What does the right diet look like? What may one eat and what rather not? A guide to healthy eating. There are very many people who consider eating and drinking to be quite a pleasant side of life, but do not give any thought to whether they are not laying the foundation for later diseases in themselves through mistakes in their diet.
Important components of nutrition
People mostly focus their attention on eating as much as possible to be quite full, and do not ask whether the food is also the right one for them. Most people believe that their appetite as a directional guide makes them make the right food choices. Unfortunately, this is only partially true. The people of today, who do not know a correct measure for their nutrition by the abundance of food and stimulants, have just got wrong ideas of the value and unvalue of the food. They mostly focus on eating as much as possible in order to be quite full, and do not ask whether the food is also the right one for them. Doctors and nutritionists must therefore carry out very broad educational work among the population in order to steer appetites in the right direction, so to speak. Even the physicians of ancient Greece gave a great deal of thought to the question of correct and incorrect nutrition. But it was not until about one hundred and fifty years ago that the development of chemistry provided insight into the composition of food. Thus, three essential components were first distinguished:
1. carbohydrates
2. Proteins
3. fats
Then, through special methods, one learned to make measurements that gave precise values about the amounts of energy that could be obtained for the body from each basic food. Everyone has surely heard something about calories. Well, with the amount of heat that a large calorie gives us, you could make 1kg of water 1 degree warmer than it is.
Calories, protein, fat and carbohydrates.
One kilogram of fat gives 9 calories for us here. From this it can be immediately seen that fat is a particular warmer and energy provider, as we may have felt particularly strongly this past winter. Now, people used to conclude from these measurements that one food can replace the other. Unfortunately, this view is still very common today, especially in lay circles. However, it is not correct, even dangerous, as one had to recognize only by the made mistakes. Scientific research has shown, for example, that proteins contain many complicated compounds called amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), which are not contained in any of the other basic foods, carbohydrates and fats. If these are not now supplied to the human body with the food, it becomes ill. Further one had to recognize that the protein, which comes from plants, and such, which supply us animals (meat, eggs, milk, fish), are different from each other. The animal protein (especially fish and poultry) is mostly more valuable for us than that of plants, so that a certain part of the diet should always contain animal protein (about half of our daily protein requirement). However, there are plants that are also rich in these important amino acids, as we find them in animal products, for example, the soybean and the soy flour prepared from it, further our humble potato, also kale, rice, millet and oats. The consumption of these plants can enable us to reduce our daily intake of animal protein to a third of what we need. So how much protein should we eat each day anyway? It has been found that an adult human being is well nourished if he or she consumes 1 gram of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. So for a 70 kg person this is 70 to 80 g of protein daily, half of which is animal protein = 35 to 40 g. If we eat more cabbage, oats and potatoes (also soy), we need only 25 to 30 g of animal protein daily. What are these amounts contained in? It is not so simple that 100 g of meat, eggs or milk also contain the corresponding amount of protein. The protein content of individual foods varies greatly.It contains:
1 egg of about 60 g weight about 6-7 g protein.
100 g meat, medium variety about 20 g protein
100 g fish about 13-20 g protein
100 g whole milk, fresh about 3-4 g protein
100 g curd, lean about 17 g protein
Overweight due to too much fat
Most people today consume copious amounts of fat, be it butter, oil, lard, margarine, whipped cream or cream pie. Now, as far as fats are concerned, two important things have been discovered about or in them. Certain types of fats, e.g. butter, milk fat, are carriers of vitamins, other types of fats do not contain these vitamins. In addition, the content of lipoids (fat-like substances, e.g. lecithin) and of some fatty acids, which have so-called vitamin character, for example for the work of our brain, is of the utmost importance. Most people today consume abundant amounts of fat, be it butter, oil, lard, margarine, whipped cream or cream pie. But haven’t we, especially the women among them, noticed that body weight has increased considerably in the last ten years, and isn’t fat located in places on our bodies where we don’t want it to be? This question will probably have to answer some in the affirmative, if they are honest. And this, to put it bluntly, is actually the beginning of the end. Fat contains another substance, cholesterol, which is deposited in our bodies in the fat itself, but which also likes to migrate into the walls of our blood vessels, where it causes what is generally known as hardening of the arteries. It’s a process that gets stronger and stronger as the years go by, and especially if you eat a high-fat diet. Now, we all want you to grow old as much as possible without calcifying too much. The latter, after all, means a reduction in lifespan and also in performance and well-being. Fat people suffer much earlier from arteriosclerosis, mostly in the heart, kidneys or brain, and also die much sooner from it. Thin, and healthy-nourishing people are much less affected by it. To postpone this calcification process, people should eat no more than 70 to 100 g of fat a day.
Carbohydrates instead of fat
In addition, not all fat has to be butter. There is less cholesterol in olive oil and margarine than in butter. You can also get the necessary amounts of vitamins from vegetables and fruits. The carbohydrates (these include: Pasta, bread, cereals, potatoes, vegetables, fruits and berries) are therefore mainly vegetable products, but also in animal products there is always a certain amount of carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are relatively easily converted into energy by the human body, e.g. for muscle work, the work of the heart, but also for that of our brain. Therefore, with sufficient carbohydrate intake, excessive amounts of fat and protein do not need to be supplied to the body. The complex of carbohydrates also includes cellulose, which cannot be digested by the organism, but is of great importance for the proper work of the intestines. It forms a part of the slag and ensures its transport in the intestine. Therefore, if one eats too little cellulose (contained in vegetables, legumes, whole-grain bread, raw vegetables, fruits), one tends to intestinal sluggishness and constipation, and harmful toxic products of metabolism can develop their effectiveness in the intestine, making a person ill. One should take about 400 to 500 g of carbohydrates daily, taking into account products containing cellulose. Very special attention must be paid to the diet of babies and infants, toddlers and schoolchildren. For them, the question of protein, fat and carbohydrate, as well as mineral and vitamin intake, and the way the food is prepared, is even more important than for adults.
Check food for ingredients and contents
Thus, a number of diseases can result from improper nutrition, but they can take years, even decades, to develop. When they have then become apparent, the layman believes that the doctor can and must heal the damage with some medication. Unfortunately, by then it is usually too late for effective help. For this reason, it is important to educate people in good time about the effects of correct and incorrect nutrition. In Germany, foodstuffs are subject to precise food testing and laboratory tests. In addition, our products and foods usually have the exact components and ingredients with their energy values on the packaging.Everyone should read these values carefully and only then decide whether this or that product is really as healthy as it first appears through advertising and external packaging. One must not forget that the production of food is mostly dictated by the profit motive of the food industry.
