US researchers published in
Nature Communications a study in which rural Africans swap diets with African
Americans for two weeks. The study showed changes in the gut of both groups: In
the rural Africans – a change in bacteria led to developing inflammation while
in the African Americans the adoption of a healthier high fibre low fat diet led
to better balance of their gut bacteria, more fermentation of sugars occurring (better
digestion) and less bile acids produced (these acids may increase bowel cancer
risk).
The two groups then swapped
back to their normal diets… and so did their guts.
While it was a small study
it begs the question, can even short term bad diets (e.g. a fast food weekend
or a pizza binge) cause our health damage. And what exactly is in the food we
are sold in boxes, cartons, tins and tubs so cleverly advertised to make them
enticing.
While eating out and enjoying treat foods from time to time (preferably
with friends or family where company and discussion is also enjoyed) is part of
a balanced lifestyle, it is important to understand what is in the food you are
eating so you can make a fully informed decision about whether you want to eat
it or not. How do you go about understanding what is in food?
Learn to
cook basic healthy meals (and other foods)
Learning to cook with a range of ingredients is so important in
appreciating good food. How can you recognise quality food if you never cook it
and understand what is in it? When you make your own stir-fry, you know exactly
the amount of chilli sauce and how many vegetables you added. Likewise, if you
bake biscuits and you see that giant blob of butter, you’ll probably stop at
one rather than scoffing that whole pack of biscuits you spontaneously bought.
Practice
reading labels
A nutrition label and ingredients list doesn’t tell you as much about a
food as you would know if you cooked it yourself, but it does tell you a whole lot
more than just looking at the front of the pack. The pack front is basically an
ad for the product. Companies use a combination of colours, words and pictures
to make it look more appealing than the next product on the shelf and of course
would never put anything negative on the front. You’ll need to do the detective
work on the back of the pack to really find out. For information on how to read
labels the Parents
Jury have great information
Health
Star Ratings
If you don’t have time for label reading or cooking try the new health
star ratings on packaged foods.
The Australian and New Zealand governments have recently launched a new
health star rating system that companies can adopt to give you more information
about the foods. It’s voluntary at the moment but will eventually become compulsory
and companies are starting to add the stars. The stars can be from ½ to 5 (the
more the better) and are awarded for more fibre, fruit, vegetables and protein
and deducted for high fat, salt and sugar. It is designed to compare similar
products (e.g. two yoghurts) but shouldn’t be used for comparing different
foods (e.g. ham and muesli). The stars are placed on the front of packs. For
more information see the website.
Include
more unprocessed foods in your diet
The labels and stars on unprocessed foods such as a piece of fruit, are
even quicker to read, because they don’t exist. When foods have undergone
minimal processing it is much easier for you to review the quality and decide
whether to eat it. Have more fruit and vegetables, more grain foods (such as
oats, quinoa, barley, whole wheat and brown rice), unprocessed meat eggs and
milk (taking the fat off is a good idea though) and you’ll be doing your body a
favour.
Follow these tips and you’ll find your diet is getting closer to a rural
African palate and soon you too will be saying ‘hakuna matata’.
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