Here is a somewhat humorous look at the world of whole foods and plant based diet knowledge.

Our generation knows more about food than generation X or Z, and both those generations appear to be well on their way to childhood obesity, diabetes, and more – so say all of the scientific studies on this topic.

This would suggest that the younger generation needs to be “schooled” and the older generation are the ones who should do it.

But what is the real quality of your knowledge about whole foods and plant based diet?

Here is a quiz that we hope you’ll find fun and informative…it’s true or false quiz.

1. Whole foods are foods that come ready to eat out of the package.
2. Plant-based foods are foods that were processed in a packing plant.
3. Organic simply means they didn’t spray them with Roundup.
4. Foods are safe when you can read, pronounce, and explain all of the ingredients.
5. Anything that grows on a farm is good for you.
6. Cooking in vegetable oil is a healthy choice for frying foods.
7. Avoiding eating all fat is a good way to stay slim and fit.
8. Corn-fed beef is the best beef money can buy and the best tasting too.
9. Raising chickens in cages doesn’t affect the quality of the meat or the eggs.
10. Genetically Modified foods “GMO” have been approved by the FDA so they must be safe.
11. Pharmaceutical companies help subsidize food advertising because they believe eating our food will make us healthier.
12. It’s OK that the FDA is run by big agribusiness and big chemical companies, because they are in a position to know better what is and isn’t harmful in our food.
13. We should just convert all our prairies to raising grass-fed beef. That would solve the problem.
14. Fish raised on farms are the same as fish caught wild.
15. Companies who sell you food have to tell you about all the ingredients. Take for instance the dairy companies, they have to tell you if there is anything besides milk in your milk.
16. Eating fat makes you fat.
17. Everyone needs to eat plenty of protein – more is better. Most people should eat meat one or two meals per day.
18. Pasta is a great diet food.
19. Diet sodas don’t hurt you because they don’t have any sugar.
20. Diet foods and low calorie foods are healthier.
21. Feeding cows and chickens GMO grains doesn’t affect us.
22. Obese people get fat because they lack discipline.
23. Diabetics get sick because they eat too much sugar.
24. People who are slim and fit looking are healthier than people who aren’t.

Well now if you found you agreed with some of these then you might struggle with the task of educating the new generation. Mainly because every one of those statements were false. And there is plenty of scientific research and just plain facts to prove that.

So what should we be teaching? Aren’t the US dietary guidelines the basis for what’s good for our kids?

Hasn’t the Food Guide Pyramid served us well up to now?

Well – NO! Today following this guide, we have more obesity, more diabetes, and MS, more dementia, more Alzheimers than ever before in history. We have all kinds of neurological diseases that nobody 100 years ago had ever experienced – like “Fiber Myalgia.” As a society we’re failing in our food education and our general knowledge about what we eat. Eating the way this chart is arranged is killing us.

First, let’s look at the bottom of the pyramid. These grain-based foods are the most likely to cause food allergies or sensitivities. Most of the time they are too low level to notice and we just pass them off as external allergies or aging. But these foods turn into sugar in the body faster than sugar does. In fact, they should have occupied the top space on the pyramid. Early Paleolithic Man didn’t eat such foods so why should we? Is it because we think we’re smarter and can bend science to give us what we want?

And how about 2-4 servings of fruit. These are clearly sources of concentrated sugar.

And how about milk, yogurt, and cheese. Do you think that when this pyramid was created there were any political influences to contend with? Since this pyramid was created, a lot of changes have occurred in the diary farming industry. Widespread use of hormones and antibiotics, genetic modification of cows so they can give milk during the 9 months of their pregnancy providing almost 10X the estrogen with no labelling requirements (hello “man-boobs”), the introduction of GMOs into the food chain – milk really isn’t the same milk we envisioned when this guide was first established and negotiated with the dairy industry.

But you must realize that this guide has influenced your thinking about what’s good and what’s not when you make your food choices. It’s ingrained in everything we do.

So what should we be teaching the next generation?

Here are some simple suggestions…

• Most of your diet should be made up of plant-based organically raised foods free of pesticides, antibiotics, and GMOs.
• Most dairy even organic is marginally safe and should be minimized.
• Grains should be avoided regardless of organic or not. Grains include all forms of grain including rice and grains that are generally called “gluten free.” Some people may have gluten sensitivities but this is more comprehensive than that and includes anything that converts to sugar more rapidly than sugar itself (could be called a high glycemic load)
• Fruits should be eaten sparingly and mainly focused on the berry end of the spectrum.
• Packaged or processed foods of any kind should be avoided.
• Meat should be pasture-raised, 100% grass-fed, cage free, and organic and mainly a weekly event rather than daily.
• You can’t eat fast food and adhere to the guidelines above. You’ll never know what you ate no matter what they say, and believe me the fast food industry are “smart rats” in a maze they created – they know what they need to say to get your business.

I invite your comments.