What Kind of Diet Leads to a Long and Healthy Life - Essay Example

What Kind of Diet Leads to a Long and Healthy Life? We are what we eat. Each of us, I am sure, is interested in knowing what kind of eating ensures a long, productive and healthy life. The problem faced by all of us, however, in twenty-first century America is that we are spoilt for choice. We have our store counters overflowing with all kinds of foods—processed, raw, fortified, dehydrated, vitaminized, enhanced…We have fashion and beauty magazines, health and medical bulletins, Oprah and chat shows, all telling us what we should be eating. And the information overload confuses us. What do we eat? What do we keep off our plates? Help! Is there some kind of simple rule that would help us decide? You may be interested in knowing about one of the earliest recorded attempts to stick to a diet, for the purpose of improved health. This was done by Luigi Cornaro, in the early sixteenth century in Padua, in Italy. In his Discourse on the Sober Life: How to Live Hundred Years, Cornaro writes, that at forty he was warned by his doctor that he did not have many years to live because of his excessive eating and drinking. With this threat of death hanging over him, and not really knowing what he could do to help himself, he decided to experiment by drastically reducing his intake of food. And could you believe this—a man who was given no more than a few years to live, beat all odds to live a long and healthy life well into his nineties? Cornaro could even ride a horse at ninety. He not only proved his doctor wrong, but also lived several decades beyond the average life expectancy of the time! Cornaro’s experience could, therefore, lead us to conclude that moderate eating leads to health and longevity. Today, diets can be classified loosely into vegetarian, and non-vegetarian. Vegetarianism is a way of life sanctioned by religion in Eastern countries. Buddhism advocates vegetarianism—though not all its followers are vegetarian—and Jainism, a religion confined to Western India—is strict about being vegetarian. However, although vegetarianism has been medically proved to be healthy, vegetarian communities in a country like India have been reporting higher incidence of heart disease, diabetes, hyper-tension (high blood pressure) and obesity. So where’s the catch? Vegetarian diets, we must realize, can be lacto-vegetarian (where milk and milk products like cheese, butter and yoghurt are consumed) or ovo-lacto-vegetarian (where eggs are included in the diet), or strictly vegetarian—without eggs or milk—which is called a ‘vegan’ diet. This explains the apparent contradiction of vegetarians suffering from cardiac and related illnesses. An ovo-lacto-vegetarian diet, which also includes highly processed foods (like white instead of brown bread) could lead to ill-health. It is therefore, a vegan diet that is healthy. But there has been an accusation against the vegan diet—that it does not supply enough protein. This problem can be overcome by including lentils and pulses in the diet, and by using sprouted pulses in salads. There have been several eminent persons—from ancient to modern times—who have advocated vegetarianism. Let me mention three famous names in this context: Pythagoras—Greek Mathematician, George Bernard Shaw—British playwright, and Martina Navratilova—tennis sensation, who played world level competitive tennis, and won matches till she was fifty years old. Navratilova’s example shows that vegetarianism does not lead to physical weakness. In the US, dieting for the purpose of health, and to conform to fashion norms of slim, started with the grapefruit diet of the 1930’s, says Marples, a writer specialising in food, nutrition and weight loss. This diet involved eating only 585 calories per day, for 18 days-- “only grapefruit, hard boiled eggs, green vegetables and melba toast.”. Remember, a person who does only minimal physical activity is still medically recommended 1200 calories a day. Weight—as an index of beauty and health—gained more and more importance. Saccharine, was introduced in the 1950’s, and Aspartame in the 1980’s—both are sugar substitutes. Just after the First World War, the first bathroom scales were manufactured, and by the time of the Second World War, insurance companies started using weight tables to decide insurance premiums — the closer you were to your ideal weight, the lower the premium. (Marples) Then came the Atkins Diet in the early seventies. This diet went to an extreme, permitting the eating of all fats and only non-vegetarian food, accompanied by drinking a great many glasses of water a day. It initially helped people to lose weight rapidly, and was considered a wonder diet. However, Bupa, a leading private health care provider in Britain, reports that this diet was criticised as being imbalanced (hardly any carbohydrates) and overloading the kidneys with toxins (based as it was on only animal protein). (Bupa.com) Besides, it was noticed that those who lost weight initially on the Atkins couldn’t keep it off. By and large, the medical fraternity are opposed to the Atkins Diet. Based on what I’ve said so far, you may ask me—So, hey, what works then? What constitutes a healthy diet? Let me summarize, for your benefit, some of the main points to remember, when deciding on one’s dietary intake. The information I propose to share with you now, comes from the University of California, Berkeley, publication, The Wellness Newsletter. According to this, healthy eating involves— 1) Eating high fibre foods like fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains, which have higher dietary fibre, and therefore helps keep blood sugar steady; these foods have important vitamins and minerals as well. 2) Eating fruits and veggies of different colours — green, orange and yellow like cantaloupe, carrots, broccoli, coloured cabbage (at least 5 servings a day). These have anti-oxidant properties, which prevent cancer. 