Doctors are seeing ever more diseases caused by overeating and a Western style diet. Just 20 years ago, most people were slim. Now being overweight is not unusual; it is almost the norm.
Within a generation the simple, traditional, healthy diet of the past has changed in favor of high-fat, factory-made food.
Rocketing levels of obesity are common in the Gulf as well as other countries that recently became wealthy, such as China, India and Brazil.
People who are obese, or morbidly obese, need education and help from doctors. But very often, the doctors and health care professionals also need help. As their work days become ever longer and they spend less time visiting patients and more time sitting behind desks listening to a catalogue of preventable problems caused by a modern life style, the more stressful their work becomes. Stress for seeing so much preventable suffering and an increased number of hours sitting down can lead to their own weight gain. Many doctors have told me how worrying they find it that so few patients are willing to commit to long term habit changes to improve their health. Many patients come to the doctor to have the disease brought under control with medicine but are not willing to make simple changes that will improve their health and ensure they lead more active fruitful lives.
It is a fact that obesity is an outward sign of problems to come, such as diabetes, heart disease, mobility problems and some cancers.
While there are clinical causes for weight gain, the majority of people get fat due to over-eating and a lack of exercise.
These problems are avoidable if people returned to the tried and tested eating practices of the past.
In the past people were slim and healthy while today people are becoming heavier and heavier. With education we can compare today’s diet and eating habits with those of our parents and grandparents. Levels of diabetes are soaring in wealthy countries and type 2 diabetes was once unknown in the younger generation. The condition used to be called “adult diabetes”, but it is now commonly found in children as they become more and more addicted to sweet foods.
For generations the people in this part of the world lived on a simple, healthy diet of real food: meat, yoghurt, dates, homemade bread and fish. Meals were prepared with love from fresh ingredients.
Today, most of the food we eat is prepared without love in a factory. It contains a list of ingredients that would not be used in the home: artificial colorings, flavorings and sweeteners and monosodium glutamate. Scientists have finally realized that if you eat real food you do not need to go on a diet. Your weight will take care of itself as your body has all the ingredients it needs for health and repair.
Next time you go to the supermarket, look for real food and simple, fresh ingredients. Not the stuff on the shelves in colorful boxes but fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and cereals.
If we allow ourselves to become unhealthy, who are we helping? Not ourselves and not our doctors who will have to take care of us. What you do today affects your health tomorrow.
Medical studies now show a link between obesity and chronic illness. Losing weight is not just about looking better. It is also about preventing chronic illness. Maintaining a healthy body weight is one of the greatest steps we can take to ensure a good health.
Not many patients realize that obesity isn’t just the fat sitting just under the skin (the fat you can pinch). It is also the visceral fat inside the body, wrapped around the organs, causing stress and damage.
When doctors suggest you lose weight and exercise regularly, they are asking you to help them improve your long-term health.
Healthy recipe of the week: Muesli
The best time to get your cereals is at breakfast
Ingredients:
• 500g porridge oats
• 200g chopped nuts (e.g. walnuts, hazelnuts,
almonds)
• 200g cereal (e.g. wheat flakes, barley flakes,
rye flakes)
• 10 tbsp of seeds (e.g. sunflower seed, linseed,
pumpkin seed)
All these quantities are guidelines – add more or less of your favorite ingredients. Don’t be afraid to experiment!
Method:
1. Pour all the ingredients into a large bowl
and mix together.
2. Keep the finished muesli in a large airtight
plastic cereal container.
Serving suggestion:
Try serving muesli with fresh berries, chopped banana, natural yoghurt or a squeeze of honey. Muesli is usually served with milk – in cold weather try warming the milk.
Ask Alva
What is “junk food”?
— Marre
Many factory-made snacks and fast food are referred to as junk food. These foods are high in fat, salt or sugar and low in other nutrients. Some examples of junk food include:
• Sweets (high in sugar)
• Crisps (high in fat and salt)
• Fizzy drinks (high in sugar/artificial sweeteners)
— Alva
