Balanced diet keeps body on even keel

By Clare E. Urwin

This is the second of a six-article New Millennium New You series of practical tips on how to stay healthy. The weekly column is written by Clare E. Urwin, a nutrition, fitness and health advisor based in Surabaya.

SURABAYA (JP): OK. So you've decided to make the year 2000 wonderful and want to start by reaching your optimum level of health and fitness. What do you do first? That's easy.

Start with what you eat -- your diet. Sensible food choices are essential to becoming and staying healthy.

With the importance of nutrition, it's no exaggeration to state that every time we put food or drink in our mouths, we are influencing the quality and length of our lives. Back to the basics for a moment.

Our body's most vital need, apart from water, is energy, which allows it to function, move, grow and repair. This energy is supplied by what we eat and drink and is measured in kilojoules or, more commonly, calories.

When eating, we take in calories, and when expending energy, we burn up calories. As in the first rule of thermodynamics, to maintain a stable body weight, our intake of food and expenditure of energy must be equal.

To the despair of many overweight people, and to the glee of diet food manufacturers, this rule cannot be broken or even bent a little.

Obesity is a problem in the more affluent societies, but even losing six or seven kilos can seem daunting. However, here is the good news. A twenty first century concept of dieting takes only minor corrections to eating habits for steady and healthy weight- loss. Making healthy food choices and increasing physical activity can permanently remove excess weight.

All food and drink contain calories in the form of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Trusted institutions such as the World Health Organization, the Department of Health in Britain and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, all agree that for good health, approximately fifty percent of our energy supply should come from carbohydrates.

The good guys in this element are the complex unrefined starches, such as grains and pulses, while the bad guys are the extrinsic refined sugars found in deserts, cookies, confectionery and sweet drinks.

The real carbohydrate heroes however, are fruits and vegetables, which Mother Nature has magically supplied with various compounds called phytochemicals. These protect the body and drastically reduce the risk of many of the killer diseases, including cancer and heart disease.

Fats

Fats are probably the most misunderstood ingredient in our diet, even though they are vital to the proper functioning of our body.

There are three different types of fats and they are not all bad, as some diet pundits would have us believe. The "trusted institutions" listed above recommend that although 30 percent of our energy supply should come from fats, the saturated type, which is found in animal products and tropical oils like coconut and palm oil, should be reduced.

The good fats, which we are advised to consume more often, are monounsaturated fats such as olive oil and polyunsaturated fats found in some oily fish and in nut and seed oils.

The real baddies lurking in this element are "hydrogenated" or "trans fats." These fats are manufactured using very high heat and with the addition of numerous potentially toxic chemicals. Trans fats are found in commercial cooking oils.

Consequently they are present in large quantities in junk foods, fast foods and in commercially mass produced foods. These bad guys have absolutely nothing going for them, so in a healthy diet they are the ones to be drastically reduced or avoided altogether.

Protein, the final element, is the clever nutrient. It is essential for tissue growth and for the regulation of all body functions.

The "trusted institutions" recommend that approximately 15 percent of our energy supplies should come from protein. Animal sources are fish, eggs, meat and dairy products. The good guy is lean protein and the bad guy is protein surrounded by too much saturated or trans fats.

Many people are unaware that various kinds of plant foods also contain protein. For instance, all pulses are a particularly good source, especially soya.

Although the three main food elements function specifically, no one element is more important than the other. It is the correct balance of carbohydrates, fats and proteins that stimulates the natural development and optimum health of the human body.

For effective weight loss, one twentieth century concept still stands. Calorie counting. It works! Eating sensible, balanced and moderate portions of carbohydrates, fats and protein, will succeed in a stable, healthy rate of weight reduction.

Dilemma

The latest diet dilemma is whether to believe the present hype surrounding the currently fashionable high protein, high fat, low carbohydrate diets, where dramatic weight loss can seemingly occur.

Unfortunately, seductive as the idea may be, many knowledgeable critics of these trendy diets say they are actually low calorie diets in disguise and any initial weight loss is purely water.

So, with the basics explained, you are now ready to make these relatively minor adjustments to your eating habits. No drastic sacrifices are necessary, only sensible choices.

Eat plenty of vegetables and fruit on a daily basis, with some being raw. Experiment with pulses -- there is a huge variety -- and when eating animal protein, try and keep to the lean variety.

Eat oily fish at least twice a week and use olive oil in salads, with a little corn oil for stir frying. Carbohydrates are satisfying, but remember your portions of rice, bread and pasta must be moderate if weight reduction is a priority. Don't skip meals, and snack on fruit if required.

Try to cut down on saturated fats and work towards totally eliminating the baddie hydrogenated or trans fats. If you fill up with the good guys you can avoid overprocessed, commercial and junk foods, which contain mostly sugar and trans fats.

Within days of changing to a healthier eating plan, you will feel better, lighter, more energetic and invigorated. You're on your way to optimum health and fitness. Y2K is looking good.

Next week, the second element: Exercise.