Lifestyler with Josie McKenlay: Importance of a varied diet (part 1)

Josie McKenlay 13:16 07/08/2014
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  • Reap what you sow: Are we eating too many grains?

    Rufus, our beloved black Labrador, has had a number of health issues these past few months, including cancer. He doesn’t smoke, drink or eat junk food.

    He gets plenty of exercise, rest and affection and is definitely not overweight. There’s very little stress in his life and he is very happy, positive and optimistic.

    Around 50 per cent of older dogs will die from cancer and I’d rather Rufus wasn’t one of them, so I’m taking a closer look at what exactly I’m feeding him.

    What I’m finding applies to humans too as we and dogs are omnivores. The modern way of feeding a dog is a scientifically produced dry food, balanced and easy to control from a portion size point of view, but a couple of things bother me: lack of variety and three of the five top ingredients being grains.

    We humans know that a balanced diet is good for our health and there is plenty of information out there to guide us.

    I have written about the need for variety and trying to “eat a rainbow” when it comes to fruit and vegetables. So it may come as a surprise to know that even when striving for a varied diet, we could improve.

    Example

    A pretty typical daily menu amongst family and friends is cereal and toast for breakfast, a sandwich at lunchtime and then in the evening something quick like pasta.

    Each option is nutritious enough, but every meal contains wheat (and gluten). Unless you have an allergy to wheat or gluten it’s fine to eat, but not so often.

    Biscuits and cakes generally contain wheat too. In half the world, bread provides more than 50 per cent of the total caloric intake, and in a few countries of Southern Asia, Central America, the Far East and Africa cereal products comprise up to 80 per cent or more of the total caloric intake.

    Rice is very popular and often eaten at every meal in some households. Again, there is nothing wrong with rice, although white options of all grain based foods have been bleached and processed.

    The meals could be very different, but the basic ingredients are the same too often. Now lots of people and restaurants are aware of this and experiment with different types of carbohydrates: semolina, cous-cous, bulgar wheat, barley, corn-meal and oats to name but a few, which certainly tick all the boxes for variety, but these are all still grains.

    Add to this the rapid rise of the industrial food animal production system where an increasing number of food animals once raised on pastures are now grain fed, and you have an overload of grains.

    It is seemingly cheaper to grow grain feed for animals than let them roam free. No wonder we have to eat vast amounts of fruit and vegetables just to get an optimal amount of vitamins and minerals.

    Have you checked the boxes of eggs lately to see what the chickens are being fed? Whilst we are consuming all these grains, we are often falling short of other important nutrients.

    Next week: The Primal Blueprint

    I am a Level 3 Pilates & yoga instructor and a member of REPS UAE and ICREPS. I have over 25 years experience in the health and fitness industry. Follow me on Facebook/Josie.McKenlay and on Twitter @JosieMcKenlay http://www.josiemckenlay.com/ http://www.yogapilatesabudhabi.com/

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