Download Healthy diet for Good Health

Healthy diet for Good Health
Diet and nutrition are important factors in the promotion and maintenance of good health in the entire life
course. Increase in body weight and blood lipids are in fact end results of prolonged faulty dietary habits
including excess consumption of refined cereals, high cholesterol foods, saturated fatty acids (SFAs),
sugar and fried foods. Improper dietary practices can also trigger underline genetic tendencies towards
development of these disease conditions. By adopting a diet of protective foods like fruits and vegetables
and less of sugar and oil consumption one can reduce the risk of non communicable diseases. (NCD)
Ithas been rightly quoted that “You are what you eat”, today with therapid changes in the diet and lifestyle,
we are facing an increase in diet-relatedchronic conditions like obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes,
cancer, osteoporosisetc. In many homes today one often gets to see the full square meal beenreplaced
by a one snack meal pattern, which often may include a junk food. Eg:pizza or burger. The increase in
the availability of ready to eat foods (wafer,kurkure) or instant foods(noodles, pasta, soups) has replaced
the fresh foodsin our daily diet, leading to decrease intake of the protective foods (freshfruits and
vegetables).
A proper diet as we know is essential from the very early stages of life forgrowth, development and
maintenance of an active life. A good diet is merelya combination of foods, which supply the materials
vital to the body for itswell being. However, a lack of consumption of these nutrients or foods in theright
proportion leads to accumulation of toxins in the body, resulting in chronicdisease conditions.
Itis very important to understand the different nutrients we get from food andtheir role in our body. The
food that we eat provides macronutrients (carbohydrates,protein and fats) and several micronutrients
(vitamins and minerals) which whensupplied in the right amounts support and sustain life and activity. All
thefoods in our daily meals can be divided into basic food groups. The food pyramidhelps us understand
these food groups in a better manner.
All cereals grains and millets like wheat, rice, chapati, bread, rawa, jowar, noodles etc.
and pulses and legumes are at the base of the pyramid indicating that the proportion in
which one needs to consume these foods. We get carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins,
minerals from these foods. This group is the main food group giving energy to our
body. The next level consists of vegetables and fruits give us vitamins and minerals,
they are required for protecting our body against disease. The following level is of the
protein rich foods like milk and its products, non-vegetarian foods like poultry, fish
and mutton. The tip of the pyramid consists of foods giving us concentrated energy
like sugar, fats, oils, fried foods, refined cereals like maida and alcohol, indicating that
the amount of these foods be the least amount required by our body.
Now it becomes easier to understand the concept of a balanced diet i.e. when one consumes a diet with
sufficient quantities of food from the food groups present in the food pyramid, in the suggested proportion,
ensuring that the daily nutrient requirement of the body is met, then such a diet is termed as a balanced
diet.
After understanding the balanced diet, let us now briefly look at the important nutrients we get from the
food we eat in our daily diet.
Carbohydrates: Carbohydrates are the principal sources of energy for the body. They include wheat,
jowar, bajra, ragi (nachani), rice, pohe, semolina (rawa) , rajgeera, potato, sweet potato, banana, mango,
chickoo etc. One gram of carbohydrate provides four calories. Carbohydrates are of two types – Simple
and Complex. Simple carbohydrates like sugar produce energy quickly. If taken in excess, they get
converted to fat adding undesirable weight. Therefore, foods such as soft drinks, sweets, chocolates and
cakes should be avoided. Complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, beans, vegetables and fruits are
less likely to add unwanted weight as they contain of fibre and water, They are more filling and much less
likely to be eaten in fattening excess. In addition, unlike simple carbohydrates, they provide vitamins,
minerals and in many cases proteins. The diet should contain large amount of complex carbohydrates.
The daily diet should contain about 55-65 percent of carbohydrates.
Proteins: Protein is an indispensable part of the diet, involved in the body’s vital functions such as
growth, maintenance and repair of cells for the production of enzymes and hormones and for energy.
Important dietary sources of protein are milk, curd, buttermilk, meat, fish and poultry including eggs, dals
and sprouts, nuts and oilseeds. Each gram of protein provides four calories. Every protein is made up of
amino acids- smaller molecules known as building blocks of protein. Amino acids are of two typesessential and non-essential. Essential amino acids are those amino acids, which cannot be synthesized
in the body, and their requirement has to be met through dietary intake. Non –essential amino acids are
those which are synthesized in the body from the essential amino acids. Commonly proteins are known
as complete proteins or incomplete proteins. Complete protein foods are those which contain all the
essential amino acids in sufficient amounts and ratio to supply the body’s needs. Incomplete proteins on
the other hand, are deficient in one or more of the essential amino acids. Animal source proteins such as
milk and milk products, meat, fish and poultry are complete proteins. Animal foods are also a source of
cholesterol in the diet hence it is important that we include low fat milk, low fat poultry and fish and try to
restrict red meat in our diet. Vegetable source proteins such as pulses and legumes, cereal grainswheat, rice, jowar, bajra etc. are incomplete proteins. However a combination of a vegetable protein with
an animal protein or two complementary vegetable protein (a cereal + a pulse) can provide proteins of
good quality (complete proteins). E.g. Paratha with curds, dal and rice, idli etc. Our daily diet should
contain about 15-20 percent of proteins.
