You really can’t go wrong by adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet.
They are full of nutrients, and provide very little calories relative to their bulk.
But are they essential to a healthy diet?
Right now, the North American obsession with the idea that there is only one true ‘perfect’ way to eat is pretty consistent in stating that a healthy diet MUST consist of a combination of lean meats with ample fruits and green leafy vegetables.
Even my own guidelines run pretty close to this statement:
Eat less while enjoying the food you eat. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables and herbs and spices…
But the question remains, for OPTIMAL human health and performance…is there really one diet, and are fruits and green leafy vegetables truly essential?
To answer this question we can look at examples of extreme human performance on what we would classically consider to be ‘poor nutrition”
Luckily I happen to know a fantastic researcher who does exactly this type of research.
The team at ICEARS (International Centre for East African Running Science) led by Dr. Yannis Pitsiladis (oddly enough, located in Scotland) has found that the diets of world champion long distance runners from Kenya consist largely of starchy vegetables (potatoes), porridge, ugali (a gruel made from corn) and considerable amounts of tea.
The analysis of these runners also showed that more than 75% of their calories came from carbohydrate sources, and they ate roughly 3,000 calories per day.
My guess is that if you were to take this exact diet to a Dietitian in North America he or she would tell you that this is a diet that would more than likely lead to obesity, diabetes and a host of other nutrition related diseases.
Dr. Pitsiladis also shared with me that many of these runners are in a slight caloric deficit for the months leading up to a major event.
So while fruits and green leafy vegetables are an important part of any one’s diet, and play an important role in helping us eat great tasting foods that are low in calories, it should be pointed out that the human body is capable of performing at very high levels despite considerable variation in the way we choose to fuel it.
This research combined with a host of other studies just like it, leads even more evidence to that idea that there probably is no one single way to eat that is ‘best’ for human health, and that the human body is remarkably consistent in its ability to adapt to a whole host of different nutritional intakes.
Please don’t take this as me being anti-fruits and vegetables (fruits and vegetables are your friend) but I do want you to consider that nutrition may not be as ‘cut and dry’ as many experts would lead you to believe.
BP
PS – to learn more about the exciting research being conducted by ICEARS, visit http://www.icears.org/
