On Tuesday, East Tennessee State University students had the pleasure of welcoming nutritionist and certified wellness coach Jennifer Raichlin to the campus for her presentation on eating a healthy diet.
The seminar, called “Understanding Nutrition and Portion Distortion” lasted a little over an hour and the time was spent covering various topics dealing with what our bodies should and more importantly shouldn’t be fed.
Raichlin started things off by going into why our bodies need certain nutrients to function. She first brought the audience’s attention to the new ‘food plate’ introduced by Michelle Obama. Similar to the food pyramid, the food plate suggests what foods should be eaten, such as fruits, vegetables, grains and dairy.
According to Raichlin, this model does not teach people what these choices actually are, nor does it show good choices vs. bad choices within each category. Raichlin still prefers the food pyramid and advises following it.
Raichlin placed a huge emphasis on fruits and vegetables, especially foods that are raw. She advocated raw foods for a variety of reasons, and recommended seven to nine servings a day.
She warned those in attendance to be careful of fake foods and canned items, saying that canned items are toxic because the manufacturers line the inside of the can with a preservative that, while it keeps the foods preserved for a long time, is extremely toxic to the human body.
Raichlin strongly recommended organic foods, saying that most commercially produced fruits and vegetables are sprayed down with various pesticides. However, she did mention several fruits and vegetables that would be safe to buy non-organic. Such foods included bananas, pineapples, oranges, onions, mango and asparagus, just to name a few.
On the subject of protein, Raichlin said that most adults are getting far too much protein. The formula for protein intake is best described as “Weight x .4 = grams/day”. For example, a person weighing 160 lbs. only needs approximately 60 grams of protein.
By far, the most bold of Raichlin’s statements came when she claimed that, in her opinion, most dairy products are toxic.
“Milk is designed by nature to add weight to your body,” said Raichlin.
Raichlin also brought up the fact that humans are the only species on the planet that consume milk as an adult.
She claimed dairy is toxic for an adult because of the buildup of a layer of substance along the wall of the intestines and that the only way to purge the substance is through a de-tox.
Raichlin was clearly very passionate many of her topics and said that this diet plan would be the way to ideal health.
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