What Food Makes You Sad, Dumb, & Overweight?
By Dr. Christopher Ogilvie
The Center for Disease Control predicts that 1 in 3 Americans will have Type II Diabetes by 2050. The World Health Organization places the U.S. right after the Somoa and Kiribati Pacific Islanders on the list of overweight countries. We already know from previous blogs that processed food leads to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. Thanks to two studies out of Britain we also know that processed (junk) food leads to depression and lower IQ’s in children. 
The first study was published by the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2009 (The British Journal of Psychiatry (2009) 195: 408-413. doi: 10.1192/bjp.bp.108.058925
© 2009 The Royal College of Psychiatrists). With a pool of 3486 participants, the study found that those participants who at more processed foods, on average, had a higher rate of reported depression. Conversely, the participants that tended toward a whole food diet, reported less incidence of depression.
The second study came out today, February 7, 2011 from Bristol University, also in Britain. Researchers study about 4,000 children under the age of 4 and followed them for 4 years. At the end of the study, the children that ate more processed foods scored lower on IQ tests than children who ate whole foods throughout the same period. 
This may or may not be surprising for readers. Recent research has shown that improper nutrition is related to the onset of cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease, now research shows that improper nutrition leads to depression and lower IQ’s. The reason for this is quite simple. Our ancestral DNA, the genes that have been passed down from the first human to you through your parents, has a very specific nutritional requirements that have been exacted over the course of millions of years and is precisely engineered to operate on Real Food. The farther any food gets from is natural form, the worse it becomes for you. Think of the body as a high performance sports car needing high performance fuel. If it gets low quality fuel it will not perform up to optimal levels and the engine will eventually be ruined. As intelligent as we think we are at this point in history, we are not smarter than a millions of years of adaptation and micro-evolution.
So when in doubt, err on the side of nature. Research will continue to prove the benefits of whole foods in the years to come but there’s no reason to wait. Follow these simple rules:
1. Eat Real Food. 
2. Eat 3 meals per day.
3. Eat a protein (Nuts, seeds, fish, meat, beans, and many others) with each meal.
4. Eat veggies at 2 of the 3 meals per day
5. Eat fruits at 2 of the 3 meals per day
6. Eat whole grains in limited quantities
7. Exercise for 30-45 minutes per day
If you have any questions about this article please feel free to contact Dr. Ogilvie at http://integrativehealthcenterofvirginia.com/index.htm or call at 703-226-9291.
