What is a healthy diet defined as?
Why is there such a wide variety of life on Earth? How can so many species compete to live in a similar environment?
All life on Earth is still here because it has evolved some characteristic which gives them a distinct competitive advantage. Many people’s competitive advantage is their diet.
The koala is a classic example. It eats only certain types of eucalyptus, which give it all the nutrients and energy it needs. Koalas have evolved a highly-specialized metabolism, lifestyle, and physiology to deal with toxic food sources. This evolution has given them access to food that no one else wants. It is their competitive edge. They can gorge themselves on food in the trees away from predators.
Evolution has taken billions of millions of years to get us where we are.
All animals have evolved to eat a certain diet. The majority of animals instinctively know this diet, but in higher animals there may be some generational education which gives them an advantage.
What is our natural diet then? What evolved to be our natural diet? It is difficult to answer. The evolution of mankind took place as we gradually populated the world, and in different climates that offered distinct food options. Some populations adapted their metabolisms to deal with the lactose found in cow’s dairy in adulthood, while others detoxified the alcohol from fermented fruit. Different populations have evolved different metabolisms in order to cope with the food available in their environment. It is possible that this has been so extreme that foods that were healthy for some populations may be metabolic problems for others.
These specialized evolution diets were disrupted by mass globalization in the past hundreds of years. Now that we are able to eat foods that were not part of our evolution, this could cause serious health issues. Since 10,000 years ago, we have been creating our food sources which has exacerbated these problems. Diet-related diseases such as obesity and diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, sleep disorders, and autoimmune conditions are on the rise. The crops that we grow today, like vegetables, grains, and fruits, are not the same as those we used to eat. The size and nutritional value of these crops have been altered to increase the efficiency of farming and food production. We have also created the majority of animals that we eat by selective breeding. We even feed them diets they didn’t evolve to eat, e.g. feeding grains to cows, when they evolved for grass. It may cause meat to contain compounds that are not part of our normal diet (e.g. lectins). This can cause or worsen our health issues.
How can we know that the food we eat is healthy? How many of these foods are unhealthy, despite what experts say?
We could use indigenous diets to determine if a food is healthy for us. However, a diet adapted by a certain population may not work for other populations. Our DNA could be tested to determine where we come from, and then we can consume the ancestral diets of those regions. However, this is not realistic for modern day living.
Animal models could be used to investigate the nutritional value and toxicity associated with food sources. Considering that each animal has its own unique diet and metabolism, extrapolating to humans will likely be inconclusive.
What is needed in our food?
A perfect food is one that contains all of the essential nutrients we require for optimal metabolism. It includes minerals, essential vitamins, fats and protein. Although carbohydrates are an energy source, they aren’t considered vital for survival.
A diet that is optimal should meet your body’s energy needs, but not include excess carbohydrates which will be stored in the form of fat.
Vitamin C (ascorbic acids) and Vitamin E are two of the essential vitamins we should include in our diet.
Over the years, many studies have been performed on the antioxidants found in plants like berries, grapes and artichokes. These studies indicate that they offer a variety of health benefits including lowering LDL, reducing heart disease risk, and even killing cancerous cells. Despite this, none of these anti-oxidants has ever been included on the list of essentials. It is not necessary that fruits produce novel antioxidants to be good or essential for us. Remember that plants have evolved to survive, not for your benefit! These plant antioxidants do not form part of our biochemistry and therefore our body is unable to use them in order to combat the free radicals that are produced by our cells as a result of respiration and metabolism.
The master antioxidant glutathione
Glutathione is the antioxidant essential to good health.
It is vital for the survival of all organisms that use oxygen. Without glutathione, there would be no aerobic organisms on Earth. Glutathione plays such a vital role that each cell can produce its own.
Our cells will be harmed by oxidative stress due to exposure to pollutants and environmental toxins, such as smoke.
Glyteine, the immediate precursor of glutathione, is associated with many health conditions. Our cells produce insufficient glutathione when Glyteine is not available. This protects them against free radicals. This causes the cells and tissues to be damaged by oxidative stress. These symptoms are seen in chronic diseases.
What are the options to increase glutathione in your cells?
It is not helpful to eat foods that are high in glutathione or take supplements containing glutathione because the dietary glutathione can’t get into cells.
N-acetylcysteine, or NAC, will also not be able to compensate for the lack of Glyteine. Glyteine is the only way to increase glutathione in cells. This has been shown to be effective both theoretically and clinically.
Only Glyteine will increase the glutathione levels in your cells.
Glyteine could one day be classified as an essential vitamin for healthy ageing.
Spend your money on antioxidants that will benefit you. Make sure you include enough antioxidants in your diet, such as Vitamin C (ascorbic Acid), Vitamin E, and minerals essential for antioxidant activity, like selenium and copper. Also, consider adding Glyteine, which is available as a drink powder mix called Continual G.
