At any given time, no matter what the situation or circumstance before you, you always possess one thing, and that is ‘Choice’. Choice to make the decision to choose wisely. Choosing the right foods and quantities is thus very important to maintain good health. We can update ourselves with regards to nutritious foods and empty calorie foods, and constantly choose what we want to put into our system, as after all its rightly said, “you are what you eat”. So if our health and well-being is directly or indirectly governed by what we eat, then, how important is what we eat? How much knowledge do we have on this subject? More importantly how much of it is scientific and how much a myth?

Dietetics is too vast a topic, yet we ought to know a few basics. If our bodies are human machines food is our fuel.   How well we eat, affects how well our bodies work. Thus balanced diet is that which can provide balanced energy required for use by the body and for storage. We often hear of various types of diets. We could categorize them into, normal diet, preventive diet, restricted, and special diet.

A normal healthy individual ought to know what a balanced diet is. Whereas for an individual bogged down by a medical condition, ought to know his permissible diet intake with knowledge of pros and cons. This would be coined under restricted diet. Special diets are planned for individuals having some target in mind. For eg, weight loss. We also have a preventive diet that is when we know certain foods have the possibility of causing or contributing to certain diseases. We then avoid that class of foods or find some alternatives.

Normal balanced healthy diet:

A balanced diet is one which gives you adequate amount of nutrients, from a variety of foods. Different nutrients play their own specific role in maintaining health. Nutrients such as vitamins and minerals are loaded in fruits and vegetables, carbohydrates are got from rice, wheat, bread, pasta etc. Proteins from eggs, meats ,fish ,milk and pulses .Oils always  to be used in minimal quantity and water to be drunk  in abundance.Water not only detoxifies,by flushing out toxins and waste, but has an important role of  hydration,temperature regulation and nutrient and hormone circulation within the body.

Restricted diets:

Certain diseases bring about changes in the body’s need for nutrients, due to  alterations in metabolic and physiological processes or functional disturbances. In advance cases, the changes in nutrient requirement could be attributed to  certain structural changes of organ or tissue. For instance a diabetic   should restrict his carbohydrate intake due to lack of functional insulin. He should limit himself to complex carbohydrate like fibre rather than sugars. A publication in the British Journal of General Practice  by Katharine Morrison states,  “ It is usual for patients with type 2 diabetes to experience a 2–3% drop in HbAIC after 3 months on a low carb diet”. Fats consumed should also be restricted and should be of unsaturated type. Often I’ve seen a diabetic follow a general myth that fruits are bad. On the contrary, fruits are a source of important vitamins, minerals, fiber and phytochemicals that are important to the health of everyone, including diabetics. It is important for diabetics to know the fruit ratings based on glycemic index. The glycemic index is a measure of how fast foods containing carbohydrates are converted to blood glucose. Fruits with aglycemic index rating below 50 is optimal for diabetics, in moderation though.

Apple is one such fruit within the glycemic index. It contains a detoxifying agent called pectin. Besides it also contains galacturonic acid which has been proven to lower the insulin requirements of diabetics by up to 35%. Besides fruits contain natural sugars and not refined sugars.

Preventive diets:

Many of us are health conscious. Some of us are health conscious in general and some towards a particular condition. Accordingly one can be guided for prevention of the particular condition or maintain wellbeing in general. One common eg is dyslipidemia.

Dyslipidemia, or high cholesterol levels, which owes its rise to certain foods such as saturated oils, reheated oils, excessive consumption of fats. Heating an oil changes its characteristics. Oils that are healthy at room temperature can become unhealthy when heated above certain temperatures. All of these attribute  to rise in LDL the bad cholesterol ,leading to its deposition along arterial or blood vessel linings. Again there are various factors we need to look into as in, the quantity of consumption. These calculations vary depending on per person and total family size. For cardiac health, soy and legume can be a replacement for animal protein. Most animal protein is often laden with saturated fats which contribute to the bad cholesterol. These whole pulses also contribute towards fibre, calcium ,iron ,zinc etc.2-3 chopped garlic ,in salad or with food can also contribute to heart health.

Special diets:

We also have special diets for expecting mothers, where certain foods are encouraged for better growth of foetus and maintaining general good health of mother to be.

No matter which category we need to follow, we need to know and choose prudently.

Other key points for choosing good practices for good health:

• Avoid overcooking as it reduces nutritious value of food
• Avoid stale foods for built up toxins over time( subject to type of foods)
• Eat fresh as far as possible
• I also emphasize on avoiding eating empty calorie foods and zero nutrition foods’ and artificial energy boosters and refined sugars. (Common food-fads among youngsters)
• Most important of all, drink plenty of water and exercise.

Health is a multifactorial subject. Every individual can only unearth what is apt for oneself and choose to follow it to his best .The rest we entrust to the Higher up.

Dr. Trisha Torcato Miranda. MD(Hom), MS(Couns&Psy)Clinic-Healthy Mind Healthy Body-Aquem-9923417774