3) Limiting intake of sugar (cola drinks) and refined grain (white bread). 4) Cutting down on animal fat. Eat lean meat, skinless chicken. Prefer white (chicken) to red (beef and mutton) meats, to prevent a high level of cholesterol. 5) Cutting down on hydrogenated vegetable oils, which have trans-fats. Many processed foods contain these. 6) Eating fish and nuts, which contain unsaturated fat; using olive oil. 7) Serving smaller portions of food. In restaurants, split a dish with someone else. Get over the hang up that it is ‘sinful’ to waste food. Don’t serve yourself more initially; but if you have done so, don’t insist on finishing it. 8) Keeping cholesterol intake below 300 mgs per day. Cholesterol is found in eggs, meat, and in some kind of sea-food like prawns and mussels. 9) Eating a variety of food. This gives us all the nutrients we require. And it protects us from the possible toxic effects of any particular food item. 10) Having adequate calcium from low fat milk and yoghurt, and from supplements. 11) Trying to get our vitamins and minerals from food, not supplements. Recent research has shown that over-dependence on (especially anti-oxidant) supplements to the exclusion of real food could affect longevity. 12) Maintaining the correct weight, by exercising. A healthy BMI (body mass index is weight-in-kilograms divided by height-in-metres, and then squared) would be between 18 and 25) 13) If one drinks, it should be moderate. A drink a day for women, two for men. A drink would be 12 ounces of beer, or 4 of wine, or 1.5 ounces of other spirits. Excessive alcohol consumption, leads to various problems, apart from giving us empty calories. (UC, Berkeley, Wellness Letter) While searching for a diet that is best for increasing longevity, along with maintaining a good quality of life, we must not forget that, it is not diet alone, but lifestyle as a whole that increases lifespan and improves its quality. I’d like to share with you what I read in an article that appeared in The National Geographic, a few years back, on the longest-lived people on earth. A gist of this article is also available as a multi-media presentation. They mention three different cultures, the people of Okinawa (Japan), the Sardinians (Italy) and the Seventh Day Adventists (Loma Linda, California), to be the longest-lived. The Okinawans, “the longest lived people on Earth” (National Geographic) have many centenarians among them. The National Geographic researcher and writer, Mclain found that ninety-year olds, here, were riding bikes and even diving! They ate well—no stinting—but ate a healthy diet having carrots, seaweed, onions and potatoes, all home grown. The older people had a good social support system. They keep themselves busy, and are motivated to do things, and to focus on a goal. Laziness or lack of purpose doesn’t lead to happiness, which is essential for a long life. The Okinawans even had a word in their language, which meant “reason for which you wake up in the morning”! Among the Sardinians, Mclain found that the men had the same longevity as the women, which does not happen in any other culture in the world. Men have average longevity generally less than women, which is claimed to be on account of basic genetic and biological differences. In Sardinia, the equal longevity of men and women are attributed to the fact that stress among men is low, because the women wear the pants in the family, and take all major decisions. Family solidarity here is high, and every weekend there was one meal, where the whole family — four generations — joined in. (National Geographic). Now, here’s some information that is mind-blowing. The Seventh Day Adventists, living right amongst us, in California, have a life span ten years longer than the average for the rest of the US. They practice a religion, which insists on vegetarianism, no drinking, no smoking, and a compulsory rest day for the Sabbath, on all Saturdays. (National Geographic) We may therefore, infer from all these examples that the secret for a happy, long and fulfilling life lies in moderation and balance in all things — in pleasures and enjoyment and work, not just in food—and in continuing to maintain zest and interest in life, the reason for which you wake up in the morning. So if we’re thinking of doing something to make our life healthy and happy, and ensure our longevity, we should start making our own individual plans, which we can follow, wherever we are, irrespective of whatever else we plan to do in our lives. And this we must do without our attention being diverted by temporary and extreme fads. The essence, friends, is in maintaining a balance. Bupa.com Is the Atkins Diet Safe?, dt. 30th May, 2003, , retrieved 30th July, 2008 Day, Chet: Introduction to Luigi Cornaro’s Discourse on the Sober Life: How to Live Hundred Years, Discourse no 1, retrieved 30th July, 2008, Marples, Gareth , The History of the Atkins Diet, a Revolutionary Lifestyle, retrieved 30th July, 2008 National Geographic – Multimedia Presentation: Secrets of Living Longer , retrieved 30th July, 2008 University of California, Berkeley, Wellness Letter: Foundations of Wellness, , retrieved 30th July, 2008 Read More