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?