Consumption of less than 5g salt per day could prevent 1.7 million deaths each year. —WHO
The food we eat will either help our body to fight disturbing diseases or feed the diseases to fight our body. Good diets improve immunity, while poor diets worsen it. Last week we highlighted how we can eat healthy in order to live healthy. It was an eye opener. Balanced diets, we noted, are actually not expensive, not complex, nor complicated and not cumbersome.
It is true that the food we eat provides our body the macro and micro nutrients necessary for healthy living, however eating patterns, characteristics and habits have the capacity to jeopardize health. For example, some disorderly eating patterns like binge, anorexia and bulimia are eating habits that are not only anathemas to good health, they oftentimes have grave health consequences.
The food that we eat provide our body with the required calories for survival. The number of calories in a food is the amount of energy stored in that food. Our body uses calories from food for walking, thinking, breathing, and for other important functions. However, poor eating habits may negate all food health advantages to our body.
Medical experts say average person needs about 2,000 calories every day to maintain weight, but the amount, again, depends on age, sex, and physical activity level. According to the experts, males tend to need more calories than females, and people who exercise need more calories than people who don’t. (See table for calorie intakes for males and females of different ages& activities). Healthy meals guarantee the right calories. Nutritious meals with appropriate protein, carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats, balance calories- in with calories- out.
| Person | Calorie requirements |
| Sedentary children: 2–8 years | 1,000–1,400 |
| Active children: 2–8 years | 1,000–2,000 |
| Females: 9–13 years | 1,400–2,200 |
| Males: 9–13 years | 1,600–2,600 |
| Active females: 14–30 years | 2,400 |
| Sedentary females: 14–30 years | 1,800–2,000 |
| Active males: 14–30 years | 2,800–3,200 |
| Sedentary males: 14–30 years | 2,000–2,600 |
| Active people: 30 years and over | 2,000–3,000 |
| Sedentary people: 30 years and over | 1,600–2,400 |
Just as the health benefits of healthy food are overwhelming, so also are the health problems of unhealthy food burdensome. Dieticians and nutritionists say moderation in calories intake is key. According to experts, eating too few calories for a prolonged period of time causes a person to become underweight leading to muscle atrophy, weakened immunity, and eventually, organ failure. And conversely, eating too many calories causes a person to become overweight then obese, increasing their chances of heart disease, type II diabetes, cancer, high cholesterol in the blood, stroke and other life-threatening ailments.
A balanced diet that balances calories will include a variety of foods from the following groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy, protein foods (meat, egg, fish, beans and nuts)
Food is natured design to give optimal health value to life. But when food is applied wrongly, it jeopardizes the life. Wrong application of food results to health complications including obesity, diabetes, cholesterol problems, heart problems, stroke, cancers and some other noncommunicable diseases.
Healthy dietary practices start early in life – breastfeeding fosters healthy growth and improves cognitive development, and may have longer term health benefits such as reducing the risk of becoming overweight or obese and developing noncommunicable diseases later in life.
As we have noted, balanced diet is not expensive, it’s the poor eating habits that is expensive. Uncontrollable craving for fatty food is expensive, craving for highly processed food is expensive, craving for sweetened foods is expensive, love for saturated fat is expensive, love for high fat dairy products is expensive, over eating and under eating are all expensive habits to poor health.
How to eat right
– Don’t skip any meal. Skipping meals lowers your metabolic rate.
– Don’t skip breakfast. It is the foremost vital meal of the day.
– Don’t ignore water.
– Don’t drink too much alcohol.
– Don’t sabotage yourself with sugar.
– Don’t serve super-sized portions.
– Don’t Starve Yourself
– Don’t eat after being fill up
– Don’t eat late at night
– Don’t Eat if You’re Not Hungry
– Don’t Eat Too Much Saturated Fat
– Don’t forget exercise.
– Don’t eat while you watch TV, work, drive.
– Don’t forbid yourself a particular food.
– Don’t beat yourself up when you lapse.
– Don’t weigh yourself more than once per week.
– Don’t eat high sugar food
– Don’t eat high salt food
– Don’t eat too much egg yoke.
