Diet
Diet almost needs no introduction; it’s so
fundamental a building-block to our health and we all know that we probably need to make some changes, and often these
changes require very little scientific insight.
Animal
fats = Bad.
Processed
food = Bad.
Alcohol
= Bad
Vegetables
= Good.
And actually thinking in this simplistic,
macro-perspective isn’t so bad. Many popular ‘nutritionists’ promote the
benefits of obscure, specific nutrients (chromium being an example.), perhaps
as a rather cynical scheme to sell their own brand of supplement pills. There
may be individuals in the world who suffer from strange deficiencies and who
need to micro-manage their diets in this fashion, but for the most part, we
need to paint with a broader brush.
‘But the evidence is that plants - and I want
to make this clear - it’s not the ingredients in plants, it’s the plants. It’s not the beta-Carotene, it’s the
carrot. The evidence is very clear that plants promote health. This
evidence is overwhelming at this point. You eat more plants, you eat less other
stuff, you live longer - not bad.’
Mark Bittman, What’s Wrong with What We Eat.
(TED talk)
It isn’t our goal to berate you in this chapter
- we know that putting down the chips or wine glass isn’t just difficult in the moment, but it subtracts from a
certain cheerful colour in life. We don’t expect (or want) you to become a
calorie-counting master of self-control if that ultimately leaves you less
happy than you were.
Instead we want to make sure you maximize
the pleasure of each calorie.
And this means eating mindfully: empowering you
as a consumer, so you don’t waste your health (and money) on products that aren’t
worth the risk.
The problem in this is that often we
simply don’t know what we’re putting into our mouths; harmful
substances are packed liberally into processed foods, just below government
guidelines, or what our taste buds can detect, but the effect they have on our
bodies remains - delicious and insidious.
What, pray-tell is ‘mayonnaise’? What is pesto exactly? If you could extract the
ingredients one by one and have them staring back at you, you probably wouldn’t
feel compelled to ingest them!
A good rule of thumb is to only eat foods that you can list the ingredients of from memory:
‘Sugar.
Err... E405… extract of vanilla…. Err…. it’s…’
VS
‘It’s
a pear.’
A Diet Strategy
● preventing
excess weight gain and obesity
● preventing
diabetes
● preventing
cardiovascular diseases
● preventing
cancer
● preventing
dental diseases
● preventing
osteoporosis
The recommendations from the World Health Organization
[16],
regarding diet in aging populations, is as follows:
● Emphasize healthy traditional
vegetable- and legume-based dishes.
● Limit traditional dishes/foods
that are heavily preserved/pickled in salt and encourage the use of herbs and
spices.
● Introduce healthy traditional
foods or dishes from other cuisines (e.g., tofu in Europe and the tomato in
Asia).
● Select nutrient-dense foods
such as fish, lean meat, liver, eggs, soy products (e.g., tofu and tempeh) and
low-fat dairy products, yeast-based products (e.g., spreads), fruits and
vegetables, herbs and spices, whole-grain cereals, nuts and seeds.
● Consume fat from whole foods
such as nuts, seeds, beans, olives and fatty fish. Where refined fats are
necessary for cooking, select from a variety of liquid oils, including those
high in ω-3 and ω-9 fats. Avoid fatty spreads.
● Enjoy food and eating in the
company of others. Avoid the regular use of celebratory foods (e.g., ice cream,
cakes and pastries in Western culture, confectioneries and candies in Malay
culture, and crackling pork in Chinese culture).
● Encourage the food industry
and fast-food chains to produce ready-made meals that are low in animal fats.
● Eat several (5–6) small
non-fatty meals. This pattern appears to be associated with greater food
variety and lower body fat and blood glucose and lipid levels, especially if
larger meals are eaten early in the day.
● Transfer as much as possible
of one’s food culture, health knowledge and related skills to one’s children,
grandchildren and the wider community.
Fat
The leading cause of death throughout the world
is Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), and dietary fat has been shown, consistently,
to have a strong causal link to CHD as well as other cardiovascular diseases. [16]
Potassium
WHO strongly
recommends an increase in potassium intake from food to reduce blood pressure
and the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and coronary heart disease in adults.
Generally (as the amount may vary for certain individuals.) They recommend a
potassium intake of at least 90 mmol/day (3510 mg/day) for adults.
Food Group
|
Appropriate Potassium
Content (mg)
|
Examples
|
Beans and Peas
|
1300
|
Cowpeas, pigeon peas, lima beans, African yam beans
|
Nuts
|
600
|
Hazelnuts, walnuts, cashew nuts, brazil nuts
|
Green Vegetables
|
550
|
Spinach, cabbage, parsley
|
Root Vegetables
|
200
|
Carrots, onions, beetroot
|
Other Vegetables
|
300
|
Tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins,
|
Fruits
|
500
|
Bananas, Papayas, dates
|
Source: WHO
Sodium
The WHO strongly recommends a reduction
in sodium intake in order to reduce blood pressure and the risk of
cardiovascular disease, stroke and coronary heart disease in adults. They strongly
recommend a reduction to <2 g/day sodium (5 g/day salt) in
adults (strong recommendation).
Food Group
|
Appropriate Sodium
Content (mg/100g)
|
Table salt, baking soda, baking powder
|
38,000
|
Bouillon Cubes, powdered brothers, soups,
gravies
|
20,000
|
Soy Sauce
|
7,000
|
Snack Foods (e.g., pretzels, cheese puffs, popcorn.)
|
1,500
|
Bacon
|
1,500
|
Sauces and spreads
|
1,200
|
Cheese, hard
|
800
|
Processed Vegetables
|
600
|
Butter, margarine
|
500
|
Cheese, soft
|
400
|
Processed fish
|
400
|
Cereals and cereal products (e.g., bread,
breakfast cereals, biscuits, cakes, pastries.)
|
250
|
Fish, raw/frozen
|
100
|
Eggs
|
80
|
Milk and cream
|
50
|
Vegetables, fresh, frozen
|
10
|
Fruits, fresh/frozen
|
5
|
Source: WHO
###
This is the continuation of a weekly serialization of this new ebook on active retirement, by Wamala and Cooper, which book is available through amazon.com for $0.99:
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