I just finished devouring and relishing my lunch of ten oranges and was pondering why people are fruit-phobic. I am not the only person who LOVES oranges. But why is it so rare that a person links that enjoyment to eating another one? I was pondering this, intending to come blog about, and then I found this comment on my previous post:
I'm always surprised when you post the amount of fruit you eat. 10 oranges! Your husband had 20 fruits! I don't know why it's hard for me to wrap my head around, because I eat a LOT of food. Like 3 huge servings of spaghetti for dinner or 3 pieces of pie. But when it's in terms of numbers of fruit it seems like so much... I don't know what my hangup is.
How ironic! So it's time to discuss this. Openly! Let's hear your thoughts.
My theory is that in our society, fruit is accepted as a snack food. We don't eat fruit to get full. We eat it for taste, or for vitamins, seen as a supplement to a heavier diet. Also visually, we often see fruit 1-3 at a time. We're not culturally in the habit of buying cases of fruit, the way we buy a case of cereal boxes, and we are not visually accustomed to a large quantity of fruit which would reside in our kitchen, in order to feed us for a week if we were eating fruit substantially (meaning, as a staple to our diet, not a supplementation).
Another reason is the volume of fruit. We easily buy 10 meals of meat in one package, but it seems preposterous to buy more than a small produce bag of fruit at a time, which isn't enough for even 1 meal. In order to feed my family fruit for breakfast and lunch meals for 1 week, I need to buy about 2 cases of fruit every week. Volume-wise, fruit just takes up a lot more space than eating more concentrated foods. The main reason for this is because fruit is a complete pre-packaged food, ready to eat, including water. Similarly, think of the volume difference between buying dried beans or pasta vs. those foods once they are cooked, prepared, including sufficient water needs for that meal. If you bought pre-packaged food items like a Happy Meal for one week, 4 people (84 meals) this would be several large cases of food!
In mainstream nutritional science, fruit hasn't been seriously considered as a staple food, and hence, its superiority has remained a bit of a secret. As staple foods, we are used to comparing nutrition facts between meats and starches, but rarely do we include fruits and vegetables into the debate. The entire debate of nutrition consists of the meat industry attacking the grains, and the vegetarians attacking the meat. Both of them have wonderful arguments in pointing out the drawbacks of the other foodsource. And both of them are RIGHT! But it never occured to them that FRUIT is a viable option. Enter Dr. Doug Graham, the professional athletic nutritionist who trains elite athletes, who devotes his work to proclaiming all the wonderful advantages of fruit as the staple food in our diets.
Fruit is the ultimate source of carbohydrates, and yet we rely on bread and pasta for our carbohydrates. The difference with fruit is that it is instantly, easily digested; it hydrates us while we eat; it is visually appealing and requires no preparation, no spices, no cooking, no salt, no clean-up; Most every sweet fruit contains all 8 essential amino acids; Fruit contains every mineral and vitamin; Fruit contains the ideal omega-3 to omega-6 ratio, making omega-3 supplementation unecessary; and Fruit doesn't require cooking, which usually kills off at least half of any given food's nutrient values.
I'm always surprised when you post the amount of fruit you eat. 10 oranges! Your husband had 20 fruits! I don't know why it's hard for me to wrap my head around, because I eat a LOT of food. Like 3 huge servings of spaghetti for dinner or 3 pieces of pie. But when it's in terms of numbers of fruit it seems like so much... I don't know what my hangup is.
How ironic! So it's time to discuss this. Openly! Let's hear your thoughts.
My theory is that in our society, fruit is accepted as a snack food. We don't eat fruit to get full. We eat it for taste, or for vitamins, seen as a supplement to a heavier diet. Also visually, we often see fruit 1-3 at a time. We're not culturally in the habit of buying cases of fruit, the way we buy a case of cereal boxes, and we are not visually accustomed to a large quantity of fruit which would reside in our kitchen, in order to feed us for a week if we were eating fruit substantially (meaning, as a staple to our diet, not a supplementation).
Another reason is the volume of fruit. We easily buy 10 meals of meat in one package, but it seems preposterous to buy more than a small produce bag of fruit at a time, which isn't enough for even 1 meal. In order to feed my family fruit for breakfast and lunch meals for 1 week, I need to buy about 2 cases of fruit every week. Volume-wise, fruit just takes up a lot more space than eating more concentrated foods. The main reason for this is because fruit is a complete pre-packaged food, ready to eat, including water. Similarly, think of the volume difference between buying dried beans or pasta vs. those foods once they are cooked, prepared, including sufficient water needs for that meal. If you bought pre-packaged food items like a Happy Meal for one week, 4 people (84 meals) this would be several large cases of food!
