We are eating more and more of a lesser variety of foods. This is one of the great problems of food today and it has worsened with the pandemic situation that we are suffering. It is a defect that diminishes the healthy virtues of our diet at all ages, especially at the extremes of life. And it also deprives us of enjoying that huge variety of food that we have at our disposal.
The peoples living in primitive conditions and the inhabitants of less developed countries, although eat less food than we do, eat a greater number of different foods: all kinds of vegetables, roots, berries, insects, numerous species of reptiles, animals, birds, fish … The advantage of this wide range of different foods is that together they provide the nutrients necessary for our health. Some have a lot of iron, others have a lot of calcium, others are rich in certain vitamins, others are rich in certain lipids, etc. For example, the Kung tribe that inhabit the Kalahari desert consume more than 250 different foods. With this variety, the acquisition of all the necessary nutrients is guaranteed, even if the total amount of food is small.
But, in developed countries, the foods we supply ourselves with are less and less varied. Test yourself and some family members. On a sheet of paper, write down the different foods you have eaten in the past week. They will see that they hardly reach fifty. This inevitably leads to lack of certain nutrients and excess of others, or that to be able to ingest all the necessary nutrients you have to eat large amounts of just a few different foods. The result is that there are people who are overweight, but with severe nutritional deficiencies.
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We have to flee from comfortable diets, of a monotonous diet, that uses only a few foods, easy to prepare and that in the long run cause serious nutritional deficiencies. Those few foods cannot provide all the nutrients we need, although they do provide the calories that make us fat. The key is to rotate the different types of food. If it is about meat, let’s not stop at cow, pork and chicken, let’s turn to rabbit, turkey and other healthy meats. We must do the same with fish and other seafood. You also have to diversify fruits and vegetables. How long have you eaten broccoli? This cruciferous is very rich in a substance called sulforofano that inhibits the growth of breast cancer cells. Many plant foods contain substances that provide us with health, the variety in its consumption allows to enjoy all these advantages.
In relation to prepared foods, we do not subscribe to two or three dishes or sauces, possibly from a single brand. We must also diversify these products, not only because we can obtain different proportions of nutrients, but because, in this way, we will not reiterate possible toxic substances or additives. Add variety to your family menus and you will increase the health of your diet.
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