www.ed.ac.uk/explore.av
Dr Willett has spent the last 25 years studying the impact of diet on the occurence of major diseases. His lecture covered the impact of different food stuffs, such as types of fat, dairy and carbohydrates, as well as consumption of fruits and vegetables on illnesses such as coronary heart disease, types of cancers, osteoporosis and others. While some of the terms were technical and some charts less easy for the untrained eye, his messages were clear. We can make very real positive impacts on the health of our bodies if we make changes in our lifestyle and eating habits, even at later age.
The lecture was packed with information, but a few key messages stood out for the general member of the public and can frame the way we look at what we eat:
1. Dairy- debunking the myth we need to drink more milk to save our bones
2. Fats -a more decadent diet rich in transfats is deadly, while one rich in polyunsaturated fats, omega 3s, can reduce risks of disease
3. Glycemic Index- as a helpful way of chooseing which foods are healthiest
4. The 'Healthy Eating Pyramid' - a simple illustration on how to plan our eating in a balanced and healthy way
I have summarised these points below but a great deal more can be found at the Harvard University website: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/pyramid/index.html. This includes further details of good foods, what to avoid and some delicious-looking recipes.
1. Dairy
Daily calcium intake does not seem to be as high as recommended in the US (1200mg/day) or the UK (700mg/day), as the World Health Organisation recommends 500mg/day with no adverse risk of osteoporosis. This dietary requirement in adults can be met with a well-balanced diet and one portion of dairy a day. Increasing milk consumption does not decrease risk of osteoporosis, in some instances can increase possible risk of fractures and in men can increase risk of fatal prostate cancer (the latter based on a study of men who drank more than 3 glasses of milk a day).
2. Fats
The fats that we choose to consume, and importantly not consume, has a very clear impact on our health. Transfats (those which for the main are solid at room temperature) greatly increase risk of coronary heart disease, as do saturated fats (animal fats) to a lesser extent. These should be avoided. Interestingly the consumption of certain other fats (such as unsaturated fats) actually decreases risk. The healthiest fats are in the polyunsaturates omega 3 family, which include fish oil and plant oils (soya, olive and rapeseed). If you consume both healthy and unhealthy oils, they provide some sort of balance. If you want to decrease risk of various diseases, you should limit all oils but unsaturated fats which you can enjoy to your heart's content. As Dr Willett put it, load on the salad dressings, these can improve your health and make the salad taste a lot better too.
3. Glycemic Index
The Glycemic Index is a sound way to approach what foods to eat as this focuses on a slow, sustained release of glucose. In layman's terms, it leaves you feeling fuller for longer. Dr Willett reported that eating a diet with a high Glycemic Load increases risk of heart disease. Sadly as such, high GI goods include both potatoes and bagels. More details on nutritious delicious low GI foods to come.
4. The Healthy Eating Pyramid
This summarises very simply what principles we should employ to eat a healthier diet:
- the foundation of a good diet is to be active and take exercise
- a plant-based diet rich in wholegrains, fruit, vegetables and plant oils is most important
- this should be supplmented with smaller portions of protein, fish and chicken for meat-eaters, and nuts and pulses for vegetarians
- dairy products should be eaten in smaller quantities again, and
- red meats and refined carbohydrates (white bread, flour, pasta and potatoes) should be eaten only in very limited amounts.
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