food is complicated
My doctor says that my "bad cholesterol" is a smidge high (good's fine)
and I should cut down on dairy and red meat. I eat very little red meat
(really not much meat at all, though lots of fish), but I did bump up the
dairy intake a bit in pursuit of calcium after learning of some family
medical history this summer. Ok, fine, I'm perfectly willing to take
calcium/D supplements instead, go back to soy milk instead of yogurt for
breakfast, etc, but it does raise a question for me.
Presumably it is possible to find the right combination of nutrients in
nature, without taking supplements. Sure, our understanding of "right"
has changed over time, but for at least several decades I gather that
we've grokked the importance of basic vitamins and minerals, and I don't
remember supplements being nearly so prevalent a few decades ago as they
are now. So how does one get enough good stuff (calcium, protein,
vitamins) without getting too much bad stuff (cholesterol, sugar, excess
calories), without supplements? What is the canonical modern
(wo)man supposed to eat? (The last time I looked at the food pyramid it
wasn't very helpful for gleaning details. It also assumed 2000+
calories/day, which a sendentary blob like me shouldn't eat.)
