Big question: To eat or not to eat

Big question: To eat or not to eat

By P.G. Punchihewa

JAKARTA (JP): It is said that you are what you eat. According
to recent research there is growing evidence that you are also
what your mother ate. But there isn't much you can do about that
now.

The big question is what you can eat and what you cannot eat.
Almost every day we are inundated with information on what we
should eat and what we should not eat. The information comes from
biochemists, nutritionists, food companies, drug companies and,
of course, the media. Some mean well, others don't.

Prevention is better than cure, they say, so avoid eating
certain types of food. If you are in the affluent bracket, the
risk increases.

Unfortunately, the most tempting morsels are the food we are
advised to avoid. Unfounded fear of diabetes keeps Indonesians
away from chocolates, ice cream, cheese and pies. It is actually
hereditary so only if your father, grandfather or grandmother was
diabetic should you think twice before digging into the
supermarket' sweet shelf.

Then you are advised to reduce your salt intake to limit
hypertension. With Jakarta's frenetic lifestyle it is not
surprising that the blood pressure soars. If you don't want to be
paralyzed for the rest of you life, leave the salt shaker behind
is the advice. You can get used to saltless, tasteless food.

The biggest bugbear is cholesterol, haunting millions as one
of the causes of heart diseases. First came LDL, the bad
cholesterol. Then came HDL, the good cholesterol, and then VLDL.

There was a time when heart disease was said to relate to
race. In 1916 a Dutch researcher in Indonesia reported that
Javanese people had very low cholesterol levels and were
virtually free of atherosclerosis, in contrast to people living
in Holland. When he noticed that Javanese stewards working and
eating on Dutch steamships developed the same high cholesterol
level as did the Dutch, he suggested that atherosclerosis might
not be related to race but diet.

Cholesterol is a component of animal origin, cholesterol rich
food being the yolk of eggs, organs such as liver and brain, fat
of animals such as cattle and goats, and butter and milk. This
leaves a lot of food out.

Is there unanimity among the scientists as to what we should
eat or not eat? Not really. Egg has been long recognized as one
of nature's most perfect foods. Should we avoid eggs entirely? Or
how many eggs per day, week or month? The latest to be heard was
that what is bad is the oil or fat the eggs are fried in. Sea
food is generally supposed to be good for the heart. But, as for
shrimp, some scream "bad", others say no harm, and yet others say
great.

When it comes to vegetable oil, confusion reigns. You have
the saturates, monounsaturates and polyunsaturates. While
saturates are said to increase LDL and are hence linked to heart
disease, polyunsaturates are said to lower HDL -- the good
cholesterol -- resulting in skin and colon cancer and damaging
many other body organs and tissues. Recent Australia research
linked polyunsaturates oil to asthma. If so, both saturates and
polyunsaturates are bad. Any agreement on these? No. Recent
research by Dr. Marry Enig from the University of Maryland, U.S.,
found that some saturated oils are not linked to heart disease.
Was there a conspiracy against certain oils to the advantage of
others? Some think so. To figure it out, Cholesterol Conspiracy
by Russel Smith Ph.D. is a good place to start.

To avoid cholesterol in butter, food companies switched to
margarine with increased hydrogenated polyunsaturate contents.
What happened? Researchers are coming out with the theory that
hydrogenated margarine is as bad as butter and is a health risk.
So one is left with very few options -- vegetables and fruit.
There are limits even here. Tomatoes and pineapple contain acid.
Spinach is bad for uric acid. Spicy foods affect the liver. The
Padang food you love is therefore taboo. Some say avocado and
pears are fatty. Others say no.

So now half the time in the supermarket is spent reading
labels. Is it skim milk? Low-fat yogurt? Non-fat margarine? Non
-cholesterol eggs? Recently I overheard a salesman advising a
costumer. "Sir, if you are looking for a non-cholesterol/non-fat
item, buy some bottled water."

Even with all the precautions, some people get the very
disease they were trying to avoid. Others live it up for their
entire lives eating anything.

I am reminded of the millionaire who lamented that when he was
young he had no money so he could not eat what he wanted. Now,
although he has money, he cannot eat what wants.

The question continues to haunt: To eat or not to eat?