Driver Lifestyles

Diet-Food Choices

All food are categorized as either proteins, carbohydrates or fats.  

Proteins are the body's building blocks.   The primary sources of proteins are meats, fish, nuts and dairy.   Carbohydrates from vegetables and fruits provide short term energy needs.   With good reason, medical practitioners and nutritionists urge us to limit our intake of the third category: fats.   But no food is just one thing.   All sources of protein contain some fat; all vegetables and most fruits contain small amounts of protein.  

Before a protein can be utilized by the body, it must be broken down into its component amino acids.   In nature there are 390 amino acids, only 20 of which are needed by our bodies.   Nine of these are classified as essential; the remaining eleven can be manufactured within the digestive system.   Eggs and milk contain all nine, as do most meats.  Good vegetable sources of complete proteins are nuts and legumes.

Because they are digested and converted into blood sugar so easily, we should limit out intake of bread and potatoes.   Better sources of carbohydrates are those that have a high fiber content, such as beans, whole grains, and green foods, and a few fruits.

Fats from animal sources are as a rule very bad for you.   Saturated fats make up the plaque that clogs our arteries; poly-unsatured fats, on the other hand, help clean the system.   Endeavor to eat more of the latter and none of the former.  Note: Nuts contain the good kind; eggs and milk and meats, the bad kind.

So, driver, learn to interpret the labels on packaged foods you buy, and choose wisely when you must choose your foods off a restaurant menu.