In mainstream nutritional science, fruit hasn't been seriously considered as a staple food, and hence, its superiority has remained a bit of a secret. As staple foods, we are used to comparing nutrition facts between meats and starches, but rarely do we include fruits and vegetables into the debate. The entire debate of nutrition consists of the meat industry attacking the grains, and the vegetarians attacking the meat. Both of them have wonderful arguments in pointing out the drawbacks of the other foodsource. And both of them are RIGHT! But it never occured to them that FRUIT is a viable option. Enter Dr. Doug Graham, the professional athletic nutritionist who trains elite athletes, who devotes his work to proclaiming all the wonderful advantages of fruit as the staple food in our diets.
Fruit is the ultimate source of carbohydrates, and yet we rely on bread and pasta for our carbohydrates. The difference with fruit is that it is instantly, easily digested; it hydrates us while we eat; it is visually appealing and requires no preparation, no spices, no cooking, no salt, no clean-up; Most every sweet fruit contains all 8 essential amino acids; Fruit contains every mineral and vitamin; Fruit contains the ideal omega-3 to omega-6 ratio, making omega-3 supplementation unecessary; and Fruit doesn't require cooking, which usually kills off at least half of any given food's nutrient values.
Fruit is about 5% protein; the World Health Organization recommends a diet containing 5% protein (Breastmilk, by the way, is 5% protein, which nature designed for the fastest growing human being). If your diet is largely fruit and then some higher-protein foods, your diet would be about 80% carbohydrate, 10% protein, 10% fat, which is what Dr. Graham recommends as the ideal ratio. Scientific studies back this up, as there is much evidence that more than 10% fat is harmful to health.
Cost-wise, this is very sustainable. A banana is 120 calories for 19 cents. Compare that to your 100-calorie nutrition bar, or 100 calories of ground beef (1-2 ounces). So 2000 calories of bananas would cost $3.16 for that day's food. When was the last time you paid so little for your nourishment (also taking into account the health-care costs of a richer diet). The oranges I am eating cost 33 cents/lb. This translates into about 8 oranges for $1. How would you like to enjoy a juicy, bright feast of 8 oranges for your breakfast tomorrow for just $1? Try it!
Cost-wise, this is very sustainable. A banana is 120 calories for 19 cents. Compare that to your 100-calorie nutrition bar, or 100 calories of ground beef (1-2 ounces). So 2000 calories of bananas would cost $3.16 for that day's food. When was the last time you paid so little for your nourishment (also taking into account the health-care costs of a richer diet). The oranges I am eating cost 33 cents/lb. This translates into about 8 oranges for $1. How would you like to enjoy a juicy, bright feast of 8 oranges for your breakfast tomorrow for just $1? Try it!
5 comments:
Even eating 3 oranges at once is considered strange. I went to this early morning meeting (where you could eat). I didn't have time to make something else before I left so I grabbed what was handy - a kiwi and 3 oranges. I got a few comments there about the fact that I had brought 3 oranges to eat. One person asked if I was low on vitamin C. (I didn't actually eat them all though because I wasn't hungry enough yet. I at the kiwi and 1 orange while I was there. But I have had times where I sit down and eat several oranges.)
Funny, Laura! I felt self-conscious taking 3 clementines at a social event, although everybody else took 3 cookies. Weird society we live in.
Wow that's really interesting! Now the diet my brother in law went on (a fruit only diet) makes sense. I will definitely be eating more fruit and especially because I have a hard time drinking enough water everyday. Now you need to do a post on veggies!
I was curious so looked a bit online and found this...
http://www.beyondveg.com/billings-t/fruit-milk/fruit-milk-1a.shtml
since they don't agree with you, what is your source? I'm not saying I trust this link, it would be awesome if fruit was the perfect food! I'm honestly curious where you learned such a thing. Do tell. :)
Actually you're right, I made too much of a generalization. What I meant to say what the PROTEIN content is the same. And if 5% protein is sufficient for the human being with the highest growth rate, than its sufficient for the rest of us too.
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