By Christine Christina Pirello, MFN, CCN, via ChristinaCooks.com -
I know; I know. It’s controversial. Some say crazy, but what if we could reduce crime and violence by simply changing cafeteria menus? A high school in Appleton, Wisconsin tried an experiment under the enlightened guidance of their principal, LuAnn Coenen. She wanted to see if she could positively affect the fighting, weapons-carrying and general lack of focus and discipline in the school by changing the food the kids ate.
Vending machines were replaced with water coolers; hamburgers and French fries were taken off the menu and replaced with fresh vegetables and fruit, whole grain breads and a salad bar. With the departure of junk food, she also saw the departure of vandalism, litter and the need for police patrolling her hallways. The students were calm, socially engaged and focused on their schoolwork. Problems were minimal. And all Ms. Coenen did was change the menu.
You can dismiss this as a fluke, a ‘results not typical’ scenario (like with diet plans); or the ravings of healthy eating fanatics. True; no scientists have ever seriously investigated the changes at this Wisconsin high school (even after seven years of this). And healthy eating surely divides us nearly as deeply as politics. There are the zealots who believe that food cures all ills and the equally zealous skeptics who say it’s all nonsense.
And yet, is this really such a radical, left-of-center idea? There is little debate that food can affect the way the brain works, thus our behavior. While it accounts for only 2% of our body weight, our brain uses about 20% of our energy. To generate such energy, we need nutrients…lots of them…vitamins, minerals, unsaturated fatty acids…all obtained from nutritious foods.
So the question to be asked is this: what are the effects of constantly eating processed foods that lack the sufficient nutrients we need to operate our brains in a clear, sane way?
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