Why it's important to eat a variety of foods
Posted by kathryn in Uncategorized
As I noted yesterday, most health authorities publish lists of dietary principles to follow. In amongst the advice to lower saturated fat, eat more vegetables, choose lean protein and avoid trans fats, the principle most commonly overlooked is the exhortation to choose a variety of foods.
Variety of foods means variety of nutrients
Variety of foods is important, because it’s the best way of ensuring you get all the nutrients you need.
Lists of the healthiest foods in the world are a common feature of magazine articles, TV programmes, blogs and other websites. However there is no one food which contains all the nutrients you need. It simply doesn’t exist.
There aren’t even five or ten foods, which contain all the nutrients you need.
Instead it’s through eating a wide variety of foodstuffs that you ensure your body gets all the protein, fat, carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins it requires for good health.
Variety of foods means variety of antioxidants
By eating a variety of foods you’re also ensuring you get as many different antioxidants as possible. Despite all the fuss about superfoods there is no single food that contains all the antioxidants you need. Not acai, nor pomegranates, blueberries or Indian gooseberries. Not one of these foods has the depth and variety of antioxidants you need.
We don’t need antioxidants in large quantities, but the more different kinds you can consume the better. Antioxidants are not one homogenous thing. Instead they come in many different forms and are found in a range of foods. Different antioxidants also improve your health in varying ways.
Therefore by consuming spices, vegetables, fruit, different wholegrains, tea, nuts, seeds you are ensuring you get enough antioxidants. Both in quantity and variety.
Variety of foods helps to offset food boredom
Eating the same foods every day is easy. In a busy life it can be tempting to stick with what you know. The same breakfast, a revolving menu of three dinners and lunch bought from the same shop every day.
But really, could there be anything more boring?
Food is a wonderful, marvellous, joyous thing. Just think about all the different forms that food comes in. The myriad of colours of vegetables. The different seeds we can eat. How lamb, fish, chicken and tofu are all full of protein and yet they’re so different in flavour and texture.
In my experience, food boredom is one of the main reasons people deviate from their healthy eating plan. If you eat the same foods every day, it’s little wonder the chocolate machine and biscuit tin tempt you each afternoon. Or you cave-in and buy that tub of triple fudge brownie ice-cream at the supermarket. Or stop by McDonald’s on the way home.
Instead, mixing up your foods increases the likelihood you’ll make healthy choices. By eating different things each day and each week, you’ll remain interested and are less likely to give in to the easy gratifications of junk food.
How many different foods do you eat?
This week on Limes & Lycopene I’m discussing the importance of eating a variety of foods. I’ll be regularly reporting in on the variety of foods I’m eating each day
But I’d also like to know how many different foods you’re eating. Leave your thoughts and progress in the comments below.
Update: I’ve posted my first day’s list in the comments section of this post. I’m posting my daily foods lists here.
14 May, 2008
Comments
As a vegan, people always ask me isn’t it difficult limiting what foods you eat. But I find that I eat a much more varied diet than most people. I eat all sorts of grains like quinoa that most people have never heard of, although you have obviously. All sorts of legumes, tofu, tempeh (again most people haven’t heard of it) different varieties of nuts and seeds. Every type of fruit available and we constantly mix it up. Every week we try at least one new recipe. It’s very different from the same meat and 3 veg that my parents eat night after night. I also find that my colleagues eat sandwiches for lunch every day, or tuna every day. God how boring. We tend to either eat leftovers for lunch which varies every night or alter it slightly to make it into a different meal for lunch. We also get our fruit and veg from a food co op so we don’t choose we just get whatever is in season which varied throughout the year. I also find that I do things to the ingredients that most people wouldn’t think of. Take tofu for example, I might make a stir fry with it with veggies or noodles, or marinate and bake it, or fry it with some liquid smoke and soy sauce for a ‘bacon’ type taste and put it in a sandwich, or even make a whole variety of desserts out of it- like dairy free cheesecake.
Well, I must say that my eating is much more varied since I started a food blog! I’ve tried many dishes that I would never have made if not for the blog (they’d still be sitting in my file folders or hidden in magazines, etc.). I do eat a fairly varied number of different foods, with lots of different grains, veggies, fruits and nuts/seeds. I tend to go in rotation, where I’ll eat the same thing 3-5 times in a week for a few weeks, then move on to something else.
Kristy – I think you’re right. Kip has mentioned the same phenomenon in these comments. Restricting your food choices forces you to be more adventurous and try out new things. Same thing happened to me when I became a vegetarian.
Ricki – nothing like having to fill some column inches to make you try out something new! A number of people have mentioned to me how much their food choices have expanded since blogging. Varying your foods over days, weeks and months is the key. Eating and cooking seasonally helps this.
hey and bye
You’re absolutely
right!
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