When I was in graduate school at the Harvard School of Public Health, my physiology professor Dr. Bob Banzett used a donut to describe the human body. That the donut is the body and the donut hole is the digestive track (the top opening is the mouth and the bottom opening is the other end). And he would ask, "If things are in the donut hole, is it in the donut or outside the donut?". And it would dawn to the students that unless things are absorbed, having it in the digestive track does not equal being inside the body. I now use this analogy with my students. Not only because it is useful for teaching, but any food-related usually gets nutrition students excited as well.
The human body as a donut.
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I have been working with a registered dietician and nutritionist for the past six months. When I told her that I was feeling better but still a bit low on energy she explained that I was not eating enough snacks. We went over my snack list and timings and yes after a few weeks of sticking to scheduled snacking, I am feeling better. My only complaint is that for most of my snacks I need to go to Whole Foods or one of the local farmers markets during the weekend.
Why does staying well nourished to be healthy have to cost so much? Am I a victim of marketing or just drawn to the idea of shopping at a high-end food store such as Whole Foods rather than my local Kroger or Publix grocery store?
Tell me what you think? Is Star Market still the big supermarket chain in MA?
Rhonda
Hi Rhonda,
It is difficult to comment without knowing your situation. Worse, I don't even shop at Whole Foods because there isn't one near where I live, and I heard it is quite expensive -- so I don't know what's special about Whole Foods. Perhaps they carry things that are less processed, less additives/preservatives, less sugar, less salt.
As for your comment on eating healthy costs a lot -- it is true. There is actually research that back this up! Adam Drewnowski of University of Washington at Seattle actually has done a bunch of research on the price of healthy and non-healthy foods. And healthy simply means fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grain foods, fish. And he wasn't even talking about organic products. And as anyone would have guessed, healthy foods cost more than junk.
I found that most big supermarket should contain a good selection of healthy foods. The high-end stores may have more selection, but obviously more expensive. To me, the 3 fundamentals of healthy eating are: minimally processed, plant based diet (does not mean one has to go vegetarian), variety. (I can go on and on about my philosophy of what constitute as healthy eating.)
The Star Market is now called Shaws. It has a more upscale look, but basically the same thing.
Teresa