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What is the value of nutrition guides? |
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They are availabe in all shapes and sizes: as books, calenders, little dials and even as computer programs. Nutrition guides have become a constant companion to many.
A pleasant sense of security Certainly no one wants to suffer from malnutrition or ruin his or her weight-reduction diet. Isn’t it nice that a computer program can tell you what and how much to eat and how many calories or joule, carbohydrates, how much protein and fat a certain dish or food contains? In some of these programs, even your size, age, gender and way of living are taken into consideration. But perhaps things aren’t quite as simple and easy as they seem. |
 Gudrun Dalla Via |
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How reliable are nutrition guides?
The diversity of the data such a guide contains is impressive. A closer look reveals, however, that there are rather large differences between the recommendations in different countries. Also, some countries have "updated" their tables – which generally means that the recommended calorie intake was decreased and the recommended intake of vitamins was increased. This can be interpreted in two ways. Either our requirements have changed or the health authorities have realised and corrected earlier mistakes. One thing, however, is surprising: If one believed these guides, quite a large number of people would no longer be alive, others would at best be walking skeletons. Neither, however, is true for these groups of people (for the most part vegetarians, vegans and/or those following a raw food diet). Quite the contrary: They are exceptionally healthy and active. Are these people exceptions, "mistakes of nature", so to speak? On closer inspection, however, it seems more likely that different standards ought to be applied! In other words, it is not very logical to calculate the nutritional value of different foods exclusively in calories, protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Other valuable substances which are at least as important are completely overlooked in this type of calculation. None of these guides, for instance, even mentions enzymes, even though their importance for an optimised metabolism has been quite wellknown for some years, let alone auxons and other, less wellknown vital substances. It must be admitted, however, that it would be difficult to calculate these substances and display them in a table. Although the nutrition guides often differentiate between raw, cooked and preserved foods since the difference in vitamin and mineral content is quite large, the amount of enzymes and other vital substances varies even more greatly depending on storage conditions and similar factors. This would make a statistic evaluation difficult if not impossible. (We have a similar scenario with regard to organic products. Even though the quality of the product is greatly superior to that of products from "chemical agriculture", not all the advantages can be accurately measured and displayed in tables and diagrams.) Not "You are what you eat", but rather "You are what you can digest". This claim seems logical if one takes into account that a healthy body can make much better use of food than a sick or a weakened body. For our bodies to process macronutrients, i.e. protein, carbohydrates and fat, we need vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients. Thus, foods which contain more of these micronutrients are automatically easier to digest and make use of. This results in less food being necessary and less energy being needed for digestion. The whole is more than just the sum of the individual parts. This holds true for many fields. The "market value" of the chemical components of the human body would, for instance, be a very small sum, at best some dollars. Therefore, human nutrition should not simply be viewed as the sum of the individual substances. The value of whole foods is certainly much higher than that of processed foods, even if vitamins and other additives are added to the latter. The auther is German but has lived for many years in Italy now as journalist and writer. She has published several books, some of them in German (‘Powernahrung fürs Gehirn’, ‘Gesund und schön durch Algen’, ’Phänomen Wasser’) most of them in Italian (‘Idroterapia’, ‘Le Combinazioni Alimentari’, ‘Alimentazione Energetica’, ‘L’Arte del Crudo’). Some of her books have been translated into Spanish, Portuguese and other languages. Gudrun Dalla Via is looking forward to getting your comments, observations or questions. Any mail will be answered and those of general interest will be published in the next EVU News. Please write (German, English or Italian) to:
Gudrun Dalla Via, via Buccardi 8, I-20025 Legnano/Mi,
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