Nutrition and Diet: What is a good diet?
While plants, vegetables and fruits are known to help reduce the incidence of chronic disease, the benefits on health posed by plant-based foods, as well as the percentage of which a diet needs to be plant based in order to have health benefits is unknown. Nevertheless, plant-based food diets in society and between nutritionist circles are linked to health and longevity, as well as contributing to lowering cholesterol, weight loss, and in some cases, stress reduction.
Although a number of preconceptions of a healthy diet center around plant based foods, the majority of assumptions about foods which are usually thought of as "bad" foods are usually correct. Apart from the assumption that there are "bad" foods, many people associate dishes such as "Full English cooked breakfast" and bacon sandwiches as foods which, if eaten regularly, can contribute to cholesterol, fat and heart problems.
Definition
A healthy and balanced diet is usually defined as a diet in which nutrient intake is maintained, and cholesterol, salt, sugar and fat are reduced. The idea of a healthy diet is often used by a government to ensure that people are well "protected" against common illnesses, as well as conditions which stem from poor diet; of which many problems such as headaches, lethargy, lowered sexual drive, heart disease, alcohol poisoning, and obesity may be attributed.The definition of a healthy diet by some is also thought of as a diet which will combat or prevent illness. When eating healthily, the likelihood of succumbing to common minor illnesses, such as the common cold and lesser forms of influenza, is decreased, mainly because consumption of a healthy diet would provide ample nutrients and energy for the body, so as to help stave off such illnesses. Similarly, a healthy diet will aid the body during recovery from illness. The myth of "Starve a cold, feed a fever" is a common misconception, particularly in the United Kingdom. This is a myth in every sense of the word because providing the body with nutrients during illness is actually beneficial - nutrient and energy stores would be replenished, allowing for more energy to be used by the body to combat illness. However, that being said, a recent study claims that short term "starve a fever, feed a cold" might actually be correct depending on the underlying cause of the fever. Eating and fasting causes brief fluctuations in the amount of chemical messengers called cytokines.
After a meal, the average level of cytokine gamma interferon (INF-gamma) in the blood of six volunteers increased by 450%. INF-gamma stimulates the body's defense against chronic infections associated with colds. INF-gamma triggers the release of white cells that destroy infected cells.
Volunteers who did not eat a meal had low INF-gamma levels but far higher concentrations of another cytokine called interleukin-4 (IL-4). ILa-4 is associated with the production of antibodies, the protein molecules that form the front line defense against acute infections, the kind that most often produce fevers. It would be interesting to see what a more comprehensive sampling of individuals might reveal.
The importance at present of a healthy diet is something which is actually receiving many promotions throughout several countries due to obesity epidemics. Governments, particularly in the United Kingdom, through the advice of the Department of Health, introduced a public health white paper to parliament, CM 6374, which aimed to deal with the issues presented by particularly imported culture - cigarettes, alcohol and fast food all being produced in their majority in the United States, or by US-based companies.
How much to eat?
As the BMI (Body Mass Index ) and weight changes from person to person, the general RNI (Recommended Nutrition Intake) set by governmental institutions may be somewhat lacking for some people, despite the fact that the RNI is generally calculated as higher than the average nutrient intake. It is even thought that some people may have needs above that of the RNI, meaning even if a person achieved nutrient intake, they would still not be fulfilling the RNI. The only real way to know the RNI for a person is to implicitly monitor the intake of nutrients and amount of exercise.It is known that the experiences we have in childhood relating to consumption of food affect our perspective on food consumption in later life. From this, we are able to determine ourselves our limits of how much we will eat, as well as foods we will not eat - which can develop into eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia nervosa. This is also true with how we perceive the sizes of the meals or amounts of food we consume daily; people have different interpretations of small and large meals based on upbringing, but "replica foods" (which represent the average serving size) can establish the difference in portion size for the individual.
Regulation of intake
The regulation of food and nutrients means decreasing or increasing the amount of nutrients or calories within the diet. Most of the responses to foods within a diet come from people's innate belief that there are 'good' and 'bad' foods. It is from that belief that people most often develop bad diets, because they believe that eating foods which they consider healthy in abundance will create a healthy diet. However, this could not be further from the truth.From this response, an individual must learn that there are no bad foods, and learn to follow the guidelines their state sets for a healthy diet. These usually range slightly from country to country based on demographics, but usually the same guidelines of eating less fried or fatty foods to reduce cholesterol, and even replacing certain foods with healthier alternatives which contain both the same or more energy as the original food, but have an abundance of nutrients.
Eating more or less of particular nutrients
In terms of nutrients, it is known from several surveys from the MAFF, and from various studies by the NHS, that the foods which people usually eat on average tend to be closer towards fast food, or ready meals, most of which do not provide a balanced meal, and contribute to major nutrient deficiencies.However, even with help from the media, information of which nutrients come from which foods, and the effect of foods on a diet is a complex subject for many people. For instance, milk, cheese, and other dairy products are known to have a relatively high fat content, and it would be thought that those things with high fat content should be removed from a healthy diet. However, when looking at the food, the more important factor is whether the food has an overall good effect on the diet. For instance, removing such dairy products from a healthy diet may lower fat intake, but will also have implication on the intakes of calcium and riboflavin that such foods possess.
Due to the difficulties of educating people about nutrient intake in the past, governments have opted to move towards instructions for what foods to eat rather than what nutrients to ingest.
Government involvement
Throughout the past 50 years, governments throughout the world have been involved in the pursuit of engaging with their constituencies in attempts to help them eat healthily, and to remove strain on the governmental health services. Several problems, however have overshadowed government schemes and involvements; particularly media coverage of mass-produced, processed, "snack" or "sweet" products directly marketed at children.Problems with government approaches
Particularly within the last few years, there have been attempts by government agencies or institutions to combat the type and method of media coverage that "Junk" foods have received. Most recently, the United Kingdom actually removed the rights for McDonalds to advertise its products, as the majority of the foods which were seen to have low nutrient values were aimed at children under the guise of the "Happy Meal".
The main problem with such advertisements for foods is that alcohol and fast food are portrayed as offering excitement, escape and instant gratification. But also that another portion of the problem is also seen to come from the approach that the government has towards a healthy diet; a recent white paper describing that the portrayal of healthy lifestyles by government can seem preachy, boring and too much like hard work. This too is also said about the way in which the gap between the government and children, or the average consumer is too large, in that information on health and healthy practices seems to be coming from an amalgamation of sources; television advertisements, within magazines, television programmes and even general talk - this making the ideal of a healthy diet difficult to express to the average consumer.
The British Heart Foundation released its own, government-funded advertisements, labelled "Food4Thought" which were targeted at children and adults displaying the gory nature of what fast food is generally constitued of - displaying a "censored" sticker over the actual contents of an average processed burger, hot-dog or slice of pizza.
Empty calories
Empty calories, in casual dietary terminology, are calories present in high-energy foods with poor nutritional profiles, typically from processed carbohydrates or fats. An "empty calorie" has the same energy content of any other calorie but lacks accompanying micronutrients such as vitamins, minerals, or amino acids as well as fiber such as is found in whole grains. Michael Jacobson, head of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, coined the term in 1972.Generally, unnecessary calories are converted in the body to fat. However, if calorie intake is limited for the sake of reducing weight, insufficient vitamin and mineral intake may lead to malnutrition. Dieticians recommend in every case that nutrient-dense food such as fruit and vegetables be substituted for empty-calorie food.
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