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Q & A
~ with Dr. Jeff Jennewein~
S. Jeff Jennewein, D.C., M.A., M.S.
Chiropractor, Educator, Author, Public Speaker, Life Style, Nutrition, Health
and Fitness Adviser
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Dr. Jennewein,
I'm interested in the
HEALTHY STUDENT. Could you answer these questions for
me? I'm doing a science project. I would like to work
on it this weekend, so as soon as you can. Thanks.
1) What are five proven
nutrition things that help a teenager have better nutrition?
- Drink a minimum of 2 quarts
of water every day.
- Eat five servings of fresh
vegetables every day.
- Eliminate soda-pop (diet and
other wise) from their lives.
- Remove refined sugar from
eating habits
- Abolish hydrogenated and/or
partially hydrogenated oils from their diet.
2) What do you think
is the difference between teenagers nutrition now from
teenagers 50 years ago?
- Challenges faced by the teenagers
of the 21st century are complicated
by an ever increasing industrialization of
our food sources. As the economic forces driving
the commerce of our industrialized world maintain
the strangle hold over media outlets, the dissemination
of accurate information becomes more difficult.
In other words, money controls what we see
and hear on T.V., radio and in movies. Information
is king. That doesn’t always mean the
truth is what we hear or believe. Information
becomes slanted to severe the desires of money.
The foods now being sold as healthy snack food
are a far cry from the claims or expectations
forced upon a unsuspecting public.
- The challenges faced by current
generations of children raised throughout the world are
foods that increasingly show reduced nutritional value,
while simultaneously containing increased caloric value.
Calories and nutrition are not comparative. Children,
adults, infants all have increasing amounts of refined,
hydrogenated oils and sugars added to food to stimulate
appetite while increasing a products shelf life. The
longer a product can be stored without losing flavor
or taste the greater the profits for industry.
3) What is the most
important meal of the day?
- The meal you are eating is
the most important meal of the day. Not meant to be funny,
although I see some humor in it. The point is that every
meal is important. People have this mistaken idea that
consuming one meal is more important then another. Unfortunately,
for them, humanities physiology functions according to
over a hundred thousand years of history. Anthropological
studies clearly demonstrate that we have existed as grazing
creatures throughout history. That is of course until
the last two hundred to two hundred and fifty years.
In order to accommodate the needs of industry we have
adopted a three meal a day attitude. Due to the rushed
environment families face in a 21st century
lifestyle many people opt out of eating nutritious meals,
choosing caloric content to supply the immediate energy
needs of their day. Yet in order to maintain the balanced
insulin levels equated to optimal health we should see
the caloric content evenly spread over five to six nutrition
periods during a ten to twelve hour period. Food is also
required to contain more then calories. Nutrition includes
natural occurring vitamins, minerals, enzymes, co-factors,
and complexes occurring in a biological constellation
recognizable by human physiology. In other words, its
more then placing a bunch of ingredients into a blender
and mixing. Think of it as a jig saw puzzle. Pieces fit
in precise locations. So to answer your question, the
key is maintaining an even balance in blood sugar with
a proper supply of nutritional elements throughout the
waking hours. This occurs with grazing.
4) From what you have
seen out teenagers what do you think most teenagers eat
the most of which is not healthy nutrition?
- Soda
pop is a scourge to the teenage population. More
sugar, artificial sweeteners, colors, flavors,
preservatives and chemical additives to disrupt
the bodies chemistry. Natural, artificial, it doesn’t matter. People are being misled by labels
because they read the word "natural." The caloric
and chemical content is a major problem in
peoples diets.
5) How do you think
the school could help teenagers get better nutrition?
- Education. I believe that
if classes were to be offered in whole food nutrition
with thematic tie-ins to cultural origins and the demise
or prospering of civilizations people could develop a
conscious understanding. Lifestyle matched to nutrition
habits should be correlated to the increase of degenerative
illness. I believe choice comes with truth. People need
to be exposed to the facts, not biased information geared
toward economic benefit.
6) what do you think
the parents of the teenagers could do to help their child
have better nutrition?
- Parents
need to be educated. Because of the insidious nature
of societies industrialization of food, the parents
of today lack the knowledge of their own eating
habits. The problem revolves around what I call
a microwave mentality. People want immediate gratification.
The old ways have been forgotten. Food was
prepared in certain ways because they worked. They
promoted longevity. Unfortunately we’ve traded
this knowledge for convenience.
7) Does gender have
an affect on what you should eat and how it affects the
person?
- Yes and no. The physiology
of men and women are inherently different. But its more
complicated then just gender. Heritage also influences
your bodies metabolism. Body type has been recognized
throughout history as influential in what people can
eat and the reaction of their bodies. A substantial amount
of research indicates that blood type is a indicator
of foods you can or should not eat. All the reason more
for people to be educated in how to recognize and understand
how food influences their ability to function and prosper
in our world today.
8) If you eat healthy
is it true that you will live longer?
- That should be obvious by
now. Diet needs to be recognized as the cement that holds
a building together. Diet is also the re-bar that reinforces
a buildings structure.
9) Is it true that
if you eat healthy you will have better health, (not
having to stay home from school as much or getting sick.)
- Absolutely. People
don’t necessarily like to believe that they have
to give up something they like in order to improve the
quality of their lives. But it’s a well
documented fact.
10) Are bad nutrition
habits as a teenage reversible later in life? Easily?
- Habits are always reversible.
Easily, a very convoluted topic as varied as individual
personalities. Without going to deeply into the psychological
aspects behind habits let me say it all depends on
the individual. Motivation is the big factor. How motivated
are people to make the changes. But even more incredulous
is the fact that the food industry adds chemicals
to promote physiologic drives for their particular products.
There is an addictive component that further complicates
the equation. Similar to the cigarette industry adding
chemicals to create dependency on their products.
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