Pile on the veggies, dump dairy products for good health

By Darwin Karyadi

NEW DELHI (JP): Entering the 21st century, the age structure of the world is rapidly changing toward one which is more elderly. The associated functional consequences are the increasing trends of chronic diseases which place a high economic burden on curative care.

More health resources may inevitably be needed while opportunities for health prevention will be increasingly sought.

It is reasonable to consider the extent to which lifelong approaches and practices should be adjusted and redesigned for health benefits. Identifiable factors associated with the current escalation of chronic diseases are factors pertaining to dietary practices, lifestyle and environmental degradation.

Recent reviews and discussions by international health bodies on the epidemiology of diet-related health problems, including noncommunicable chronic diseases and malnutrition, have led to the recommendation for nations to develop food-based dietary guidelines. Such guidelines should be relevant to local or regional public health issues and appropriate for the country's population.

There is considerable evidence indicating that important conditions in older children and adults, including those such as hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolaemia are related to health parameters in early life.

These early events appear to enhance the risk of chronic disease in later life, implying that both foetal and childhood conditions, as well as adult lifestyles factors, contribute to these conditions. Studies have showed the relationship of in utero growth and coronary heart diseases, early determinants of adult metabolic regulation, long-term programming of body size, timing and vulnerability in malnutrition and later cognition.

It is, therefore, of utmost importance to emphasize the importance of early life and even before conception and during pregnancy of the eating-right principles and behavior for proper diet selection.

Large-scale intervention programs designated to focus on "eating right" during the early years are an essential strategy to retain sustainable good food habits throughout one's lifetime.

In addition, while genetic and physiological determinants shape individual food preferences and aversion, the translation of these into behavior diet selection is mediated by sociocultural factors.

Research on diet selection has traditionally focused on identifying factors that result in similarities in food consumption patterns among people in groups. More recent work has broadened the array of variables used to differentiate people into food-consuming groups. Work has also begun to focus on sources of variation in behavior within groups.

In Indonesia, one of Indonesian dietary guidelines is to promote our Indonesian local traditional foods, since many studies provide evidence supporting the role of diet in chronic degenerative diseases.

Two basic facts supports this link:

A diet rich in plant foods (whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables) protects against many chronic diseases that are extremely common in Western society.

A diet that provides a low intake of plant foods contributes to the development of these chronic diseases and provides conditions under which other causative factors become more active.

Recent reviews on the functional characteristics of nonnutritive health factors revealed that plant foods contain phytochemicals that show many physiological and protective health effects against many diseases, especially cancer of different organs.

Research on the traditional foods, determining factors that may lead to acute or chronic toxicity, including also the unknown nutritive and nonnutritive factors that may influence consumers is urgently needed,

There is now mounting evidence that certain foods and combination of foods have affected cellular behavior and boost immunity leading to improved health. Scientists have uncovered totally new disease-fighting agents in foods such as antioxidants and phytochemicals.

In order to support our immune system we should select a sufficient variety of whole foods to provide all the nutrients essential for the production of healthy cells.

The advice includes taking:

Fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables, which form an essential composition of our daily diet, act as detoxifying agents, while stimulating metabolism and regenerating cells.

Sufficient amounts of protein-rich foods and grains make up the rest, with minimal amounts of fat in the form of nuts and pure vegetable oil.

Eat foods that are as fresh as possible. Nuts, sprouts, legumes and whole grains are high quality nutrients.

Avoid eating a lot of diary products, since many contain high cholesterol.

Avoid foods that may have individual allergic substances which you need to identify. Avoid excessive salt, refined flour, sugar, alcohol, coffee, chocolate and all the processed foods loaded with preservatives, emulsifiers, artificial flavor, colors and other food additives.

With a diet based on the principles outlined above, the metabolic processes will work better and cell renewal and repair will be more efficient, simultaneously strengthening and supporting our immune system with every meal.

The writer is a medical professor and nutritionist at the Southeast Asian Ministers Education Organization (SEAMEO) Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network (TROPMED) in Jakarta.