These and many more are ways and means we can, as individuals, families and societies alter our eating habits to get more health values from the food we eat. Like the words of wisdom say “If you give bad food to your stomach, it drums for you to dance”. You must eat right!
Global Perspective
With global figures in obesity rising among infants and children, World health Organization (WHO) not long ago, set up the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity, to successfully tackle childhood and adolescent obesity in different contexts, including reduction of salt/sodium intake and elimination of industrially-produced trans-fats from the food supply.
According to WHO, consuming a healthy diet throughout the life-course helps to prevent malnutrition in all its forms as well as a range of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and conditions. However, increased production of processed foods, rapid urbanization and changing lifestyles have led to a shift in dietary patterns. People are now consuming more unhealthy foods; foods high in energy, fats, free sugars and salt/sodium, and many people do not eat enough fruit, vegetables and other dietary fibre such as whole grains.
The exact make-up of a diversified, balanced and healthy diet, according to WHO varies depending on individual characteristics (age, gender, lifestyle and degree of physical activity), cultural context, locally available foods and dietary customs. Adding that the basic principles of what constitutes a healthy diet remain the same.
WHO HEALTHY DIET
Adults
- Fruit, vegetables, legumes (lentils and beans), nuts and whole grains (unprocessed maize, millet, oats, wheat and brown rice).
- At least 400 g (five portions) of fruit and vegetables per day, excluding potatoes, sweet potatoes, cassava and other starchy roots.
- Less than 10% of total energy intake from free sugars, which is equivalent to 50 g (or about 12 level teaspoons) for a person of healthy body weight consuming about 2000 calories per day, but ideally is less than 5% of total energy intake for additional health benefits. Free sugars are all sugars added to foods or drinks by the manufacturer, cook or consumer, as well as sugars naturally present in honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit juice concentrates.
- Less than 30% of total energy intake from fats. Unsaturated fats (found in fish, avocado and nuts, and in sunflower, soybean, canola and olive oils) are preferable to saturated fats.
- Less than 5g of salt (equivalent to about one teaspoon) per day. Salt should be iodized.
Infants and young children
In the first 2 years of a child’s life, optimal nutrition fosters healthy growth and improves cognitive development. It also reduces the risk of becoming overweight or obese and developing NCDs later in life.
- Infants should be breastfed exclusively during the first 6 months of life.
- Infants should be breastfed continuously until 2 years of age and beyond.
- From 6 months of age, breast milk should be complemented with a variety of adequate, safe and nutrient-dense foods. Salt and sugars should not be added to complementary foods.
Practical advice on maintaining a healthy diet
Fruit and vegetables
Eating at least 400 g, or five portions, of fruit and vegetables per day reduces the risk of noncommunicable diseases and helps to ensure an adequate daily intake of dietary fibre.
Fruit and vegetable intake can be improved by:
- always including vegetables in meals;
- eating fresh fruit and raw vegetables as snacks;
- eating fresh fruit and vegetables that are in season; and
- eating a variety of fruit and vegetables.
Fats
Reducing the amount of total fat intake to less than 30% of total energy intake helps to prevent unhealthy weight gain in the adult population. Also, the risk of developing NCDs is lowered by:
- reducing saturated fats to less than 10% of total energy intake;
- reducing trans-fats to less than 1% of total energy intake; and
- replacing both saturated fats and trans-fats with unsaturated fats – in particular, with polyunsaturated fats.
Fat intake, especially saturated fat and industrially-produced trans-fat intake, can be reduced by:
- steaming or boiling instead of frying when cooking;
- replacing butter, lard and ghee with oils rich in polyunsaturated fats, such as soybean, canola (rapeseed), corn, and sunflower oils;
- eating reduced-fat dairy foods and lean meats, or trimming visible fat from meat; and
- limiting the consumption of baked and fried foods, and pre-packaged snacks and foods (doughnuts, cakes, pies, cookies, biscuits and wafers) that contain industrially-produced trans-
Salt, sodium and potassium
Most people consume too much sodium through salt (corresponding to consuming an average of 9–12 g of salt per day) and not enough potassium (less than 3.5 g). High sodium intake and insufficient potassium intake contribute to high blood pressure, which in turn increases the risk of heart disease and stroke.
Reducing salt intake to the recommended level of less than 5 g per day could prevent 1.7 million deaths each year.
