The Dr. Mom Online blog had a great post recently about how to make nutritional choices. The author discussed how important proper nutrition is for good health, sufficient energy, clear thinking/learning ability, resistance to injury and disease, and all other aspects of living. Because, when you think about it, the quality of nutrition determines how well our body can function.

One point that was made is that to achieve proper nutrition, we need to believe 100% in the lifestyle changes we’re trying to make - and REALLY want them, not just trick ourselves into it. A great example:

If we say to ourselves, “Twinkies aren’t any good for me and they’re making me fat… I really need to stop eating those”, but our true belief is, “But, maaaaaan… I sure do LOVE Twinkies!! I love the way they taste, I love how happy they make me while I’m eating them, I look forward to my Twinkie snack all day long!!” It’s unlikely we’ll be giving up Twinkies anytime soon… we’ve still got too much pleasure attached to the idea of a Twinkie!

Our belief is that the Twinkies are GOOD, therefore our behavior (eating them) is in alignment with that belief.

There’s an even more-important point made towards the middle of the post. It’s so sensible, and so obvious, yet so many people either disregard this fundamental fact or don’t think about it:

A food choice is either congruent with our innate genetic requirements (and moves us toward health), or it’s not.

It doesn’t get much simpler than that.

Think about that when you’re meal-planning…or at grocery store…or the gas station, trying to decide between Zingers and Ding-Dongs. If it’s not in line with your genetic needs, it’s not healthy.

Visit the full post here for some great information and insight.

The LA Times reports that last week, “[t]wo federal lawmakers have introduced legislation to require fast-food and other chain restaurants to post calories on menu boards and food display tags.” This bill, known as the MEAL Act (Menu Education and Labeling Act), is designed to “Help consumers make more informed choices.”

The article mentions that the restaurant industry has proposed an alternative bill, known as the LEAN Act (Labeling Education and Nutrition Act), which would only require chains with more than 20 units to implement the new labeling requirements. It would also preempt future state or local regulatory measures.

Both measures are supposed to help consumers make healthier choices. But calling for improved labeling of restaurant food ignores the basic fact that humans aren’t designed to eat burgers and fries. As Dr. Donald Coffey of The Johns Hopkins University puts it, “we were not biologically selected by the evolution process to eat the way we do today, and the damage is manifested.” One clear manifestation is the fact that two-thirds of adult Americans are overweight.

Rather than picking the 500-calorie burger instead of the 750-calorie one, many consumers would be better off focusing on the nutrition their bodies - or, drilling down a little further, their genes - really need. That’s the whole idea behind epigenetic nutrition: helping people obtain the nutrition their genes are designed for.