Ask A Healer Nutritional Health Series

Are We Eating Worse With Plenty?

This is part three of an nutrition and diet article by Loren Howe. This is the copywritten material of Loren Howe and may not be reprinted without the express permission of the author.

This section of the article explores the reasons our diets changed and why all those changes have not been for the best.

Please read part one: Food and Health first, if you have come to this article directly, for the full impact of Loren's study into how our nutritional choices have evolved over the years.

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Why Diet Has Changed:

It is useful to understand why our ancestors made such fundamental changes in their diet and way of life.

The surprising answer is that they changed for the same reason we change our food and medical technology today. They changed because the new system allowed an increase in population.

An additional source of calories from meat allowed a higher population, particularly on the open plains that had few other traditional sources of food for a forest primate.

The use of fire for cooking allowed our ancestors to eat and store meat, roots, and seeds that would otherwise have been rotten or toxic in a raw state.  Fire also unlocked a greater percentage of calories and nutrients from food. 

The use of farming and animal husbandry caused an extreme increase in the food supply then and the story is exactly the same today when our vaccines, infrastructure, corporate farms, chemicals, and genetically engineered crops have allowed a massive increase in human population.

There is one important point to remember in any technological advance, however. While culture and society can change rapidly, our genetics are not as nimble. 

A human's genetic code may take millions of years to completely evolve to a new lifestyle. Until the genetic evolution is complete, there will continue to be disadvantages that partially offset the advantages of a new lifestyle.

Regardless of the disadvantages, those who adopt the new methods/foods will often out-breed and displace those who don't. This displacement occurs despite the diminished health of those adopting the new foods.

In other words, a family raising one healthy child on a perfect diet, is often displaced by a family raising 10 sickly children on a marginal diet. What you need to determine is whether the time and expense of healthier food is worth the benefit to you as an individual. 

To eat a truly natural and traditional diet may be costly and in some cases incur an inescapable time investment. Only by making changes and experimenting can you determine what the benefits and costs will be for you. These benefits are often far greater than would be assumed, however.

In the case of nervous system health, for example, improved diet can improve your entire mental process and outlook. 

Most people may never know their true potential without adopting traditional dietary practices and experiencing the benefits firsthand.

The more knowledge you accumulate, the greater the benefits should be, and the more time and cost saving food preparation methods you will learn.  

part four: the evolution of food continued 

To learn much greater detail regarding traditional dietary and health practices, you can read The Real Story of Money, Health, and Religion, by Loren Howe available in paperback or $1.25 download at LuLu Online Bookstore