We eat energy foods for comfort. However, while these make us feel good for a time we crash afterwards.
Energy Foods For Comfort And Complacency
It is the amped-up up energy density of processed foods that gets us into trouble.
Like most other warm-blooded creatures, humans have inherited a preference for energy-dense foods, a preference reflected in our love of sweets and comfort foods.
These foods are all high-calorie and most are nutrient deficient. They should be avoided or at least minimized in the diet of people who do not expend huge amounts of energy.
- Energy dense foods are quite often high in oils—and usually not the healthy oils. Some examples of these foods are fried potatoes, fish, chicken, doughnuts and potato chips.
- Corn and corn products—this includes corn in breakfast cereals. Corn is too energy dense for use in the diets of today’s people who cannot avail themselves of high energy expenditure.
- Cereal grains of all types—this especially includes breads, muffins and nearly all breakfast cereals. Yes, spaghetti, pizza and popcorn are high calorie, high energy and low in nutrient density.
- Starchy foods like dried beans and root vegetables are also energy dense and should be eaten with the understanding that they will cause a sedentary person to be more placid.
- Dairy products, salad dressings and nearly all sauces, dips and condiments are energy dense.
Type 2 Diabetes
Type 2 diabetes typically occurs when the body’s mechanism for managing glucose simply wears out from overuse. Just about everything we eat sooner or later winds up in the blood as molecules of glucose. However, sugars and simple starches turns to glucose faster than anything else. Type 2 diabetes and obesity are exactly what you would expect to see in a mammal. Especially one whose environment has overwhelmed its metabolism with energy-dense foods.
Today’s food remains high in calories and low in food value. Scrutinized these carefully anyone wishing to be healthy, happy and free of medications.
I will work on the foods that are high in nutrient value in a future writing on
Nutrient Density Foods.
