Food & Diet:In your essay, you will focus on a specific dietary strategy or a specific aspect of the food industry.  You must persuade me of a change that will help individuals or help a specific pro

Topic: FOOD AND DIET

Introduction:

Food is one of the most basic aspects of life. It is an exigency, a requirement to stay alive. Food is also one of the pleasures of life; people naturally enjoy eating. This basic and enjoyable aspect of our lives, however, can be detrimental to our wellbeing if it is abused. The need, therefore, to eat well and eat healthy cannot be over-emphasized.

Attention getter:

A popular saying goes and I quote, “You are what you eat.” Quite simply we definitely morph into and are a product of what we feed ourselves. The state of your body and your wellbeing is to a great extent dependent on the food that you eat.

Thesis statement:

A vegetarian diet is preferred to Meat diet for healthier living and longer life. In our discussion I will be telling you why preferring vegetarian Diet over Meat Diet is a necessity, Practical Advice on Maintaining a Healthy Diet and What or How Should People Be Eating?

Body:

I will start by discussing what foods are healthy for people. To buttress the thesis statement, I will be stating some of the many advantages of eating a vegetarian diet.

I will delve right into the advantages of eating like a vegetarian in contrast with the downside of being a Meat Eater.

Advantages of a Vegetarian Die

1. Protein: While vegetarian diets meet protein requirements, they are typically lower in total intake of protein than non-vegetarian diets. This can be more beneficial than a meat diet as excessively high protein intake has been linked to osteoporosis and kidney failure.

2. Vitamins: Antioxidants found in Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and beta-carotene are our body's defenses against free radicals - highly-reactive molecules that may lead to premature aging and disease.

3. People with high intakes of antioxidant-rich fruit and vegetables are about half as likely to get cancer compared with people who have low intakes. Specific antioxidants that have been linked with lower cancer risk include the carotenoid lycopene (found in processed tomatoes and linked with lower rates of prostate, lung and digestive cancers), vitamin E (linked with lowered incidence of several cancers, including colon, prostate, breast and cervical cancer), and the mineral selenium.

4. Fats: Vegetarians tend to eat less saturated fats - found in meat and dairy products - and more unsaturated fats - such as olive oil, peanut oil, and sunflower oil. A high intake of saturated fat can cause raised blood cholesterol and lead to heart disease.

The Downside of a Meat Diet

1. Saturated fat: Meat contains saturated fats which can block the absorption of essential fats - important for maintaining cell structure. Too many saturated fats can make the body's cells less flexible and affect the flow of nutrients in and out of the cells.

2. High intakes of some saturated fatty acids can increase the amount of cholesterol in the blood, and therefore increase the risk of heart disease.

3. Another worry is the potential hormone and chemical intake as meat contains whatever harmful substances are fed to animals. Non-vegetarians 'fill up' on animal

Following a vegetarian plan is more likely to give one higher intake of antioxidants, fibre and all the substances that have been found to reduce cancer risk and protect the cardiovascular system. As can be easily seen from the above, the advantages of a vegetarian diet far outweigh that of a meat diet. “A vegan diet is probably the single biggest way to reduce your impact on planet Earth, not just greenhouse gases, but global acidification, eutrophication, land use and water use,” said Joseph Poore, at the University of Oxford, UK, who led the research. “It is far bigger than cutting down on your flights or buying an electric car,” he said, as these only cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Practical Advice on Maintaining a Healthy Diet

Maintaining a healthy diet is not as easy as it seems, most times it takes discipline to be able to stick to the plan you have prepared for yourself. Most people love sweet things, the fatty part of meat, chocolates, and every other food that are sweet and harmful to the body. To maintain a healthy diet, you have to be determined that you would. You have to consciously decide to subject your desires for the sweet fatty and starchy meals cut down a great deal on meat intake. In an Interview with Healthy Eating Expert Jeff Novick, when asked “What foods do you recommend that people incorporate into their diets?” he replied “The healthiest foods are minimally processed fruits, vegetables, starchy vegetables, roots/tubers, intact whole grains, and legumes. These should make up most—if not all—of our daily calories. I recommend that people start right where they are and just keep adding in more of these foods each day.”

