Why should we focus on diet and nutrition to stay healthy?

As the saying goes, we are what we eat. Catherine Shanahan, MD, a family physician, explains why eating healthy, unprocessed foods are so important and reveals how the concept of food has changed over time.

Transcript

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We don't know what we're eating anymore, and along with that, our culture has changed, so our whole concept of what food even is has changed.

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[INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING]

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Because our bodies are made out of the food that we eat, we are what we eat, and as Michael Pollan

00:22

said in his books, the food system has changed more in the past 50 years than it had in the past 10,000.

00:30

We don't know what we're eating anymore, and along with that, our culture has changed, so our whole concept of what food even

00:38

is has changed. So much has changed, and we're up against the need for convenience.

00:46

We're up against the manufacturers who are wanting to sell us their processed foods, which

00:53

are made out of, basically, three things vegetable oil, carbohydrate, refined, a lot of sugar in there,

00:59

and even refined proteins. So, we're eating foods that are mostly just these three

01:08

main ingredients, and, unfortunately, so much happens during the refining that

01:14

is lost that, even if we think we're eating a balanced meal, in terms of protein, carbohydrate, fat,

01:20

calories, we can't possibly be, unless we're very attuned to what a healthy, balanced diet is,

01:28

and not enough people in my practice have been. I have to do an awful lot of education.