What's in a Name?

People seem to categorize foods according to labels like "protein" and "carbohydrate" without recognizing that most foods, particularly vegetables, fall into multiple categories. For instance, seaweeds have tons of protein. Mushrooms have lots of carbohydrates, as do apples. Most vegetables contain about the same amount of protein as human breast milk, not to mention being loaded with carbs, fiber, vitamins and minerals. Many people would not consider apples and peanut butter to be a meal, but between them they have plenty of protein, fiber, carbs, fat and nutrients, not to mention calories. Apples and hummus is even better!

Labels can be deceiving. It is easy to say that a bologna sandwich on white bread is a lunch and apples and peanut butter is not, because the former is perceived as "lunch food" and the latter isn't. But which one is more nutrient dense? Which makes a better breakfast, homemade soup or Cap'n Crunch with conventional milk? Schools don't question the idea of serving sugary processed cereal to kids in the cafeteria because it is cheap, available and "accepted." But is it doing them any good?

Often people ask why processed sugar is bad. Isn't it just another food? Think about it like this: Whatever you put into your body has to be digested; that is, nutrients are extracted and the trash is removed. We tend to think in terms of calories, but it takes a wide range of our body's resources to break down the food we eat: vitamins, minerals and enzymes are also used up in the process. So every time we eat a food that has empty calories--that is, it provides calories but has no other nutritional value--our bodies operate at a deficit. It's like taking more money out of the bank than you put in the bank; eventually, you'll be broke. This argument can be made of any heavily processed "food": It is nothing more than ash with calories and flavor, and your body has to pay to get rid of it. (My husband often refers to items in the Dollar Store as "cheap plastic from China manufactured for American landfills." It's the plastic equivalent of processed food.)

High calorie, low nutrient foods can lead to obesity, because they allow a person to eat a high volume of food without providing enough nutrition. That's how you can eat a lot and still crave more--there's something missing that your body needs. The "cure" is to eat nutrient-dense foods as much as possible and ignore the calories. Michael Pollen can tell you all about it, but the easy answer is to load your diet with vegetables and fruit, about half of them raw, and the occasional splurge will sort itself out. Diet isn't about what you eat occasionally, but what you eat habitually.

The best reason to pack a lunch: to give your diner tasty, nutrient-dense foods that are body building, not body depleting. Lunchables may look like food, and may fit the description of what people perceive to be "lunch," but it's a sham. Any lunch you make at home from quality, mostly organic ingredients would be more nutritious, even if it is a tangerine, a dill pickle and three homemade peanut butter cookies. Let go of the labels, focus on what your child wants and needs, and a new world of dining will open up for you.