clarification: what NOT to eat!

so… after re-reading yesterday’s post, I felt that I didn’t really make the point I was wanting to make.

I don’t NOT know what to eat. I know which foods are good choices and which are bad. I know that fresh, whole foods are good and packaged, processed foods are bad. I know that I should eat mostly fruits and vegetables as well as healthy sources of protein. I know that spinach is a better choice of greens than ice berg lettuce, for example. I know that sweet potatoes are a better choice than white potatoes (that doesn’t mean I like them). I know that nuts are a better choice of snack than doritos. I know to avoid artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners, and preservatives. I know all that.

what I want to know is what should I NOT eat in order to be my healthiest?

will cutting out sugar or gluten or grains or dairy or what-have-you, be beneficial? or will consuming good choices in those category be beneficial. there are scientific arguments on both sides that contradict each other. I also realize that every person’s body is different. what would be considered a healthy choice for one person is poison to another. shellfish or nuts, for example. as far as I know, I do not have any food allergies, so that doesn’t really apply to me. I do know that I have had a tendency toward anemia, so getting enough iron is a concern for me. I also know that, as a small-framed female, I am in a higher risk category for osteoporosis, so calcium (and vitamin D) are something I need to consider. I have a tendency toward anxiety and discouragement (I wouldn’t really call it depression), so B vitamins are important. I want to know what I should eat and not eat that will help my body function it’s best.

I’ve never been that into science. I took what I had to in order to graduate from high school and college. but I’m fascinated by the science of nutrition and how the body uses food energy. I want to understand the arguments for and against certain foods in a diet. for the people who say you should eat dairy, I want to know why. not just because it’s high in calcium, because there are plenty of other sources of calcium. I want to know how the body uses it. what happens when you consume dairy, how your body processes it, etc. and for those who say you shouldn’t eat dairy, I want to know why. I want to know what aspects are negative about how the body uses it. same for grains and sugar etc.

I don’t want to make a decision just based on a fad or because someone is telling me to eat one way or another, or because that’s how I was raised to eat or anything else.

I want to know why. scientifically, why.

so… who has good, reliable, non-faddy resources on how the body processes food? pass them along!

you know how much I love a pet research project!