Fat: Fats are concentrated sources of energy and provide twice the energy that carbohydrates and
proteins furnish. We get fats from cooking oil, ghee, butter etc. One gram provides nine calories. They are
needed for several functions and are sources of essential fatty acids. They provide fat-soluble vitamins
and are necessary for their absorption. The body stores all the extra calories in the form of fat. The
calories obtained from fat are harder to burn off than the same amount of calories from carbohydrates.
Animal fats such as butter and ghee as also vegetable fats like vanaspati, coconut oils are high in
saturated fatty acids which are implicated in heart disease as it increases the cholesterol level. The
recommendation for saturated fat is <7% of the total energy. Therefore, their intake should be minimized.
Vegetable oils like soyabean, mustard, groundnut have a higher amount of unsaturated fatty acids and
are preferable to saturated fats. The daily dietary intake of fat should be about 25-30% of the entire day’s
calorie requirement.
Trans fatty acidsare produced during the hydrogenation process used to increase the shelf life of food.
Most trans fatty acids intake comes from partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, these need to be limited
as they raise the LDL cholesterol. No more than 1% of calories (approximately 1-3 gm/day) should come
from trans – fatty acids
Cholesterol: Cholesterol, a word we come across very often in relation to heart diseases, is essential
to the human body for the manufacture of hormones and as an important component of cell membranes.
Cholesterol is present in all the animal foods and is synthesized in our body by the liver independent of
the dietary intake. Hence, when you restrict the dietary cholesterol the human body will produce the
require amount of cholesterol for its functioning. An intake of <300 mg per day to a more strict < 200 mg
per day is recommended. The dietary sources of cholesterol include egg yolk, mutton, beef, ham and high
fat dairy products such as whole milk, butter, cream, cheese and therefore need be restricted in the daily
diet. Non vegetarian foods like egg white, boiled, roasted or baked chicken without skin and fish can be
consumed more liberally in the diet.
Fibre: Dietary fibres are plant constituents that are resistant to digestion in the human digestive tract.
They consist of cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, mucilages, gums and lignin. There are two types of
fibres- insoluble fibres and soluble fibres. Insoluble fibre includes cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, and
soluble includes pectins, gums and mucilages.
High intake levels of dietary fibre are associated with significantly lower prevalence of CHD and stroke.
Fibre has several functions in the body: -
• Insoluble fibres give bulk to the diet and move the food more
quickly through the gastrointestinal tract.
• Fibre delays the absorption of carbohydrates and fats.
• Soluble fibres bind to water and increase the viscosity of the
intestinal content, they bind cholesterol and increase excretion of
bile acids.
• Fibre is also useful in decreasing the risk of metabolic
disorders such as diabetes and also diverticulitis and colon
cancer.
• Fibre protects vitamins from being destroyed during cooking.
Dietary sources of fibre are whole grain cereals, pulses, fruits and vegetables. On processing fibre is
removed, hence refined and processed food should be avoided. The use of white bread, naan, roomali
roti, noodles, pasta and other refined flour (maida) products should be avoided. The minimum
recommended intake is about 25- 30 grams of fibre per day, out of which approximately 6-10 grams
should come from the soluble fibre in the diet. This dietary intake can be achieved by including whole
cereals and sprouted legumes regularly in the diet, five or more serving of fruits or vegetables per day.
Micronutrients : There are a variety of micronutrients like Vitamin A, B, C, D, E, K, folic acid which we
get from cereals, vegetables and fruits and minerals like calcium, iron, zinc, selenium etc. from milk and
its products, vegetables and fruits, which are required by our body for its functioning. Few of the vitamins
and minerals like vitamin A, C, E and minerals like selenium, chromium have got antioxidant properties,
which prevent the oxidation of PUFAs in the cell membrane. Dietary source of vitamins and minerals are
fresh fruits and all vegetables, low fat milk and milk products, and whole grain cereals and pulses.
Salt: Salt or sodium chloride gives a distinct taste to the food. Sodium keeps the body fluids in balance
Excess salt taken in the diet is retained and is likely to precipitate hypertension. In general a sodium
restriction of <2400 mg per day is recommended, patients with very high blood pressure may have to
restrict the intake of high sodium containing foods such as pickles, chutney, sauces and ketchup’s,
papads, chips and salted biscuits, cheese, canned foods, readymade soup packets, dried salted fish. The
reduction of salt intake is best achieved by cutting down the use of added salt in the diet.
Once we are aware of the different nutrients in our daily diet and its role in the body following a balanced
diet becomes easy. The rule of thumb would be to eat food in moderation and not to overdo on any
particular food. Your plate should be multi coloured with a variety of foods from different food groups in
our diet.
A few dietary recommendations to be considered for cardiovascular risk reduction are as follows:
1. Balance the calorie intake and physical activity to achieve or maintain a healthy body weight.
2. Consume a diet rich in vegetables and fruits.
3. Choose whole grain cereals and high fibre foods.
4. Limit the use of saturated fat, trans fats and cholesterol –
a. Choose lean meats and vegetable alternatives to non vegetarian foods
b. Select fat free (skim) or low fat dairy products.
c. Minimize the intake of partially hydrogenated fats
5. Minimize the intake of beverage and foods with added sugars.
6. Choose and prepare food with little or no salt.
7. Make use of alternative cooking methods like steaming, roasting, baking instead of frying. (Can choose
steamed idlis
instead of fried wadas).
8. When eating outside of home it is helpful if one make a list of foods he is permitted to eat and enjoys
what he is permitted
to eat rather than crib aboutwhat one cannot.
9. Consume alcohol in moderation.