Healthy Eating in Today’s World

by deZengo

Enjoying the pleasures of the table with a clear conscience.

Our ancestors usually had just one dietary problem – not enough food.  Even at the beginning of the twentieth century, many people in the Western world suffered from hunger and so were more susceptible to illness and disease, often dying in childhood.  Eating too much was a problem found only among a small class of rich; a fashionable figure was curvaceous and, implicitly, well fed.  Those times are long past.  Today, it is not in style to be voluptuous and it is certainly no longer an indication of social success and high income.  Now days, we are at pains to cope with a surplus of food, and many fight the battle of the bulge.

Basic Nutrients

An Important Trio Carbohydrate, protein, and fat form the basis of the human diet.  These fundamental nutrients ensure that we have enough energy for all our bodily functions and energy for work and leisure; without them, nothing runs properly.  In addition, proteins provide the building blocks for muscles and other organs, fats act as a cushion and provide basic substances for all our cells.  The foods we eat are mixtures of the three basic nutrients combined in different proportions.  Sugar consists almost entirely of carbohydrate, vegetable oil of fat, and lean meat primarily protein.

Our bodies need different amounts of the three basic nutrients, but scientist disagree over the exact proportions.  In the 1960’s they argued the case for as much protein as possible, but we have since learned that there is no advantage in consuming excessive quantities.   We know from sports medicine, in particular, that metabolism is delayed when excess protein is consumed, and that the body reacts with a reduced performance.

The recommendation nowadays is approximately 0.8 gram protein per kilogram of body weight per day.  For children, pregnant women and nursing mothers, this should be increased to 2-2.3 grams.  More important than the quantity, however, is the quality.  A source of protein is ideal for humans only if plenty of bodily protein can be created from the constituents (amino acids). Experts call this the “biological value” of the food and have assigned reference figures to individual sources of protein.

The biological value can be increased by combining animal and plant proteins.  This is very important because an excess of animal products can adversely affect the metabolism because of their high content of fat and cholesterol.  Perhaps this sounds rather complicated, but we put in into practice every day when we prepare a meal: potatoes with fried eggs, for example, have a biological value of 136.  The value is thus higher than the egg (100) or potatoes (99) alone.  The combination of potatoes with dairy products, meat or fish is nearly as good.  Legumes provide a good source of protein when eaten with grains.  A typical example from South American cuisine is beans and corn tortillas.  In predominantly vegetarian India, lentils (dhal) with rice or bread are eaten daily providing the poor with sufficient protein to stay healthy.  Dishes based on beans with bean curd and seeds are also ideal.