You will thrive best if you can learn to eat an array of fresh, natural foods to get the wide range of nutrients that are necessary for vibrant health.
Different foods provide different nutrients, so the greater variety of nature’s bounty in which you partake, the better health you will enjoy.
Eat an abundance of fruits and vegetables and try new ones every chance you get.Look for brightly or deeply colored varieties as they are high in anti-aging antioxidants.
Variety is also important when choosing animal protein sources. Red meat poultry, nonfat dairy, whey protein, seafood, and fish all have very different nutritional profiles.
Try not to eat the same type of meat or fish day in and day out.A mixture of protein sources will supply you with an array of healthful nutrients and still help you to avoid the over-consumption of potentially toxic substance that may be present in specific meats or fish.
For instance, tuna is fine once or twice a week, but if you ate it every day, you might end up accumulating toxic amounts of mercury.
Lean red meat is great in moderation, but when eaten in excess you might absorb too much iron, saturated fat, and heterocyclic amines (carcinogens).
Lean chicken breasts are low in fat but don’t have the beneficial omega-3 fats found in fish and seafood, or the high zinc levels of red meats.
Variety, however, have a dark side. The dramatic rise in America body weight over the past twenty-five years is paralleled by a line documenting the number of new man-made foods introduced into the diet over the same time period.
They are often advertised as low fat, low carb, or vitamin-fortified, but nearly all of these synthetic, caloric-dense delicious new foods are designed to entice us into overeating.
A whole host of designer “fat free” highly processed foods were gobbled up by the American public as it packed on pounds of fat tissue faster than grain-fed cattle in feed lots.
Variety of Foods: The Good and the Bad
