Modern Lifestyles

• Our lifestyles are more sedentary.  The less energy we expend, the less fuel we need in the form of calories.  And the fewer calories we eat, the fewer nutrients our bodies have to restore health.
• It is estimated that pre-agricultural humans consumed roughly three times the vegetables and fruits that typical Westerners do today.  Consequently, they would have had an intake of most vitamins and minerals much in excess of currently recommended dietary intake.
• The foods we eat are different in character from the foods eaten by our ancestors. While they ate foods fresh and often uncooked, in order to feed larger and larger populations, we have resorted to mass-produced food that is held for longer periods of time before consumption.
• Preservatives are added so that foods can be kept for longer periods of time. Food is highly processed, removing many of the nutrients our bodies require.
• Physicians and nutritionists are increasingly convinced that the dietary changes over the last 100 years have contributed to the increase in coronary heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and some types of cancer.*
• Though dietitians and physicians have historically been among the first to recommend exclusive reliance on “a well-balanced diet”, many are beginning to modulate this position.
• Considering what is currently known about nutrition, a “well-balanced diet” sounds like just one more urban myth. We must pay close attention to the quality and quantity of the food and food supplements we consume.
• The solution points toward more attention to food choices and dietary supplementation of nutrients required for health.
• Science has demonstrated that nutritional supplementation can indeed promote health.

 *Eaton SB, Eaton SB, III, Konner MJ. Paleolithic nutrition A consideration of its nature and current implications. N.Engl.J.Med. 985;312:203-289.