The world is changing fast and so is our lifestyle. Our eating habits have become more cosmopolitan and more in line with healthy living recommendations. However, as the trend toward healthy eating around the world gains momentum, for millions of people, food habits are still largely guided by cultural values, childhood experiences, and personal preferences, even when they know such eating habits are unhealthy. Overall, Western and global food trends are changing people's food beliefs, but it's not always for the better.
Over the last fifty years, the availability of cheap, convenient, and non-perishable foods combined with sedentary lifestyles has resulted in people eating far more than they need. Obesity and diet-related health disorders spreading throughout the developed world have forced governments to come up with nutrition guidelines to help people make good food choices.
Dietary guidelines for healthy eating around the world are issued regularly and updated periodically to encourage healthy eating habits. Unfortunately, these guidelines are often designed to accommodate big food producers. The food industry is a powerful lobby and it is no secret that most of these producers are directly involved in the drafting of these documents.
This has created an awkward situation. On the one hand, the obesity epidemic, which costs our economy a lot of money, has forced the government to find ways of helping people improve their eating habits. On the other, food industries (especially meat and dairy) with very powerful lobbies work to ensure their foods still appear to be healthy.
Fortunately, healthy living trends are gaining in popularity and the public is now fully aware that high-fat and sugar-rich diets are directly linked to cancer, heart disease, and stroke, and many are taking dietary recommendations seriously.
Healthy eating around the world guidelines can only offer suggestions on how to improve your eating habits, because, after all, these are a very personal choice. Other important factors when it comes to your diet are the availability of food where you live, your financial circumstances, and the state of your health. A healthy diet does not have to be expensive, but it needs to be well-planned.
Dietary guidelines, represented in the form of a diagram usually referred to as a food pyramid, is a breakdown of what type of food we should eat and how much certain foods should be represented in our diet. A food pyramid recommends what types of food should be our staple and what should be consumed in small quantities. It can be based on nutrition guidelines for a particular country (e.g. UK: The Eatwell plate), on a particular diet (e.g. Vegan food pyramid), or a particular health disorder (e.g. Diabetes food pyramid).
There are different dietary recommendations for different cultures and for different health conditions, which means that with all the different nutritional needs, there are many different food charts. There are also different visualizations of the food charts, so some are represented by a food circle, a food square, a food house, or a food plate.
The healthy eating around the world initiative is an attempt to raise awareness about how important correct nutrition is for our health. But, since in nutrition, just like in fashion, there are trends, these guidelines often reflect changing lifestyles as well as the global health situation.
All food pyramids revolve around which food groups you should eat more of and what you should eat less of. Most recommend a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.
Dietary guidelines vary across cultures and the spread of globalization means that they often evolve and change, borrowing one from another. Therefore, current healthy eating around the world recommendations are different from what was believed to be healthy eating 50 years ago. Back then many of the foods we use today, like pre-made sandwiches, fruit pouches, fast food, and most snack foods, did not even exist or were not used the way they are used now. We also ate less and moved more.
National dietary guidelines are simply suggestions on how to make good food choices and eat foods that support your health. Dietary guidelines help us improve our eating habits by encouraging us to pay attention to what we eat. Some guidelines, such as the MyPlate graphic, also remind you to drink more water and less soda, to cut down on salt, to exercise, and more.
Diet can prevent or cause many health problems. We now know that lifestyle and diet are two major risk factors for three of the most common health disorders or our time: inflammation, diabetes, and heart disease. Research shows that people over the age of 65 are particularly prone to inflammatory conditions, which conventional medicine usually treats with medications. These medications come with side-effects though, and it is wiser to address the cause, rather than just the symptoms of the problem.
Inflammation happens for a reason, and it can become chronic when your body is exposed to irritants for a long time, such as when it has to process the chemicals, sugars, and toxins in most processed foods. Stress and poor diet are two common causes of chronic inflammation, and chronic stress can lead to Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS) as well.
Healthy eating around the world shows that regardless of whether your diet is based on rice or bread, or whether you are a vegan or can't live without dairy, all healthy eating advice revolves around a diet low in meat and sugar and high in fruits and vegetables.
A diet based on unhealthy foods causes inflammation which triggers many digestive problems, the most common of which are:
However, it's relatively easy to prevent or at least control inflammation simply by avoiding pro-inflammatory foods and by eating anti-inflammatory foods.
Diets high in pro-inflammatory foods contribute to inflammatory processes and increase risks of obesity, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiac arrest. These are high-calorie diets, diets high in simple carbohydrates and low in fiber, and diets full of trans fats.
On the other hand, diets based on anti-inflammatory foods may help reduce inflammation, both by providing essential nutrients and by promoting a healthy gut. Healthy, anti-inflammatory diets typically contain:
The Adrenal Fatigue Diet is one such example. Whatever kind of diet you choose, it is important to choose one that fits your body. Make sure to carefully consider your nutritional needs, any health conditions you have, food sensitivities and foods you need more of, and avoid following trendy diets. You owe it to your body to make a good dietary investment in your future.
© Copyright 2020 Michael Lam, M.D. All Rights Reserved.
As the world gets more polluted, we try harder to stay healthy. More and more people are becoming interested in healthy eating around the world because research shows that diet can prevent or cause many health problems.
