Nutrition

November 24Nutrition,satsumas

I am thankful for nutrition. Having spent much of my professional life doing testing and research, as well as teaching, in support of nutrition, of course it is a topic close to my heart. I have always been interested in vitamins and theoretically believe in good nutrition when it comes to eating. However, I fall way short in following what I lectured on for so many years. But I do believe that answers to many of our health problems can be solved with proper nutrition, not only eating healthily but eating small amounts of so-called 'nutriceuticals', or those nutrients that can have very positive effects on our health by special mechanisms beyond those of carbs, protein, and fat.

The photo is of a tray of satsumas (I think), which are an orange hybrid. They are in the just beginning to ripen stage. I enjoy fruits but have a special place in my heart for vitamin C, as much of my professional career involved working with it. Vitamin C is interesting, because humans are one of the few mammals that has lost the ability to synthesize it. Therefore, I wrote this poem:

vitamin c

swimming around

in the mirky mire

the fish sprouted legs

and crawled onto the land of fire

and man emerged

certainly a marvel of evolution

to use his opposable thumb

to think with his cortex

and begin a great revolution

but of all the wonderful wonders

of that great creation

oh how could this be

man had just about everything

but had forgotten how to make vitamin c

but inside of his big brain

here’s the deal

he figured it all out

and decided to make a pill

so now rather than biosynthesis

he has to use a still

so marvelously evolved

we humans tend to be

yet we have to buy this vitamin

when dogs get it for free.

© rt tulley

nutrition

so many great tasting foods

the truth is, by my own suspicion

that the things that taste the best

are possibly the worst nutrition

and conversely i also say

the most nutritional food to eat

tastes not dissimilar to cardboard

and it smells something like sweaty feet.

© rt tulley