Musings

The multigenerational impact of food

I’ve been thinking about food today.

Food obviously plays an important roles in our lives. It’s what nourishes us in the womb and once we start the dying process upon our “hatching.” We can use food for fuel, performance, escapism, and even as a source of slow suicide.

Twinkies around the world
First, take a look at this great photo essay by photographer Peter Menzel and author-journalist Faith D’Alusio. Some of these photos from their book Hungry Planet: What the World Eats have been floating around the Internet for quite some time and I’m finally getting around to sharing them here. They represent an amazing vision and, at least to me, provide a poignant reminder of just how vital food is to our existence.

As you look at the photos, pay attention to not only the volume of food, but to the quality of the food each family consumes in a week. Just because a diet has a high proportion of fresh produce (like the Casales family of Cuernavaca), doesn’t mean they’re healthy. Nor does it mean that if you eat only pre-packaged junk food, like the Revis family of North Carolina, does it mean you’re going to look like Fat Bastard. The Casales look like they could lose a few pounds while the Revis appear to just fine. Of course, what we can’t see is what’s going inside their bodies. Yet, compare both of these families to the Ayme family of Tingo in regard to food volume.

Fascinating.

This photo essay shows just how little food we need to survive and somewhat thrive and with that in mind, just how much we overeat when given the opportunity.

What can we learn from this? Well, not too much the more you start asking questions about diet and lifestyle choices. The more I tried to pigeonhole a family based on their food selection and volume, the more questions I had. Nonetheless, the book is a remarkable journey into the nourishing wisdom of food.

Granny screwed me over
On a related note, scientists now think what your grandmother ate for breakfast while she was pregnant with your mom might determine whether or not you are prone to diabetes when you get older. On Nova last night, they ran a show called Ghosts in Your Genes. In a nutshell, think of your genes as letters of the alphabet. How those letters are put together determines who you are. Since we share 98 percent of the same “letters” as chimps, our words are obviously put together in a different order than theirs.

Many people have believed that the genes you receive from your parents are what you get and that’s that. How often have you heard about genetic potential as a limiting factor in athletics?

Well, turns out that another field of study is challenging that. Epigenetics research focuses on the “dark matter of genetics.” It’s the stuff between the genes that actually switches a gene on or off. Hence, the aptly named program, Ghost in Your Genes. What makes all of this so intriguing, and why I’m bringing it up here, is that your environment influences this process. Quite literally, what your grandmother ate for breakfast 50 years ago can impact your life today.

How are our various gels, performance fluids, supplements, etc. impacting our lives, but the lives of those to whom we pass along our genetic code? What about the stress that our sports put on our bodies? How does doing an Ironman today affect the health of your granddaughter 60 years from now?

Check your local TV listings to catch this program if you can.

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