Food For The Soul

BOITHSEPO GIYOSE | Monday May 26, 2008 00:00

It need not be the case, because the benefits of eating well all year round, especially in the cold winter months cannot be taken for granted. Good nutritious and healthy food coupled with some exercise is the best way to beat the sniffles and low moods, bordering on depression sometimes. I cannot even begin to mention other well known benefits such as major disease prevention and control, weight management, and improving overall quality of life.

So then why is something so full of benefits difficult and hard to adopt and practice? I guess it just boils down to sheer human nature; we never know what is good for us. Until we lose our health and our lives even, we procrastinate to do the right thing. And it's not even a case of 'mommy says it's good for me so I must eat it' - it is simply a case of reality and investing in the future of one's health and productivity.

The World Health Organization recommends that we eat at least 400g grams of fruits and vegetables per day. Unfortunately the reality with most individuals is that we eat less than 200grams per day. And that is if the family can even afford the basic staple on their plates. The 400g or say 5-10 servings are important to reduce health risks. In fact it is a know fact to date that unhealthy diets and physical inactivity are the leading causes if avoidable illness and premature illness. Medical research now links increased consumption of vegetables and fruits with improved heart disease prevention. There is also tangible evidence that exercise and healthy diets rich in fruits and vegetables play a role in the prevention of various cancers and obesity.

Obesity is sweeping across the country, and the world generally, like a gale force on an autumn day and we just seem to be helpless spectators as this trend creeps up on many of us piling unwanted fat and lumps in all the wrong places. Oh well what can I say? Time for a serious lifestyle change...

While at it, we should pay special attention to children as they are very vulnerable, but at same are also impressionable and therefore easily taught the right eating and other lifestyle habits.

The point is to catch them while they are still young and can absorb a lot of information and advice like a sponge. Human psychology has an unfortunate predisposition to foods containing a high sugar, salt and fat content.

It is hard to break the adults' tendencies to choose such products once established. So are you surprised then by the bulges and ill health we accumulate over the years? Thank God, like I just said earlier that it is much easier for children to divest themselves of such bad habits. So let's fight the good fight and help them along a nutritious and healthy path.

Recent research suggests that the plant constituents in foods increase sensitivity to insulin, the chemical in our blood that helps to regulate sugar, Therefore this may delay the onset of type II diabetes, a condition that is affecting many Batswana lately. It is likely that eating well especially loading up on fruits and vegetables can prevent chronic inflammation - think arthritis, even heart disease. You see many fruits and vegetables contain salicylate, a close relative to a well known anti-inflammatory drug that we are all familiar and have properly taken a lot of - aspirin of course.

Show me a person who never took an aspirin at one time or other and I will give you a voucher for free dietary services! So then fruits and vegetables may be your best aspirin after all, particularly with the associated aches of colds and flues in winter.

The bottom line is that diets rich in whole-grains, fruits, vegetables and nuts and polyunsaturated oils reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, type II diabetes, some types of cancers and Alzheimer's disease.

In addition to these important benefits, good nutrition helps to prevent the winter sniffles and exercise makes it even better. So instead of curling up and eating yourself to excess weight and some moody spells eat right, beat the blues and feel great!