Healthy Eating in Today’s World

As with protein, researchers have only recently been able to agree on recommendation for fat consumption.  Here, the argument was less about the recommended quantities than about the different types of fat.  Today, almost all scientists advise us to consume more vegetable than animal fats.  This is because cholesterol, known as a risk factor in cardiovascular diseases, is present mainly in animal fats.  Vegetable oils, however, are usually rich in unsaturated fatty acids, which have a regulatory effect on cholesterol levels in the blood.  More important for health than the type of fat is the amount consumed; in the Western world our total   fat consumption is usually far too high.  A reduced diet is the right idea in most cases.

Researchers have also made new discoveries about carbohydrates.  Proponents of wholefood diets wrote off the most popular carbohydrate provider, sugar, as harmful.  In fact, it has been proved harmful only to teeth and body weight.  Nonetheless, the unequivocal opinion of nutritionists is that the complex (starch-containing) sources of carbohydrates, such as potatoes, legumes, and bread, should constitute the largest part of our consumption.  Sugar passes immediately into the bloodstream, but complex or starch-containing carbohydrates stay in the stomach longer and are absorbed by the body more slowly, but also more continuously.  The advantages of this are enormous: fewer fluctuations in the blood sugar level and fewer cravings for yet more sweet foods.

Our bodies’ need a certain amount of basic nutrients and tolerate a large range of variation from day to day.  If, however, we eat exclusively too much or too little over a long period, we pay the price, even if the day of reckoning is a long way off.