Everyone of us has a basic
knowledge of nutrition. But it is not easy to
process all the information you need for a
healthy diet. At the same time, we all have a
certain amount of basic knowledge about healthy
eating.
The concept of a diet is
generally understood to be a specially designed
way of eating which is followed for a certain
length of times. This demonstrates the most
serious disadvantage of a diet: the energy and
nutritional content are often not suited to
cover the long-term needs of the human organism,
so that whenever a diet comes to an end, the
eating habits that were in place before the diet
generally take over. Even if a loss of body
weight is achieved by a strict diet, most diet
do not give any information about how to
continue with sensible eating in the future.
To understand that a reduction in
body weight of about one pound a day, as
achieved by a crash diet, does not mean a loss
of fat only, we need to make the following
calculation: one gram of fatty food liberates 9
kcals on combustion, whereas by comparison, one
gram of body fat produces 7 kcals. The energy
content of body fat is lower since the body
tissues contain, for example, connection tissue
which contributes nothing to its fuel energy. At
best, one pound of body fat therefore releases
500 x 7 kcal = 3500 kcal on combustion.
The daily intake recommended by
many nutrition institutes for a 25 to 51 year
old man is 2400 kcals and for a woman of the
same age, 2000 kcals, assuming moderate physical
activity.
There are certain eating patterns
which have neither the balance of the usual
nutritional recommendations nor the short-term
nature of a diet. These are described as
alternative ways of eating. Among them we
include vegetarianism, macrobiotics and the Hays
Diet.
Theories on Appetite
What drives
the human body to ingest food? There are various
theories about this, all of them with a greater
or lesser scientific base. The most thoroughly
researched of them is the relationship between
the feeling of hunger and the blood sugar level.
The further the blood sugar level falls, the
stronger the feeling of hunger. But the degree
of expansion of the stomach is also considered
to be a stimulus for food intake. The set-point
theory provides another point of view: it holds
that stored in each individual's genes is a
specific ideal weight and therefore a specific
level for fatty tissue. If the stored weight is
under or over achieved to any marked degree, the
brain manages food intake so as to achieve it.
It is also assumed that there is a relationship
between food intake and the levels of amino
acids stored in the body.
While internal
stimuli control food intake (lack of energy and
malnutrition), a feeling of hunger occurs to
compensate for this lack. On the other hand,
external stimuli may lead to uncontrolled food
intake.
It is presumably a combination of
the focus factors (stomach content, blood sugar
and amino acids levels plus the set-point) which
control the internal stimulus to ingest food. By
chewing for long enough it is possible, through
a reverse mechanism in the brain, to achieve a
feeling of repletion. However, this only occurs
after about twenty minutes of chewing.
If you think about your favorite
food, it becomes clear that ingesting food is
not controlled only by your body's needs for
nourishment. There is also a multitude of
external influences such as appetite, enjoyment,
boredom, frustration, solitude, irritation,
sociability, etc. If all these external
influences did not exist food science would be
superfluous, as the human organism, controlled
by internal stimuli, would ingest only the best
combination of food. If all the food we needed
were available, food intake would be halted when
the internal stimulus cut out. Without social
and psychological influences, availability of
all the necessary foodstuffs would mean that
both under and over eating would be impossible.
TEN RULES FOR HEALTHY EATING
The nutrition wheel shows the various food
groups that should fulfill your daily energy
needs.
The individual segments indicate the
recommended energy value of each group.
By "good food" most people mean
taste and enjoyment, by "good diet" they mean
health and a good figure. However, food and diet
are by no means opposites, and health and a good
figure can very easily be combined with taste
and enjoyment.
1) VARIETY - BUT NOT TOO
MUCH
As there are no foods containing
an optimum combination of the required nutrients
such as fat, protein, minerals, vitamins, water
and fiber, the diet must include the required
quantities of the various nutrient groups in
order to guarantee optimal provision. The wheel
of nutrition provides an easily understandable
overview, which combines all the information
about the quantities of each foodstuff which
should be consumed to achieve a balanced diet.
