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New diets that focus beyond traditional ideas.
There appears to be some new eating, and food shopping, trends that are developing and picking up speed in America today. Interestingly, many are not necessarily new or radical. Rather, some harken back to earlier days, to styles of living and eating that were not so much conscious decisions, but just part of the day-to-day lifestyles of average people within their meliu.
Sure, we live in a time of computers, blackberries, and email... where the pace of business, the pace of life has accelerated and we look to make every hour of every day jam-packed with productivity... we flock to new technology, new systems and new thinking to squeeze more minutes out of any and every activity. But it's like many people are waking up from a seventy-year dream when it comes to their eating styles and their diets. The focus is shifting towards good common sense and good common habits.
Flexitarianism
"Flexitarians" in a certain kind of way are somewhat similar to "Vegetarians". They eat a primarily plant-based diet composed of grains, vegetables, and fruits. But unlike the devout vegetarian, they have a modicum of flexibility. Occasionally Flexitarians obtain protein from lean meat, fish, poultry, or dairy. A full twenty five percent of Americans are falling into this category, consuming meatless meals at least four days a week (according to the American Dietetic Association).
Studies show that people who follow this approach to eating generally weigh less and have lower rates of hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and prostate and colon cancer. In one large study from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, researchers tracked the eating habits of more than 9,600 people over a 19-year period and found those who consumed fruits and vegetables at least three times daily lowered their risk of stroke by 42 percent, and their risk of cardiovascular disease by 27 percent.
Backyard and Locally Grown Foods
People are casting a skeptical eye on foods frozen and shipped in to their supermarkets from unknown locations. They seek fresher, and pesticide free foods and have started to connect with local family farms. Some have begun "Victory Gardens" in their own backyards. Community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs and farmers' markets give consumers direct access to produce, meats, cheeses, breads, honey, and other foods that are produced in their own community (or one that is very close by). In the past 10 years, the number of local farmers' markets has more than doubled according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service.
These fresh foods, harvested sometimes just moments before being purchased and consumed, most times have a solid nutritional advantage over the products produced and raised on "factory" farms. The latter, which is the vast majority of the food produced in the United States, is picked about four to seven days before it arrives on supermarket shelves, and shipped for an average of 1,500 miles before it's sold. USDA researchers have found that if it's not handled properly, produce can lose up to half its nutrients in transit. Water-soluble nutrients such as vitamin C are particularly vulnerable.
Besides tasting better, and containg higher nutritional value, there are also political, economic and social ramifications to buying locally grown food. Making these kind of purchases actually puts the food dollars back into a local community instead of, in some cases, unkown multinational AgriCorps.
Helper Foods
Enhanced and enriched with nutrients that are not inherent to a specific product, Helper Foods have gained an even greater popularity in the last ten years. The concept is not new: orange juice has been on the functional food list for many years, fortified with calcium. Milk has also been on that list, being fortified with vitamins A and D. And now we are seeing many more of these kinds of enriched foods appear on our market shelves like eggs and pastas with omega-3 fatty acids, sterol-fortified chocolates and high-fiber, high-protein flours.
These foods are all about helping people fill in the holes of their nutritional needs. They are parts of a healthy, balanced diet, not a replacement plan. Ultimately, it is wise to rely on whole foods, ones that provide many nutrients and that provide a synergistic effect. Helper foods can provide some missing elements in an otherwise naturally rich diet source.
Organic Food
Organic Food is produced following a regulated system of growing and processing that minimizes exposure to pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals used in modern agriFactory farming. The shift towards food not polluted with dangerous chemicals is a fast growing trend, sales have risen more than 20 percent per year since the 1990s, according to the USDA's Economic Research Service.
The desire for clean food is not hard to understand, but there is a lesser known reason for buying organic: some organic foods may provide an actual nutrition boost. A research review of 41 studies conducted by the University of California at Davis found that, on average, organic produce contains as much as 27 percent more vitamin C, 21 percent more iron, and 29 percent more magnesium compared with non-organically grown foods.
Slow Foods
As every professional chef knows, presentation of a meal counts almost as much as the taste and quality of ingredients. And in the same vein, this new trend places emphasis upon the how's and why's of meal preparation and consumption as much as it's actual content. The "Slow Food" principle -- choosing locally grown and produced items, preparing them in traditional ways, and eating with friends and family in a relaxed approach to living -- makes the point that our bodies will metabolize and utilize the nutrients much better than the fast-paced, eat-on-the-run style.
Freshness is a key component of the slow food trend as well as family togetherness. Slow food is all about the preparing and eating experiences... getting back to what food used to provide: a time to draw together and share in the necessary, but very pleasurable, experience of a meal.
There is a psychological element to the Slow Food idea, one that no scientific studies have conclusively proven. But it is clear that family and friends make much better meal companions than the television set. And somehow your body knows it.
