Use the One-Week Eating Journal you can download at NutrientRich.com to determine what
percentage of your daily diet is nutrient-rich food.
The Nutrition Transition in the Wrong Direction
For thousands of years our diets have been transitioning in the wrong direction, mostly due to
economic forces. Most early humans foraged through forests and valleys, mainly surviving on the
fruits, nuts and other plants they could gather there. They occasionally supplemented their diets by
fishing and hunting for small animals. And, even though some early societies consumed larger
amounts of animal foods based on food availability, their diets were still natural and included a lot
of vegetation. They did not consume refined foods that were completely devoid of nutrients.
Over the past 300 years, the pace of this dietary change has been speeding up; mainly due to
changes in the way we obtain and prepare our food.^21 During the last 100 years, industrialized
countries have made a nutrition transition away from a more plant-based, nutrient-rich, moderate-
calorie diet to one that is based largely on “agrifactory”-farmed, calorie-rich, nutrient-poor animal
foods, prepackaged meals, and fast foods.
Now when we “scavenge” for food, we are seeking pleasure rather than nutrition, and this is a
nutrition transition in the wrong direction.
Today we know that the societies with the longest lifespans eat 10% or less animal products and
90% or more plant-based, nutrient-rich foods. Yet most people in our society do not even come close
to obtaining the recommended amounts of vegetables and fruits per day.
A 2010 Gallup Poll showed that although 92% of Americans say they have easy access to affordable
fresh produce, only 32.5% eat the recommended amount of fruits every day and 26.3% eat the
recommended amount of vegetables (and even the recommended amount isn't close to what we
really need to be eating).^22
These already low percentages would plummet even further if the participants had also been
surveyed about their intake of other important plant-based foods, such as unrefined raw nuts,
seeds, beans/legumes, starchy vegetables and whole grains.
The reality is that due in part to economic interests, we are eating more and more animal-based
products than ever before in human history—and in ways that further elevate the toxic properties
of these foods.
(^21) Popkin BM. Nutrition in transition: The changing global nutrition challenge. Asia Pacific J Clin Nutr. 2001;10(Suppl):S13-
S18.
(^22) Morales L. In U.S., Consumption of Fruits and Vegetables Trails Access. Gallup Wellbeing. Sept 22, 2010.