Naturally each group contains some foodstuffs
which have a higher rating from the point of
view of physiological nourishment and others
which have a lower rating. So, in the groups
showing cereals and cereal products, we have a
slice of toasted bread made from milled white
flour.
2) LESS FAT AND FATTY FOODS
Pay special attention to the
so-called hidden fat. This includes for example
fat in meat, delicatessen meats, cheese, eggs,
nuts, cakes, chocolate, etc. Make sure that this
hidden fat amounts to no more than 30 to 40
grams a day. To get a feeling for how much fat
is hidden, we recommend that you carry out
checks to assess this over a few days. This way,
you will have information not just on how high
your daily energy intake is and how high your
fat consumption is, you will also learn whether
the combination of the main nutrients meets the
recommendations.
3) SPICY BUT NOT SALTY
Your sense of taste will very
quickly get used to salty food. If you start
eating very salty food for a few days you will
then find food with a normal amount of salt very
tasteless. At the moment many populations use on
average twice as much salt as recommended, that
is, ten grams of cooking salt instead of five
grams per day. There are now questions about
whether some people are more susceptible to
increased blood pressure and therefore
increased. risk of heart attacks, possibly as an
undesirable side-effect of this high intake of
cooking salt. Most cheeses, preserves, prepared
dishes, snacks, delicatessen meats, cooking aids
such as stock cubes, mustard and concentrates
are particularly salty. On the other hand, there
is very little salt in milk, yogurt, fresh
vegetables, meat and herbs. Use fresh herbs for
taste. Only add salt after tasting : there is an
iodine deficiency, the use of iodine salt is
recommended since this can help to prevent
iodine deficiency. In any case, our sense of
taste changes after a few weeks of low-salt
diet, so that we will then experience low-salt
foods as pleasantly spicy.
4) NOT MUCH SWEET FOOD
Just as we can form a certain
threshold of acceptability for salty food, so
too can we for sweet food. A certain dependency
on sweet things can develop in this way. While
they have a relatively high energy content,
sweets have a relatively low nutritional value.
Simple sugars and refined sugars are frequently
combined with saturated fats. Especially sticky
sweets, such as candy, etc., threaten dental
health by forming caries. Anyone who eats sweets
regularly is absorbing too much energy and is
giving up nutritious foods in exchange for
sweets with little nutritional value. This, of
course, means that the body will be provided
with fewer of the nutrients it needs to survive.
In addition, sweets offer absolutely no way out
of this situation. Even if they contain no
energy themselves, they are first of all
contributing to raising the level of the
sweetness threshold for the sense of taste, and
secondly they cannot satisfy the hunger for
carbohydrates, because they do not contain any.
This is how, when people are hungry and when the
blood sugar level is low they often consume more
sweet foods that they actually need for their
energy requirement. So if you feel like eating
something sweet, you should have some fresh or
dried fruit.
5) MORE WHOLEMEAL PRODUCT
The consumption of products
manufactured from milled white flour mainly
reduces the quantities of fiber, vitamins and
minerals consumed. These elements, contained in
the external layers of whole wheat, are mostly
lost when it is milled. As the fiber intake of
many people is less than the recommended 30
grams, and as the provision of the B - vitamins
and certain minerals is not always guaranteed,
we should not do without the benefit of whole
meal products in our diets.
6) A WEALTH OF VEGETABLES,
POTATOES AND FRUIT
Fruit and vegetables contain
mainly carbohydrates, which are supposed to
supply more than half of the energy we consume
everyday. In addition to this, fruit and
vegetables provide the body with fiber,
vitamins, minerals and water. The high water and
fiber content mean they have a relatively low
energy content. Pulses - like potatoes - have,
in addition to their particularly high fiber
content, a very high protein content, the value
of which is enhanced when combined with cereal
or milk products. Even deep-frozen fruit and
vegetables can be recommended if, as is now
common practice, they are quick-frozen
immediately after harvesting. This process
preserves vitamins which are often lacking in
fresh fruit and vegetables which have generally
spent a few days in storage, which causes
volatile vitamins to be lost on their way to the
store.
