The food we eat is like fuel. It gives our bodies the energy they need to function well. If you don’t make sure that the fuel you pump into your body is of the right quality or quantity, you just won’t feel as healthy as you could.
We all have up to 100 trillion cells in our bodies, each one demanding a constant supply of daily nutrients in order to function optimally. Food affects all those cells, and by extension every aspect of our being: mood, energy levels, food cravings, thinking capacity, sex drive, sleeping habits and general health. In short, healthy eating is the key to wellbeing.
THE EVIDENCE
The first step to turning around your life and your health was in picking up this book. But how can I now convince you to take the all-important next steps and break your bad diet habits?
The relationship between food and health is significant. Diet plays a vital part in promoting good health and wellbeing. The first crucial step is to make the connection between good food choices and good health, and poor food choices and bad health.
I realized this when I looked at the food diaries of the participants for the TV show, You Are What You Eat. Not only were all participants overweight at the beginning of the series but they all had other health complaints, many of which were caused by the poor food choices they made. These foods were the catalyst for most ailments and complaints. When I prepared a table of the bad foods that they had eaten for a week and explained how these foods affected the body, the relationship between food and health suddenly became shockingly apparent.
HERE ARE TEN IMPORTANT FOOD FACTS:
- A diet high in fat (particularly saturated fat) and high in salt is associated with an increased risk of coronary heart disease.
- It is estimated that, on average, a third of cancers could be prevented by changes in diet. A diet which is high in fibre and whole grain cereal and low in fat has the potential to prevent a number of cancers, including colon, stomach and breast cancer.
- Many fertility experts believe that an unhealthy diet, high in fat, sugar, and processed foods and low in nutrients essential to fertility, can lead to infertility and increase the chances of miscarriage.
- A diet high in fat, sugar and salt leads to weight gain and increases the risk of obesity. Carrying excess weight doesn’t just increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and infertility, it is also associated with fatigue, low self-esteem and poor mental and physical performance.
- An unhealthy diet increases the risk of depression and mood swings. It’s also linked to PMS, food cravings and anxiety.
- A diet high in additives, preservatives and refined sugar can cause poor concentration, hyperactivity and aggression. This is because foods high in sugar and additives lack chromium which is removed in the refining process. Chromium is needed for controlling blood sugar levels; when these levels are out of control it can trigger these behavioural problems.
- A diet that is low in the essential nutrient calcium (needed to keep your bones strong) increases the risk of bones becoming weak or brittle – a condition known as osteoporosis.
- A diet low in nutrients puts enormous strain on the liver. The liver is essential for the proper digestion and absorption of life-sustaining vitamins and minerals. For optimum health you need your liver to be in peak condition. The liver cannot cope with large amounts of saturated fat and alcohol and this can lead to liver and kidney problems, such as kidney disease and cirrhosis (a life-threatening condition where the cells of the liver die).
- A diet too high in sugar can lead to too much glucose (a form of sugar carried in the bloodstream) circulating in your body. Too much glucose in the blood indicates development of blood sugar problems such as diabetes mellitus. Its symptoms are thirst, frequent need to urinate due to excess glucose, problems with vision, fatigue and recurrent infections.
- If diet is poor this can compromise your immune system and make you more susceptible to colds, flu and poor health. We need a steady and balanced intake of essential vitamins and minerals to keep our immune systems working properly, to provide protection from infections and disease.
12 FOODS PEOPLE EAT ON A REGULAR BASIS
This top 12 list of popular foods that many people eat on a regular basis may at first glance not appear too alarming, but just take a look at the nutritional analysis overleaf. I have converted the statistics to teaspoons of sugar and blocks of lard to drum the facts home. Do you really still feel hungry?
- 01 Fish and chips
- 02 Pizza
- 03 Spaghetti Bolognese
- 04 Burger meal
- 05 Fried chicken
- 06 Kebab
- 07 English breakfast
- 08 Chicken tikka masala (Indian takeaway)
- 09 Sweet’n’sour pork with special fried rice (Chinese takeaway)
- 10 Shepherd’s pie
- 11 Chips
- 12 Toast
- » Fish and chips
- » calories: 1078 » protein: 43g » carbs: 86g » fat: 65g
- » fibre: 56g » equivalent to 17 teaspoons of sugar and ½ of a block of lard
- » Pizza (medium deep pan pizza)
- » calories: 1746 » protein: 80g » carbs: 159g » fat: 88g
- » fibre: 8g » 31 teaspoons of sugar and ⅓ of a block of lard
- » Spaghetti Bolognese (300g serving)
- » calories: 237 » carbs: 32g » fat: 5.7g » fibre: 3g
- » 6 teaspoons of sugar
- » Burger meal (large burger, fries and cola)
- » calories: 1300 » protein: 34g » carbs: 189g » fat: 44g
- » fibre: 13g » 38 teaspoons of sugar and over 1/5 of a block of lard
- » Fried chicken (3 pieces chicken and chips)
- » calories: 933 » protein: 62g » carbs: 72g » fat: 45g
- » fibre: 6g » 14 teaspoons of sugar and almost 1/5 of a block of lard
- » Kebab (shish with salad in pitta bread)
- » calories: 704 » protein: 61g » carbs: 78g » fat: 19g
- » fibre: 5g » 15 teaspoons of sugar and nearly 1/10 of a block of lard
- » English breakfast (2 rashers, 1 sausage, 1 egg, 1 tomato, 1 portion beans, fried slice of bread)
- » calories: 831 » protein: 46g » carbs: 52g » fat: 50g
- » fibre: 10g » 10 teaspoons of sugar and 1/5 of a block of lard
- » Chicken tikka masala (take-away)
- » calories: 709 » protein: 71g » carbs: 72g » fat: 15g
- » fibre: 1g » 14 teaspoons of sugar and 1/20 of a block of lard
- » Chinese takeaway (sweet’n’sour pork with special fried rice)
- » calories: 520 protein: 16g » carbs: 72g » fat: 15g
- » fibre: 1g » 14 teaspoons of sugar and 1/20 of a block of lard
- » Shepherd’s pie (300g)
- » calories: 336 » protein: 18g » carbs: 28g » fat: 18g
- » fibre: 2g » 5 teaspoons of sugar and 1/20 of a block of lard
- » Chips
- » calories: 655 » protein: 8g » carbs: 74g » fat: 38g
- » fibre: 5g » 14 teaspoons of sugar and more than 1/6 of a block of lard
- » Toast (2 slices, white, thick with butter)
- » calories: 348 » protein: 6g » carbs: 35g » fat: 21g
- » fibre: 1g » 7 teaspoons of sugar and almost 1/20 of a block of lard
Now for the scary part, these are everyday foods that a lot of people consume regularly as part of their diet. What if you started your day with a lovely cooked breakfast, had a burger for lunch and went out for a pizza in the evening? (Don’t forget I am not even counting snacks or drinks, just three meals.) Your total calories would be:
- » calories: 3877 » protein: 160g » carbs: 400g
- » fat: 182g » fibre: 31g
Normal daily average calorie intake is 2550 (17,850 per week) for men and 1940 (13,580 per week) for women. The above is almost double the recommended figure for women and over 1½ times for men.
It is the equivalent of eating 20 candyflosses a day and half of a block of lard. Start to add in the between-meal snacks, drinks, alcohol and not enough exercise and you become a ticking bomb of potential heart disease, diabetes, stroke, high blood pressure, digestive tract problems. Choose your poison – or as I hope, don’t!