Recommendations for a Healthy Diet

Fruit and vegetables:

Eating at least 400 g, or five portions, of fruit and vegetables per day, reduces the risk of NCDs (2) 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 (1, 2, 3). 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 (2, 3) – 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, safflower 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 (e.g. doughnuts, cakes, pies, cookies, biscuits and wafers) that contain industrially-produced trans-fats.

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 (8, 11).

Reducing salt intake to the recommended level of less than 5 g per day could prevent 1.7 million deaths each year (12).

People are often unaware of the amount of salt they consume. In many countries, most salt comes from processed foods (e.g. ready meals; processed meats such as bacon, ham, and salami; cheese; and salty snacks) or from foods consumed frequently in large amounts (e.g. bread). Salt is also added to foods during cooking (e.g. bouillon, stock cubes, soy sauce, and fish sauce) or at the point of consumption (e.g. table salt).

Salt intake can be reduced by:

• Limiting the amount of salt and high-sodium condiments (e.g. 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.

• 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 (2, 7).  A reduction to less than 5% of total energy intake would provide additional health benefits (7). Prof Ian Macdonald, chair of the working group of the committee, said: "The evidence is stark - too much sugar is harmful to health and we all need to cut back. "The clear and consistent link between a high-sugar diet and conditions like obesity and type 2 diabetes is the wake-up call we need to rethink our diet."Cut down on sugars, increase fibre and we'll all have a better chance of living longer, healthier lives."

Consuming free sugars increases the risk of dental caries (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 also 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 (13).

Sugars 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 (i.e. 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, flavored water, energy and sports drinks, ready‐to‐drink tea, ready‐to‐drink coffee, and flavored milk drinks); and

• Eating fresh fruit and raw vegetables as snacks instead of sugary snacks.

What Or How Should People Be Eating?

Eating breakfast, lunch and skipping dinner and/or taking light dinner is highly recommended. The body needs time to rest and regenerate dead cells and every other vital thing? Eating late at night tasks the body throughout the night by trying to digest the food. It is advised to have this healthy eating habit.

How This Diet Can Be Integrated Into Your Lifestyle

Vegans eat only food of plant origin. Because animal products are the only food sources of vitamin B12, vegans must supplement their diets with a source of this vitamin. In addition, vegan diets, particularly those of children, require care to assure adequacy of vitamin D and calcium, which most Americans obtain from dairy products.

Foods vary in their amounts of calories and nutrients some foods such as grains, vegetables, and fruits have many nutrients and other healthful substances but are relatively low in calories. Fat and alcohol are high in calories. Foods high in both sugars and fat contain calories but often are low in vitamins, minerals, or fiber. Having a mixture of a variety of meals with a concentration on the vegan diet is a healthy eating lifestyle. This can be integrated into one’s lifestyle by cautious practice one day at a time.

Conclusion:

Neglecting the kind of thing you eat implies that you do not care for yourself. Absolute care for one’s own wellbeing is said to be achieved when food and diet are considered first before anything else. A vegetarian diet should be preferred to a meat diet; your appearance physically, health, mental awareness are all dependent on the things you eat. Eat like a vegetarian today and enjoy long life in health.

CITATIONS / REFERENCES

1. (https://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga95/9DIETGUI.HTM (links to an external site) Links to an external site)

2. (http://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/healthy-diet (links to an external site) Links to an external site)

3. Pdf – A practicl framework to understanding vegan transition

4. https://www.womenshealth.gov/blog/spotlight-chef-lala

5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3649719/

6. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/may/31/avoiding-meat-and-dairy-is-single-biggest-way-to-reduce-your-impact-on-earth

7. http://jewishfoodhero.com/an-interview-with-healthy-eating-expert-jeff-novick/

8. https://www.bbc.com/news/health-33551501