Personal Development for Smart People Forums - View Single Post - How can you tell what "natural" foods are actually healthy?

tomn8er · 02-28-2007, 03:55 AM

Just read your articles Steve of the vegan diet. I'm certainly no expert on nutrition, although I am generally quite health conscious compared to the normal North American, so I'd love it if someone could tell me how to be certain that the foods you are eating are actually as healthy as they are cracked up to be.

For example, I've heard a lot about how supposedly healthy natural foods like raw fruits and vegetables that you'd find at any grocery store are typically contaminated with pesticides and other harmful chemicals, or they are genetically altered so that they aren't really natural at all any more. I've noticed this a lot with most tomatoes nowadays - they all are lacking in colour and flavour and just taste like mush.

Similarly, how can u tell what are healthy, unrefined grain products? Is soy milk a good substitute for ordinary milk? Are organic foods overrated - are they just another marketing scam?

I'm seriously considering adopting a vegetarian diet, or at least cutting out dairy products (which have actually been the mainstay in my diet for most of my life

).

I know Steve mentioned "the China Study" as a good source of nutritional information, and I'll definitely check that one out, but can anybody give me some advice on the above questions (which are in bold)?

Thanks in advance!

02-28-2007, 03:55 AM	#1 (permalink)
tomn8er Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 146	How can you tell what "natural" foods are actually healthy? Just read your articles Steve of the vegan diet. I'm certainly no expert on nutrition, although I am generally quite health conscious compared to the normal North American, so I'd love it if someone could tell me how to be certain that the foods you are eating are actually as healthy as they are cracked up to be. For example, I've heard a lot about how supposedly healthy natural foods like raw fruits and vegetables that you'd find at any grocery store are typically contaminated with pesticides and other harmful chemicals, or they are genetically altered so that they aren't really natural at all any more. I've noticed this a lot with most tomatoes nowadays - they all are lacking in colour and flavour and just taste like mush. Similarly, how can u tell what are healthy, unrefined grain products? Is soy milk a good substitute for ordinary milk? Are organic foods overrated - are they just another marketing scam? I'm seriously considering adopting a vegetarian diet, or at least cutting out dairy products (which have actually been the mainstay in my diet for most of my life ). I know Steve mentioned "the China Study" as a good source of nutritional information, and I'll definitely check that one out, but can anybody give me some advice on the above questions (which are in bold)? Thanks in advance!