7) LESS ANIMAL PROTEIN
Even though animal protein
generally has a higher biological rating than
vegetable protein, that is, it is more easily
utilized by the human organism, sources of
animal protein do not only bring benefits. Apart
from providing highly rated protein, meat,
delicatessen meats and eggs also given us
unwanted by-products such as saturated fats,
cholesterol, (which can cause gout in high
enough concentrations) and salt. This is why
meat consumption should be restricted to two or
three small portions (maximum 150 grams) per
week. Even delicatessen meats (maximum 50 grams)
and eggs should not be eaten more than two or
three times a week. Instead of eating meat
frequently, have saltwater fish twice a week. In
addition to having a high protein content, this
gives you large amounts of iodine, provided by
hardly any other foods. If, addition to this,
you combine your vegetable protein sources with
other protein rich foods such as milk, milk
products or cereals in your diet, you need not
fear deficiencies in your protein supply,
especially if you are involved in strength
training.
8) ENLIGHTENED DRINKING
Drinking can provide the fastest
energy replacement without any related feeling
of satiation. As this energy has no parallel
nutritional value, especially when it comes from
lemonades and even alcoholic drinks, it is
recommended to cut down on this type of drink as
much as possible. In particular, alcohol, which
in its pure form supplies about 7 kcals per
gram, should never be used to quench your
thirst. Not only do large quantities of alcohol
have a negative effect on the reflexes and
coordination, but if taken regularly, leads in
the worst cases to an addiction and then also
damages the internal organs such as the liver,
kidneys, stomach and intestines, as well as the
brain. Since about 1.5 liters of your liquied
requirement should come from drinks, the ideal
is to meet this need with mineral water and
fruit teas. Even though they provide no energy,
coffee and black tea can only cover the liquid
requirement to a limited extent, as they contain
stimulants in the form of caffeine and tea
bromides, which can lead to a certain
dependency. Fruit and vegetable juices should be
watered down, where possible (at least 1:1). In
this way, you will not save a lot of energy:
juices fruit like this are more easily absorbed
by the body.
9) SMALLER MEALS MORE OFTEN
Five smallish meals will not only
crank up your metabolism, this will also mean
that energy dips during the course of the day
have a lesser effect on you (figure 1). So have
a second breakfast and an afternoon snack. But
as a result, make your main meals smaller than
usual so that your total energy intake does not
exceed the required level. If your body weight
is normal, you could even allow yourself a
little late snack after supper.
10) MAKE TASTY AND
NUTRITIOUS FOOD
Cook for as short a time as
possible and with little water or fat, to
preserve the nutrients and flavor of the food.
Vitamins are partially soluble in water and are
sensitive to heat, oxygen and light. To preserve
them, store your vegetables and fruit in a cool,
dark place, use them as quickly as possible and
never keep them warm for long. In addition, you
should wash them before chopping and chop them
coarsely so that the surfaces, which can lose
nutrients, cover only a limited area. Minerals
are also lost in water. Careful preparation not
only attains positive results for the
nutritional content; it also considerably
improves the flavor.
VITAMINS AND MINERALS
Nowadays people are much more
familiar with vitamins and minerals as special
preparations rather than in their natural form
in fruit and vegetables or milk and milk
products. Neither vitamins nor minerals supply
energy - unlike carbohydrates, fats and protein.
Nevertheless, they are included among the
essential nutrients, that is, food that keep you
alive. As the body itself cannot produce them,
they have to be provided in food we consume.
Their main task is to regulate a wide range of
metabolic processes. In addition to this, some
minerals are used by the body as building
blocks.
FUNCTIONS AND PROVENANCE OF THE MAIN MINERALS
MINERAL
FUNCTION
PROVENANCE
Sodium
Regulates water management,
activates enzymes
Cooking salt, smoked foods, dry
sausage, cheese.
Potassium
Regulates water management,
stimulates nerves and muscles, activates
enzymes, glycogen synthesis
