Fiber
Nutrition is a hot political topic. Maybe it always has been. It’s a sector of the health and medical world that’s particularly prone to the silver bullet mindset, and thus, hucksterism. “Just eat this one thing, and you’ll be healthy.”
The silver bullet du jour is fiber. Which is the new protein. Which is the new low carb. Which is the new high fat. Which is the new low fat. It’s really no different than high-waisted jeans. The fads always come back around.
I am neither a scientist nor a dietitian. I have profound respect for the scientific method, but I find conducting systematic research to be rather tedious (which is why I advocate for filling the CDC and FDA with credentialed career scientists who love this stuff). In college, I studied history and literature. I notice trends, narratives, and cultural cycles.
My personal research - the lifelong process of observation and skeptical discernment which informs my choices - is fully anecdotal. But I do know about food. I have spent a long time working with and thinking about food and global food cultures. I currently work with professional dietitians to feed pro athletes.
I can distill the entirety of what I’ve learned into one word: balance. The problem with balance is that this one word describes what is quite possibly the broadest and most complex concept we have. It is delicate, both personal and universal, and is constantly getting thrown off. This means that to achieve balance, we never get to stop fine-tuning, which is exhausting. For that I have no solution. Life is movement - an ongoing recalibration. We never get to stop thinking. There will never be a silver bullet for nutrition.
This week we’re serving the comfiest of all comfort foods: butter chicken with a spiced sauce of lentils, caramelized onions, and ginger. It’s full of fiber AND protein, and it’s fantastic. Blending red lentils into the sauce isn’t traditional, but they’re unnoticeable and add a ton of nutritional value (one of the benefits of cooking at home).
Insoluble dietary fiber is good for your digestive system. Or as Mac would say, lentils are good for your butt. But you already know this. That’s the problem. Advice which is broadly applicable must necessarily be incredibly basic.
Here are a few more tidbits you already know. Eat more vegetables. Your body needs all three macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and fat), along with fiber and an assortment of vitamins and minerals, and thus, whole foods are more nutritious than ultraprocessed ones. Drink more water. Mediterranean, south Asian, and east Asian cuisines tend to be healthier because they focus on vegetables, fermented foods (umami!), and unsaturated fats (aka olive oil).
As I said, you already know this. The subtlety is in applying these broad strokes to the idiosyncrasies of your own body. How much fiber and what specific foods agree best with your digestive system? This is the million dollar question, and we must each figure it out for ourselves - ideally with the help of a diverse and supportive community to broaden our perspectives. And eat some pastries, too, because enjoyment is part of health.
We’re glad you’re cooking with us.
Cheers,
Sten and Mac
