The nutritional quality of food and our lifestyle habits are behind many diseases and more and more studies are proving this. Consumer awareness and responsibility could help our health.
At the end of 2018, the Ministry of Health, Consumer Affairs and Social Welfare of the Spanish Government announced the implementation of the Frontal Nutrition Labelling, a "traffic light" that makes the nutritional information on foods and beverages more understandable and straightforward. In this way, health authorities aim to help consumers make conscious and therefore healthier food choices.
This system, called Nutriscore, consists of "a graph with gradual colouring from green to red in five traffic light-style levels" in which the appropriate colour shall be highlighted according to sugar, saturated fat, salt, calories, fibre and protein content, green being the healthiest and red the one with the lowest nutritional quality.
In view of the figures for obesity, diabetes and other diet-related diseases, it is clear that the information is not reaching the public or that we are not responsible enough to taking a closer look at what we eat. Hence the "traffic light".
"Let medicine be your food and your food be the medicine", said Hippocrates, one of the fathers of Western medicine. Unfortunately, food is also the cause of illnesses today and is part of those "environmental factors" that trigger autoimmune diseases, cancer and other growing illnesses. At Biosalud Day Hospital we are aware of the importance of nutrition and therefore forms a fundamental part of the treatments. A strict diet requires a great deal of commitment on the part of the patient because it is sometimes hard to change habits, but it is worth it.
Food and depression
The journal Molecular Psychiatry recently published the results of a study finding that Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of depression by 33 %a disease that is associated with a diet rich in saturated fatty acids, sugar and refined products.
The research was carried out on data from 36,500 adults and its director, Tasnime Akbaraly, says that "these results confirm the hypothesis that avoid pro-inflammatory foods and replacing them with anti-inflammatory foods helps to prevent depressive symptoms and depression".
The relationship between the gut and the brain has been extensively researched and it has even been found that there is a neural circuit of its own between the two organs. An imbalance in the microbiota can bring us emotional problems such as depression. A good example is the intestinal candidiasisan infection due to the overgrowth of the fungus Candida Albicans which has as its symptoms intestinal discomfort as well as mood disturbance and depression.
Knowing the state of health of your intestine is a prior step to follow a personalised diet that takes care of your health. At Biosalud Day Hospital we make it easy for you and, without leaving home, you can find out what the balance of your intestine is. With our analysis GutCheck Faeces y GutCheck UrineYou can take the samples at home and we will send you the results. In our experience, this is the best way to establish healthy eating patterns.
Obesity and dementia
Obesity is a pathology that is not only related to the food. Although it does play a fundamental role, it is true that genetic factors may have a more direct influence if the child does not have a healthy lifestyle. DNA-appropriate feeding.
Be that as it may, what is certain is that in Spain the mediterranean diet is not very successfulAt least the youngest ones: 40 per cent of children in our country are obese. This is related to diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and also dementia.
Research at Princeton University found that neurons in the hippocampus of obese mice did not produce the synapses necessary for learning and memory because these cells lacked dendritic spines. The study showed that obesity causes microglia to "devour the neuronal connections of the hippocampus", leading to different forms of dementia.
Breakfast and cardiovascular health
It has always been said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but it is important that the nutritional quality of the food is high, especially in the breakfast of the youngest children.. The Public University of Navarra warns of cardiovascular and metabolic risk factors in overweight children, regardless of the frequency of exercise they do.
In an article published in the journal Nutrients, the university researchers link breakfasts with a high ratio of calories per gram of food with higher cholesterol and uric acid levels and increased insulin resistance.
The authors of the article, published in the journal NutrientsThe study found that children (a sample of 200 overweight children aged 8-12 years) who consumed breakfasts with poorer nutritional quality and higher energy density (defined as more calories per gram of food) had higher levels of cholesterol and uric acid and higher insulin resistance.
Ultra-processed products (biscuits and pastries, sugary cereals or ready-made cereal bars) are very present at breakfast time, so the public health strategy involves nutrition education that emphasises the importance of a healthy breakfast.
There are many more recent studies linking diet to diseases such as diabetes, diabetes and diabetes. diabetes-1 in children or the cancer.
