6th
Academic Impact’s Nutrition Philosophy
by Brent Pottenger, MHA
You are what you eat.
It’s a fact.
Just ask some middle- or high-school students what they are made of (I do it regularly), and, their responses will likely be congruent: atoms!
The fact that our bodies are built from atoms, molecules, and other subatomic components does not lead to a strictly materialistic perspective; but, what it does suggest is clear: we are what we eat and drink, on some foundational level. What we choose to consume in our diets—our nutrition—plays an extremely important role in building and shaping our minds and bodies. The basic building blocks that comprise our physiological structures do not materialize magically; instead, our bodies extract, retain, and modify them from the foods that we eat and the beverages that we drink.
For instance, a soda contains excessive amounts of high-fructose corn-syrup (a harmful sweetener), so if I drink a soda, then my body has to figure out how to produce vibrant tissues, organs, and other things like skin cells from this ineffective, toxic fuel source. If I drink sodas regularly, the chances increase exponentially that my body will fail while trying to fuel my physiology and day-to-day activities using such a poor nutrition source.
In light of this reality, Academic Impact feels that healthy nutritional choices empower students to perform academically and achieve their educational and life goals. When students eat right, their minds feel right, and they perform well in and out of the classroom as a result. Conversely, when students eat and drink poorly, their minds and bodies lag and grow tired, resulting in decreased productivity and energy and inhibited development and growth.
With this said, then, what should people eat? Well, for many years, mainstream health has communicated the value and importance of following the Food Pyramid and its associated low-fat, high-carbohydrate paradigm. What if, however, this model were wrong? It turns out that it is. Unfortunately, diabetes, obesity, and chronic illnesses abound in our modern societies because people consume diets that differ greatly from those that our ancestors ate. On a larger time-scale, our metabolisms evolved over millions of years in environments that are nothing like the ones that we inhabit today. Consequently, our physiologies are well-adapted to consuming pre-agricultural, hunter-gatherer type paleolithic foods—we did, after all, lead lives in vastly different ways for most of human history. What types of foods and drinks are these? Nuts. Berries (and other fruits). Meats. Fats. I repeat: Yes, fats (Omega-3’s, to be exact)! Vegetables. Roots. Water (and other non-sugary, non-artificially-sweetened beverages, such as tea). Stated another way, avoid bad carbohydrates like the plague; do not consume (or strongly limit consumption of) breads, pastas, corn-syrup, sugars (except from fruits), chips, crackers, tortillas, rice, etc. And, to top it all off, it may be wise to incorporate ‘healthy bacteria’ into this nutrition schedule to counteract the anti-bacterial culture that modern society has embraced. Antibiotic-resistance challenges modern medicine tremendously, but eating foods with healthy bacteria goes a long way toward preventing antibiotic-resistant infections, improving immune system strength, and supporting general health conditions. What foods contain these nutritious organisms? Fermented foods. Foods like yogurt, kombucha, unpasteurized cheese, and probiotic supplements are some of the items that can provide our bodies with the bacteria we need to operate properly and protect us from infectious agents and disease.
Of course, this is just a simple primer, a background prelude, to an important piece of human development. If you wish to learn more, please explore the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation Web site online at www.ppnf.org
To good health!
Read more of Brent’s thoughts on healthcare, human development, and ancestral fitness on his blog, Healthcare Epistemocrat, or contact him directly: brent@academicimpact.net.
