• Eat more fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains
• Choose less saturated trans fats, and
• Exercise 60 minutes per day

Putting these Dietary Guidelines in the context of our genetics and the evolution of man, you’ll notice we are very far removed from living and eating according to nature’s original plan.

The Changing Landscape
Our food options have changed through the centuries. About 72 percent of the calories consumed by people in the U.S. are from foods that ever existed in Paleolithic diets: refined sugar, artificial sweeteners, white flour, high fructose corn syrup, and shortening (trans fats). Questions arise: Are humans designed to thrive on donuts, sugary cereals, potato chips, soft drinks, fast-food sandwiches, and ketchup? Or is that one reason why we are now confronting the “disease of civilization?” Almost 40 percent of all deaths are due to heart disease; 25 percent are due to cancer (of which one third related to nutrition). Our activity patterns have also changed; our daily lifestyle lacks physical activity. We no longer need muscles to roll down the car window, open the garage door, or change the TV station. We can just push a button...and too easily be too sedentary for our own good. This includes children who sit in front of the TV.

Aging Healthfully

Every one of us gets older every day. If your goal is to have the body and health of a 39 year-old when you are in your 80’s, you need to consciously make that happen. You watch your parents die of heart attacks; your classmates succumb to cancer. You feel your joints ache.

Hence, the time to make dietary changes is now-before you have the heart attack, hear the words “cancer”, or break a bone due to osteoporosis. The purpose of this article is to encourage you to stay active and fuel your body by eating closer to the earth, closer to the food choices of our long-ago ancestors, closer to the Dietary Guidelines, farther away from refined sugar, trans fats and sodium-filled processed foods.

Refined Sugar
Sugary snacks and cereals, soft drinks, sports drinks and gels are just a few examples of refined sugar. In the year 2000, the average American consumed 152 pounds of sugar. That’s about 400 calories of sugar per day! In contrast, early man consumed no refined sugar. Some athletes drink sports drinks non-stop-200 sugar calories per quart. Suggestions:

• Keep a bottle of plain water on your desk so it’s ready and waiting
• Recover from workouts with water and the natural sugars from watermelon, oranges, strawberries, and watery fruits.
• Prevent sugar cravings by eating bigger breakfasts and lunches. (You won’t get fat from eating more at these meals, you’ll simply curb your afternoon urge for sugary snacks like cookies and candy.)

Trans Fats
Industrialization is responsible for the creation of trans fats—-the processed, partially hydrogenated fats that are in commercially baked and fried foods. Trans fats offer a pleasing texture to baked goods and prolong their freshness. But trans fats rarely, if ever, are found in natural foods and our bodies don’t like them. Trans fats create an inflammatory response that contributes to heart disease and cancer. They are health-eroding.
Suggestions:

• Trade in store-bought muffins and donuts for whole-grain breads and bagels.
• Eat heartier lunches so you’ll be content to have an apple for dessert, instead of apple pie (trans fat-filled crust) or crunchy (trans-fatty) chocolate chip cookies.
• Snack on nuts, dried apricots, or yogurt
• Skip the fried chicken, French fries, and other fast but fatty foods that clog your arteries.

Salt

The typical American diet offers 1.5 teaspoons of salt per day; that’s about 3,750 mg sodium (and more than the recommended 2,300 mg). This includes the salt in processed foods, cooking and what’s added at the table. Most of our sodium intake comes from processed foods: canned spaghetti (1,980 mg/can), ramen noodles (1,700 mg/packet), American Cheese (360 mg/slice), commercial salad dressing (300mg/ 2 tablespoons). Only 10 percent of our salt intake comes from the sodium in natural foods (65 mg per egg 125 mg per 8 ounces of milk).

In the Stone Age (2.6 million years ago), hunter-gathers survived with little or no salt added to their food. Questions arise: Were our bodies designed for today’s high salt intake? Or is this a reason we are plagued with hypertension, strokes and cancer?

Costs and Benefits of Dietary Changes
The typical American diet is tasty, convenient and comforting amidst the stresses and stains of our too-busy lives. But the costs are mounting: Escalation health insurance premiums. Obese people who crowd hospitals. Children who never get to meet their grandparents.

Today is the time to start making a few dietary changes to bring you closer to the earth. For example, drink more orange juice, less orange soda. (Better yet, eat more oranges.) Each day, you can make a few choices that reduce your intake of refined sugar, trans fats and sodium-laden processed food. You’ll enhance your likelihood for better health when you are 80.

Clark, N., Dietary Guidelines: The Link to Longevity, www.acsm.org, 2005.