People are often unaware of the amount of salt they consume. In many countries, most salt comes from processed foods (ready meals; processed meats such as bacon, ham and salami; cheese; and salty snacks) or from foods consumed frequently in large amounts (bread). Salt is also added to foods during cooking (bouillon, stock cubes, soy sauce and fish sauce) or at the point of consumption (table salt).
Salt intake can be reduced by:
- limiting the amount of salt and high-sodium condiments (soy sauce, fish sauce and bouillon) when cooking and preparing foods;
- not having salt or high-sodium sauces on the table;
- limiting the consumption of salty snacks; and
- choosing products with lower sodium content.
Some food manufacturers are reformulating recipes to reduce the sodium content of their products, and people should be encouraged to check nutrition labels to see how much sodium is in a product before purchasing or consuming it.
Potassium can mitigate the negative effects of elevated sodium consumption on blood pressure. Intake of potassium can be increased by consuming fresh fruit and vegetables.
Sugars
In both adults and children, the intake of free sugars should be reduced to less than 10% of total energy intake. A reduction to less than 5% of total energy intake would provide additional health benefits.
Consuming free sugars pose dental challenges (tooth decay). Excess calories from foods and drinks high in free sugars also contribute to unhealthy weight gain, which can lead to overweight and obesity. Recent evidence, according to WHO reports, shows that free sugars influence blood pressure and serum lipids, and suggests that a reduction in free sugars intake reduces risk factors for cardiovascular diseases.
Sugar’s intake can be reduced by:
- limiting the consumption of foods and drinks containing high amounts of sugars, such as sugary snacks, candies and sugar-sweetened beverages (all types of beverages containing free sugars – these include carbonated or non‐carbonated soft drinks, fruit or vegetable juices and drinks, liquid and powder concentrates, flavoured water, energy and sports drinks, ready‐to‐drink tea, ready‐to‐drink coffee and flavoured milk drinks); and
- eating fresh fruit and raw vegetables as snacks instead of sugary snacks.
How to promote healthy diets
Promoting a healthy food environment – including food systems that promote a diversified, balanced and healthy diet – requires the involvement of multiple sectors and stakeholders, including government, and the public and private sectors.
According to WHO, governments have a central role in creating a healthy food environment that enables people to adopt and maintain healthy dietary practices. WHO encourages policy-makers to create a healthy food environment through:
- Creating coherence in national policies and investment plans – including trade, food and agricultural policies – to promote a healthy diet and protect public health through:
- increasing incentives for producers and retailers to grow, use and sell fresh fruit and vegetables;
- reducing incentives for the food industry to continue or increase production of processed foods containing high levels of saturated fats, trans-fats, free sugars and salt/sodium;
- encouraging reformulation of food products to reduce the contents of saturated fats, trans-fats, free sugars and salt/sodium, with the goal of eliminating industrially-produced trans-fats;
- implementing the WHO recommendations on the marketing of foods and non-alcoholic beverages to children;
- establishing standards to foster healthy dietary practices through ensuring the availability of healthy, nutritious, safe and affordable foods in pre-schools, schools, other public institutions and the workplace;
- exploring regulatory and voluntary instruments (marketing regulations and nutrition labelling policies), and economic incentives or disincentives ( taxation and subsidies) to promote a healthy diet; and
- encouraging transnational, national and local food services and catering outlets to improve the nutritional quality of their foods – ensuring the availability and affordability of healthy choices – and review portion sizes and pricing.
- Encouraging consumer demand for healthy foods and meals through:
- promoting consumer awareness of a healthy diet;
- developing school policies and programmes that encourage children to adopt and maintain a healthy diet;
- educating children, adolescents and adults about nutrition and healthy dietary practices;
- encouraging culinary skills.
- supporting point-of-sale information, including through nutrition labelling that ensures accurate, standardized and comprehensible information on nutrient contents in foods.
- providing nutrition and dietary counselling at primary health-care facilities.
- Promoting appropriate infant and young child feeding practices through:
- implementing the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes and subsequent relevant World Health Assembly resolutions;
- implementing policies and practices to promote protection of working mothers; and
- promoting, protecting and supporting breastfeeding in health services and the community, including through the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative.