Magazine_Summer2021_RND1_07.14.21.indd

The human digestive system has evolved over thousands of years utilizing and adapting to a vast array of foods. Our forebears’ bodies were capable of digesting a variety of whole foods found in their environments, like meats, fishes, nuts, whole grains, vegetables, fruits and more. While some changes have happened very slowly throughout our history, the recent changes to American diets has been fairly abrupt. What has happened to us? Why are we suddenly becoming so fat and so ill? There have definitely been changes to our digestive systems over the past 10,000 years, none of those changes can compare to the changes in the foods we eat. The last 100 years or so have seen Americans reinvent their diet in at least a hundred ways to accommodate our rapidly changing lives. From convenience to fad dieting, we have completely moved away from what our bodies had recognized as slow-digesting nutrient-dense whole foods. Our search for the “magic bullet” has led us to fast- digesting, overly-processed foods because they seem to make sense and they offer quick results. The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, technology, mining, transport and (you guessed it) daily nutrition rapidly occurred. Our digestive systems weren’t quite as ready for the rapid pace. The foods that we had been eating had never been processed and packaged. The flours we had used to make breads and crackers had never been super-pulverized and stripped of essential nutrition. Sugars and fats had never widely been added to make our foods taste better. Our diets were comprised of simple foods, simply prepared. With more widely available ingredients, large populations had access A (VERY) brief history of nutrition Nutri-Facts| STRAWBERRIES FUNCTIONAL FOODS • Strawberries are high in fiber which helps regulate blood sugar and improve satiety. • Strawberries are packed with potassium which can support heart health. • Strawberries contain powerful antioxidants that could decrease inflammation in the body. Source: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/ articles/271285 12 Nutrition Quarterly · 2021 – Volume 3