Some of the views expressed here, are not always the same as those promoted through government agencies and the media over the last 20 years or so.

Unfortunately, we have all been exposed to particular ideas on what we should, or should not eat, via advertisements on the television or other media outlets. We are often told how good a particular food is, but on reading the fine print, we realise that the research may be biased because it has been done on behalf of a particular food industry, or brand name. We are now often buying and eating advertised foods, which have being promoted as being not just good for us, but a necessity of life (which of course they're not). Of course, the whole reason for the promotion of a certain food, is to make money for the marketer (An argument could be made that this is very similar to the promotion of prescription and over-the-counter drugs).

Nutrition is not just eating enough to give us energy (indeed, in our modern lifestyle, we often eat more, and use less energy - giving excess energy, which our bodies store as fat). Nutrition means getting the right building blocks for our bodies to work at an optimum level. Although we eat more in this generation, than any previous generations, the building blocks are often not included; indeed, often harmful products are included in our foods.

So what do we mean by 'building blocks'? These range from complex carbohydrates to proteins to fats, right down through amino acids and fatty acids to vitamins and minerals.

10,000 years ago, when our forefathers were running around chasing animals and fish, and trying to harvest primitive vegetables,fruits and berries for food to eat, their genes were 97%, the same as ours. They exercised, ate everything they could get their hands on, and had very few or none, of our Western diseases. Their life expectancy was probably as long as ours, although they tended to die younger, because of infectious diseases and accidents. They ate lots of fibre, protein, good fats and drank lots of water. This primitive diet was rich in all of the building blocks mentioned above - it wasn't processed, it wasn't changed through technology to make it more appealing, it didn't have nutrients taken out of it, and it didn't have added foodstuffs put into it.

Some interesting facts on living 10,000 years ago, were that:

• Grasses hadn't been harvested, so there wasn't much cereal in their diet
• Cows hadn't been herded, so there wasn't much milk (apart from mother's milk), in their diet
• North America hadn't been discovered, so there weren't any potatoes in their diet
• Their diet excluded these products, and all the added colourings, flavourings and preservatives - yet, they could live as long as we can, if not longer, (if they had the protection of western medicine in dealing with infectious diseases and accidents)
• They didn't need other drugs or medicines to keep them alive.

Even in the last century, times have changed - our great grandparents, a hundred years ago, ate an average of half a kilogram of sugar per year. Nowadays, the average Australian eats about 75 kg of sugar each year. Most of this sugar is ‘hidden’ - about seven teaspoonfuls of sugar, in every can of soft drink! How much more is hidden in sweets, biscuits, cakes, sauces, crispbreads etc .One or two generations ago these types of foods were consumed as a special treat - not on a daily basis.

So, what we put into our bodies nowadays, is not always nutritiou - in fact, someone recently said that 'junk food' should not have the label ‘food’ at all, and should just be called junk. Our eating habits have changed considerably, over the last hundred years. Much of it, especially in the last 20 years, has been through the pressure of Advertising and the convenience of just opening a packet or going down for a Maccas etc. Our kids now have low - fat foods, but we still have a generation of children who are fatter than any previous generation. The Western world has many diseases, such as Heart Disease, Type 2 Diabetes, blocked arteries, blood pressure problems Cancer, Chronic Fatigue, different types of Arthritis, Bowel problems, etc, which are almost unheard of in the Third World. Much of this discrepancy can be put down to what we eat.

Read more about Weight Management.