Thinking more about what makes food healthy
A few factors:
- Nutrient density: this is the amount of nutrients divided by the number of calories. Basically, it will favor foods that are high in nutrients and low in calories. Which is a big part of what provides our bodies with the building blocks to fight illness, build up the immune system, reduce risk of cancer, have healthy organs, and digest well.
- Glycemic index: basically a measure of how much impact the food will have on your blood glucose level. It’s not healthy to have huge spikes in glucose, as it leads to weight gain, heart disease, high cholesterol, and possibly diabetes. You can lower the glycemic index of a food by eating it with other things that have lower glycemic indexes. I still don’t completely understand how this works… so forgive me if I got it a little wrong.
- pH: your stomach needs a certain level of acidity to properly digest food. If your stomach has to work too hard to raise the pH, all kinds of discomforts ensue. That’s why it’s good to add a little vinegar to your salad, or drink a glass of red wine with your meal. Water also helps digestion move along smoothly.
What am I missing here?
August 31st, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Good summary. I’ve been trying to work out some of this stuff too, and it’s so hard to pin down studies that back up the statements.
On the pH. I heard that water is good for digestion in general, but bad /with meals/ because it dilutes the stomach acid. However, that’s from Gillian McKeith, and there’s a lot of noise about how she’s not very scientific. I did try shifting my drinking away from meals to see if I felt better after mealtimes, but then I found I didn’t drink enough water. In the end, I’ve decided I’m not worried about some acid dilution – I’d rather drink water whenever I feel like it and not feel thirsty
On a separate point, you might want to look into Gut Flora (yes, really, that’s the wikipedia page I found on it) and digestion. It’s about the good bacteria that help with digestion. It’s a very popular topic lately. Hence the acidophilus culture products popping up everywhere. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gut_flora. I think certain types of foods cause an increased use of the bacteria that helps with digestion. Also stress can cause an increase in bad bacteria. If the good bacteria are too few, our body doesn’t process the foods properly. Hence topping up is useful.
I’m no expert though, so take this with the requisite dose of vinegar, or a glass of wine, if it helps
Interesting stuff! I look forward to hearing what else you discover.
August 31st, 2010 at 10:40 pm
Also, getting a variety of colorful whole foods and combining them in a variety of ways increases the amount of antioxidants and amino acids that you get.
September 1st, 2010 at 10:24 pm
small detail: acids are low pH so adding an acid to something lowers the pH (see the chart at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PH#Applications).
Also, I thought the (unscientific) theory was that people actually need more alkaline (high pH) food instead of more acidic food.
October 3rd, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Nutrition Density, yes – fresh produce, minimally-processed foods.
Glycemic Index, sort of – carrots supposedly have a high GI, does that mean they’re bad for you? [rhetorical q]. No. The GI is relevant to the refined vs. whole/minimally-processed foods argument. White bread has a high GI, is easy to digest, and doesn’t put a dent in your hunger, hence is easier to eat in large quantities – not good. In that sense GI is important. But don’t get caught up in the index/numbers. Just go for minimally processed.
pH, fugetaboutit – people who talk about pH & food, don’t give the human digestive system enough credit. Feed your body right – again, like a broken record, minimally-processed & fresh foods, but everything in moderation.
http://www.HealthyButJuicy.com