natural foods are to your diet. While you probably know they play a role in maintaining your overall good health, you may not be as familiar with just how significant a role they play.
There is a particular body of research by two nutritional pioneers which provides some amazing insight into just how import raw, unprocessed foods are to our overall health. Additionally, it offers solid research findings regarding just how detrimental substituting raw foods with refined, processed food products can be to our general health and well-being.
Dr. Weston A. Price was a dentist in the early 1900s that made a startling discovery. After years of research and touring the world studying the eating habits of indigenous populations, he was able to conclude that as processed foods were introduced into a particular culture, general health began to deteriorate.
Just as the eyes are said to be the windows to the soul, Dr. Price believed that the teeth were the windows into our bodies. By looking at the condition of a subject’s death in correlation with their diet, he was able to determine their overall health. Those individuals with cavities and poor teeth often were those that had a diet made up largely of refined processed foods. Those with strong, healthy teeth often exhibited good general health and ate diets rich in raw foods.
Another early nutritionist named Dr. Francis Pottenger, Jr. conducted ten years of research on cats that culminated in a report titled the “Meat Study”. His research found that cats fed a diet of 30 percent raw and 70 percent cooked meat were unable to maintain good health. Those fed a diet of 50 percent raw and 50 percent cooked were able to just get by, while those feed a diet of 100 percent raw meat thrived and experienced good health. Like Price, he was able to establish a clear connection between a diet rich in cooked refined foods and skeletal deformities.
The take away point from both these bodies of research is simple. By consuming a diet emphasizing processed, refined foods, we are giving up needed nutrients found in raw foods. The more foods we use to displace the foods that have nutrient value, i.e. raw, unprocessed foods, the more likely we will be to develop such conditions as cavities, skeletal deformities and osteoporosis.
What can you do to increase your chances of avoid skeletal deformities and general poor health? Start by:
• Incorporate more raw foods into your diet. At least one third of your diet should come from raw food sources.
• Focus on eating more locally grown, seasonal foods and avoid processed foods.
• Try to incorporate more fermented foods like vinegar, sauerkraut, kefir and cultured veggies into your diet. Fermented foods are rich in enzymes that help you more easily digest processed foods.
• Consume more healthy fats such as omega-3 fats from animal sources, and reduce the amount of omega-6 fats like those found in vegetable oils.
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