10/ Better Health Begins With Better Knowledge

Don't wait for your doctor to tell you that you've now got type II diabetes. That's been happening for 20 years and what did you do? NOTHING because I'm OK, just a little overweight. My health is "Normal".

Recognition that much medical practice lacked a satisfactory evidence base, was made explicit in the early 1990's. It took about 10 years for the idea to be widely supported. Since then Evidence-based Practice Centers (EPCs) have been created in most countries to do assessments, and to support the development of guidelines. However, evidence-based guidelines and policies may conflict with experience-based practices. That can lead to contradictions, contested opinions, and unintended crises. People are still people.

The rubber hits the road when politicians try to feed children at school. Real food with quality protein costs money. In contrast the manufacturer of some grain based version of pig food, and a supplier of sweetened water might volunteer to supply at low cost or even free, in return for brand recognition. Cereal, sugar and low fat milk is pig food. Toast, margarine and jam is pig food.


school lunch USA		school dinner UK

I expect these are better quality than usual school meals.
Because of the cost of meals, (particularly the cost of high quality protein) I don't think school lunches, prison food, or hospital food, has been done well anywhere.

Lunches in schools (or hospitals) are not much better. Where is the protein? Very often missing or a tiny portion. Bread, pasta, rice and potatoes are commonly the main part of the meal. You see, the basis of pig food again.

School Lunch NZ

I expect the NZ lunch is served with a piece of fruit, and a low-fat milk drink. It's still entirely unsatisfactory.

The Women's Health Initiative proved that the Standard American Diet, generally adopted around the world, particularly in the English speaking world, does not deliver the health benefits promised by politicians in the 1970's. Researchers knew this in 1998, but the result was so "shocking" that publication was delayed until 2006, and even then the failure of the research to produce the result expected was under-played. No change in the Standard American Diet was proposed.

We know that the recommended low fat high energy mixed diet, is NOT the best HUMAN diet. But 30 years of effort to make a change to the official recommendation has failed. Strong forces forbid change. Given this failure you need to make your own dietary decisions.

Examine Your Diet Carefully

As a Health Coach, I've found that even after taking a three week course which was mostly about improving their diet, at the end of the course most people DIDN'T make any substantial change to their diet. What you eat is "who you are" so if you are going to change your diet, even for the very best reasons, it's not going to happen over night, or in three weeks. But it must begin with NEW understanding about how the food we eat is fundamental to better health.

We can't change that today. Be aware that if you are suffering from any of the common health issues, that almost everyone else also has, the KEY to making changes in your nutrition, exercise and sleep. BUT, if your nutrition is misguided, you won't be able to solve the exercise and sleep issues.

Very large numbers of health experts are themselves now eating a low-carbohydrate hight fat diet. If they follow the science they still recommend a Mediterranean Diet to their clients.

We can't tell you what to eat, but we can tell you with confidence that more than 80% of people in "developed countries" have dietary practices that destroy their health. There is a very good chance that you are one of them, even if YOU are very sure your diet is "healthy."

So that's a heads-up for everyone. I met a man who was suffering from digestive problems, who was very proud of his mostly vegetarian diet. After several years a doctor tested him for nutriment deficiencies. Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, zinc were all very low, and several other vitamins and minerals were lacking. His health issues are NOT about the supplements his doctor recommended. That's a short term "fix." The key is his diet, quietly making changes.

Animal based foods are nutritious. They contain all of the nutriments the human body needs. Getting all the essential amino-acids you need is easy.

While it's possible to get most of the nutriments you need on a vegetarian diet, it's harder to do, you need to be knowledgeable.
In addition you need to take a supplement for Vitamin B12.

Using scientific evidence, the best anyone can recommend is a Mediterranean Diet. If that's not helpful, there are over a hundred mostly small studies that suggest a low carbohydrate diet, a ketogenic diet, and moving more strongly in the same direction a carnivore diet, might be useful. Short term success is well documented. We can't say more than that.

People with "incurable" dietary problems, have often found a solution in an unlikely diet.

What do you understand from this short lesson?

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Next Topic:Topic 11/ Remarkable Change is Possible in a Few Months (Tablet)

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17 November, 2025