Diet & Nutrition

Element IV: The Human Being

What we eat can have a lot to do with how we feel and act. All over the world for thousands of years people everywhere have recognized to one degree or another, the importance of diet and nutrition as one of the key elements of LIFECRAFT.

Diet refers to the types and combinations of foods that you eat. In some cultures meat is a very large part of the diet while in others, no meat is eaten at all. Still other diets are very strict about the growing and preparation of foods. Throughout history, different societies have exhibited great variations in diet. So long as the food supply was sufficient, however, the traditional diets of most cultures have provided all the essential nutrients. These nutrients may be divided into macronutrients (CARBOHYDRATES, FATS, PROTEINS) and micronutrients (VITAMINS AND MINERALS).

In general, humans obtain most of their food energy (CALORIES) from carbohydrates (perhaps 65% worldwide); lesser amounts come from fat (about 20%) and protein (about 15%), derived mainly from meat and fish. In terms of food groups, cereal GRAINS provide about 70% of the food energy consumed by humans. The most widely used cereals are rice, wheat, and corn; these are followed by millets, sorghum, oats, barley, and the teff grass of Africa. Other important energy sources are the root crops, such as manioc (cassava); potatoes; and other starchy foods such as plantain and sago. Almost every human society regards one of these foods as its principal staple. Thus in much of the Far East, rice is the main energy source; in parts of Brazil, manioc provides the majority of calories; and for certain African groups, such as the Baganda and Wachagga, plantain is the staple food.

Legumes such as lentils, peas, beans, and peanuts also form an important part of the diet of almost all cultural groups, although they seldom are the main staple. These legumes, or pulses, are nutritionally important because most of them contain considerably more protein than do most cereal or root crops. The combination of a cereal grain and a legume in the traditional diets of many different cultural groups is therefore sound nutritional practice.

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES are of lesser importance in human diets in terms of their macronutrient content, but they supply essential vitamins and minerals as well as fiber. In the diets of many countries, certain vitamins such as vitamin C and carotene (the precursor of vitamin A) are obtained mainly from this food group.

People also consume a variety of fats and oils of both animal and vegetable origin, and eat a wide range of condiments, flavorings, and spices. Outside of salt, which supplies the trace elements sodium and chlorine, most of the latter are of little nutritive importance, but they often help to increase the appetite and to assist digestion by stimulating the secretion of digestive juices.

Nutrition is the process by which your body takes in vitamins and minerals and other important elements from the foods you eat. If your diet has foods rich in elements which help to make your body strong, it will be strong. If your diet is made up of foods which contain lots of fat or chemicals your body will contain lots of fat and chemicals. The nutritionist, a scientist working in the field of nutrition, differs from the dietitian, who translates the science of nutrition into the skill of furnishing optimal nourishment to people (see DIET). Dietetics is a profession concerned with the science and art of human nutrition care, an essential component of the health sciences. The treatment of disease by modification of the diet lies within the province of the physician and the dietitian. So diet and nutrition are two parts of one very important subject; you!

Your ultimate goal as a craftsperson is to make your life a masterpiece. Therefore, your body; your outer self -- just like your inner self is an important part of the masterpiece you will be making. So you will have to make some important choices about the kind of foods you eat; your diet, to be sure your body is getting the nutrition it needs to be a work of art.

Another important consideration about your diet is balance. Many times when someone tells you to eat a balanced diet, they are referring to the types and combination of foods you are eating to be sure you are getting the right amount of nutrition. Different cultures have many ideas about what is a balanced diet.

While the quantity and combination of foods that you eat is an important part of the definition of a "balanced diet", in LIFECRAFT we mean something more. A balanced diet also takes into consideration the effect your diet has on the balance of all living things on earth. Are the foods in your diet produced under conditions that are friendly to our environment so that our children's children's children will also be able to enjoy a beautiful life, or are the foods in your diet produced under circumstances that harm the earth, waste the trees and pollute the water. Today we have come to realize that some foods are harmful in the long run not only if we eat them but the effects they have on our earth just by producing them the way we do.

These are some of the most important choices in your life and will determine both the quality of your own life and health but also the quality of life for all living things on our beautiful earth for the generations to come. A craftsperson does not misuse the resources of their craft, they protect them and use only what is necessary so there is plenty available for tomorrow. Waste not, want not.

Finally, food and its preparation is one of the craftsperson's most creative expressions! Food is fun when skillfully prepared. It taste's great, smells great, looks great and makes you feel great when you eat great food! It is one of life's greatest pleasures! All over the world there are schools dedicated to the art of food and beverage preparation in a million different ways or cuisine's. These are the culinary arts of LIFECRAFT. As a craftsperson, you must dedicate yourself to both a well balanced diet in all its meanings and to the skillful preparation and sheer enjoyment of food! One without the other is tasteless!

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