I wish everyone might read this article which appeared in the January 2003 issue of
Scientific American Magazine.
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0007C5B6-7152-1DF6-9733809EC588EEDF&pageNumber=1&catID=2
It was written by Willett and Stampfer; two Harvard professors of epidemiology and nutrition. My nephew is in medical school down in Boston. He has heard Willett lecture on diet and was quite impressed. BTW, this same nephew is successful body builder (ex - Mr. New Hampshire), and as such, is very interested in diet.
N2witchn, please note that in both the old and the new "food pyramid" red meat resides at the narrow wedge near the top. The AHA was not wrong in discouraging red meat consumption. From the above article:
"High consumption of red meat has been associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease, probably because of its high content of saturated fat and cholesterol. Red meat also raises the risk of type 2 diabetes and colon cancer. The elevated risk of colon cancer may be related in part to the carcinogens produced during cooking and the chemicals found in processed meats such as salami and bologna."
Please don't base your diet on the results of one study. Doubtless, a single study can be constructed in which a steady diet of "Pop Tarts" might be shown to be healthy. Dietary science is still in its infancy. I've no doubt that recommendations will continue to be refined, but I very much doubt that science will discover in the future that hot dogs, cigarettes, and cheesecake are integral components of good health.
The most important item on the revised "food pyramid" is exercise and weight control, followed by whole grains, fruits and veggies, and then nuts and legumes. That's as high as I eat on this pyramid (aside from an occasional pastry).
My breakfast, for example, is usually cooked oatmeal. My job is to jump out of bed and bring 2.5 cups of oats and 5 cups of water to boil (usually adding fresh apple slices and dried apricots). I cover the pan and place it in the bottom simmering oven of the AGA. I set the timer for 30 minutes and run back up to snuggle with my wife. When the timer rings we spoon the oats into our bowls, adding wheat germ, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, a sliced banana, and a bit of maple syrup. Yum!
Most pre-packaged breakfast cereals are so highly processed that your body digests them almost immediately. They're the equivalent of burning sawdust in a wood stove; while eating whole grains is the equivalent of burning small logs in the stove. Refined grains are turned into a surge of glucose; your blood sugar level skyrockets...and crashes just as quickly. Whole grains, on the other hand, are slow release foods. They slowly release their fuel and nutrients. Back when I ate commercial breakfast cereals I'd be hungry by 10AM. My oats stay with me until lunchtime.
My wife bakes all our bread from the flour that I grind by hand. I love my Danish-made Diamant! (It's listed about half-way down the page at:
http://grain-mills.com/) I mix winter red wheat berries, rye berries and some flax seed (flax is high in beneficial omega-3 fat) in the hopper. The wonderful thing about grinding your own flour is that you have control of the coarseness of the grind. Secondly, grain stores very well while the berry is intact, but grain begins to decompose and oxidize quite quickly after it's been milled into flour. Third, a loaf of fresh bread made from flour that has been milled the same morning simply tastes wonderful!
I found out about the taste connection some years ago while visiting a historical village in Germany. There was a water-powered grist mill was in operation. Adjoining the mill was a bakery. They had just taken these incredibly heavy loaves of bread out of the stone oven. After a few bites I suddenly realized that this was the first
real bread I'd ever eaten. All the stuff I grew up eating was actually marshmallow in the shape of a bread loaf. The Germans never gave up their
Vollkornbrot for the likes of "Wonder Bread." Now, my bread
has to be made from coarse, freshly ground multigrains. It has to contain various whole grains and seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, flax, etc.).
Gardening is my primary summer activity. It's currently late February and the bottom floor of my root cellar is still filled with carrots, potatoes, apples and squash from our garden. We're just finishing the last of our onions, but we still have about 25 quarts of canned tomatoes remaining on the pantry shelf. My favorite dinner on a winter evening here in Vermont is a large bowl of vegetable soup made from our garden produce and a third-loaf of my wife's
Vollkornbrot.
So Thor, it's good to hear that you're examining your diet. I'm not saying others should adopt my diet; only that everyone should be attentive to the evidence of modern medical science. The human body is a bio-chemical machine. It matters a great deal what you put into your machine.
Michael