Reprinted with permission from the October, 2009 issue of the Ester Republic

Recently a consortium of food companies established an opt-in food labeling program called “Smart Choices.” According to the Smart Choices website, http://www.smartchoicesprogram.com/ ,

The Smart Choices Program was motivated by the need for a single, trusted and reliable front- of-pack nutrition labeling program that U.S. food manufacturers and retailers could voluntarily adopt to help guide consumers in making smarter food and beverage choices.

When I heard about this initiative, I got excited. Skeptical, but excited. All the FDA and USDA have been able to achieve is to keep food labeling practices as meaningless and watered down as possible*. ‘Smart choices’ is a phrase that fits through the holes in their respective legislations, but one that could nevertheless resonate with consumers and package quality information within.

Imagine my disappointment when this new Smart Choices logo rolled out on boxes of Kellogs Fruit Loops(TM) cereal. Fruit Loops, which is nearly ½ sugar (12 grams of a 29 gram serving), has a pittance of fiber, nearly no protein or healthy fats, and has to be chemically fortified to provide any sort of micronutrient benefit (e.g., vitamin C, Iron, etc), is now a ‘Smart Choice’ for feeding your children? I’m not one to argue that everything we eat needs to be a superfood, but this is a breakfast food, a purported cornerstone of the meal that sets the tone for hunger and eating habits the rest of the day, and they’re suggesting it is a ‘Smart Choice”?

I am not alone in my disappointment of the program. The American Dietetic Association, the American Diabetes Association. and Tufts University’s School of Nutrition, each of which has members on the Smart Choices board, have all asked Smart Choices to remove the institutions’ names from the Web page listing board members.

The whole debacle has inspired me to offer my take on what we should be eating. What follows is a very short version of what I have come to understand about food and nutrition, based on what I have observed as an anthropologist of food and as a scientist of food. Short is good, I think, because I think eating should be easy. Much of this is also informed by a book called The Schwarzbein Principle by Diana Schwarzbein, an endocrinologist who takes a functional approach to food an nutrition. That means that rather than basing health advice on the outcomes of medical studies, which can be flawed, contested, even reversed, she bases her advice on her understanding of how our bodies function—how we’re built to eat, digest, and metabolize foods into the building blocks our bodies need. To me, this is an approach that makes a a lot more sense.

Step 1: eat fiber. Carbohydrates are a very important aspect of our diet, but when too many of them are simple sugars the do little more than make us hungry fast. Too, they can over time contribute to problems such as diabetes. Maximize your carbohydrates that are from fiber, from beans, vegetables, whole and and sprouted grains. Eat these every meal.

Step 2: eat fat. Not just any fat, but polyunsaturated fats (they stay liquid when at room temperature. Olive oil, grapeseed oil (makes a great alternative to vegetable oil), flaxseed oil, butter (when from grass-fed cows, e.g., KerryGold brand), avocados, etc. Eat fat at every meal.

Step 3: vitamins and minerals. Deeply-colored foods are good for you. Ever hear someone tell you that carrots are good for your eyes? They are. The more deep-dark colors in your greens the better. Ignore iceberg lettuce. The good news, too, is that many of these vegetables also have fiber. Eat these at every meal.

Step 4: eat protein. One of the easiest ways to get protein is in eggs, and they often tend to be the easiest to find from local, ethical sources. The darker the yolks the better they are for you. I eat an egg every day. Many vegetables have good proteins, but I’m going to recommend that at least 1 serving per week come from animal-based protein, as long as it is ethically raised and healthfully fed. Vegetable proteins are just not entirely sufficient; the sheer volume of vegetables required to provide all the needed amino acids at their appropriate ratios is way more food than anyone should be consuming.

Step 5: eat when you are hungry. Hunger is a natural and important signal, when you eat the right foods, that is. ‘Frankenfoods’ with refined sugars, corn syrups, and monosodium glutamate just screw the whole signaling process. If you eat balanced meals that follow these steps you can count on your body to tell you what it needs and when it needs it.

As a society we are all having to re-learn to eat. Food companies clearly aren’t trying to do any more than capitalize on our uncertainty. I don’t purport to suggest these five steps are completely accurate, or that they are perfectly suited to all people. But I do put them out there with legitimate intentions, as my own works in progress, in hopes that they might help you learn a better way to eat. Look at your body, feel your health, and you’ll know when you’re eating the right things.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 2nd, 2009 at 11:15 am by Philip Loring and is filed under Feature Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.