The paradox of today: with an excess of food, our body's cells are deficient in many useful substances. More and more ways are being invented to ensure that the food was not only high-calorie, but also delicious. And mainly due to such processes as frying, smoking, pickling, saturation of products with various kinds of additives, etc. The food industry in all countries annually spends millions of dollars on advertising for the sole purpose: to promote novelties, to influence the consumer. And under its aggressive onslaught, we sometimes get lost - what to give preference to? ..
The abundance of information is also an abundance of contradictions. However, today scientists came to unanimous conclusions, which refute existing myths to this day, connected with the consumption of fats, carbohydrates, proteins, dairy products, vegetables, fruits. Let us dwell only on some myths, placing them according to the degree of "malignancy". So, the whole truth about food: how to remain young and beautiful as long as possible - the topic of discussion for today.
MYTH № 1. All fats are harmful
Nothing like this! The idea of the harmfulness of all fats and the subsequent calls to abandon them led to the spread of "fatigue". She also reached Russia. And in our country many sharply reduced in the diet the percentage of calories received with fats. However, did this become healthier?
Fats contain fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, K, are part of cell membranes, participate in the exchange of cholesterol, stimulate redox processes, participate in the growth and health of the skin, increase resistance to infections, cooling the body. Fatty tissue "wraps" the eyes, kidneys, other fragile organs. Nutritionists warn: a sharp decrease in the fat content in the daily diet leads to a shortage of a number of vitamins, can contribute to the omission of the kidneys, stomach and thereby the violation of their functions. It's true. Although the results of recent studies have shown that polyunsaturated fats found in nuts, cereals, fish, vegetable oils (linseed, olive, rapeseed, soybean, corn, sunflower and others) are useful for health, experts do not recommend completely replacing animal fats with vegetable. They have different functions. In addition, animal fats contain choline, lecithin - anti-sclerotic substances. It is necessary to take into account our conditions, our genetic apparatus, which for centuries has been "used" to food predilections of ancestors, on the dinner table of which were butter and lard. By the way, salted bacon (not fried!) Contains substances that reduce the level of "bad" cholesterol.
Healthy fish that live in cold waters are salmon, tuna, mackerel, they contain very valuable substances that are not found in meat: omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3 fatty acids reduce blood pressure, slow blood clotting, increase the level of "good" cholesterol. For health it is useful at least two times a week to eat a fish dish (200-400 g). Well, the champion in the content of omega-3 fatty acids is flax. Not everyone can afford high-quality seafood, but flax seeds or linseed oil is available for everyone. One tablespoon of oil a day will save you from many troubles, will strengthen your health.
MYTH No. 2. All sources of proteins are interchangeable
Meat, poultry, eggs, dairy products are good sources of high-grade proteins, while you can not tell about vegetable. Nevertheless, domestic and foreign nutritionists are unanimous in the opinion that it is necessary to consume meat and meat products as little as possible. They recommend introducing in the diet up to 30% protein due to dairy products, first of all fat-free cottage cheese, more often to replace meat with fish, dairy products, fruits, vegetables.
Today the world is growing nutty boom. This is a consequence of one of the most unexpected discoveries that has been made during nutrition studies over the past decade. It was found that people who regularly eat nuts are less prone to all sorts of diseases. But how do they help the body stay young and beautiful? The unsaturated fats in them reduce the level of "bad" cholesterol and raise the level of "good", prevent the formation of blood clots, relax tension in the vessels and restore normal blood flow.
It is enough ten hazelnut nuts, four walnuts a day. Nutritionists are advised to buy nuts only in the shell and clean immediately before use.
MYTH № 3. All carbohydrates are useful
Fast-digestible and easily assimilated carbohydrates (sugar, confectionery, sweets, all kinds of sweet drinks) increase the level of insulin, sugar and triglycerides in the blood, which leads to cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. The consumption of unprocessed carbohydrates, on the contrary, brings obvious health benefits.
Daily eating for breakfast a plate of cereal from whole grains, you can reduce the likelihood of many diseases. We need not just carbohydrates, but complex carbohydrates, containing fiber, pectin and other substances useful to the body. They are contained in cereals - buckwheat, oatmeal, pearl barley, rice, millet, other products.
MYTH No. 4. All fruits and vegetables are equally useful
Vegetables and fruits are good for all systems of our body, they should be included in the daily diet, but overseas fruit exotic can only be eaten.
In recent years, a "cult of garlic" has appeared in a number of countries. More and more research is devoted to its effect on the body. And their results are very impressive. It is necessary for our body every day. Two denticles are enough.
It's up to us
We want to eat deliciously and diversely. In this case, we do not particularly "bother" to find out the whole truth about food - how to stay young and beautiful everyone decides for himself. Everyone wants to live long and actively. Is it achievable? To answer this question, let's see how hundred-year-olds feed in different countries. Long-livers use cereals, roots, vegetables, fruits, which they themselves grow; limit themselves to protein foods; like sour-milk products; Do not eat fried foods, fatty broths, fresh milk, smoked products, sausages, confectionery, cookies, white bread. Although they hardly know that, for example, 50 g of smoked sausage have the same effect on the body as one pack of cigarettes. Obviously, long-livers know the unwritten law: if you want to have a healthy, "sweet" life - eat more bitterness (spices, nettles, wormwood, onions, garlic, etc.); you want to provide yourself with diseases, a "bitter" life - lean on the sweet and all that is offered to us in beautiful crispy packages and bottles with colored liquids.
Semi-finished products, which almost do not require cooking, frying, cakes, sweets, confectionery, beer, sweet colored drinks ... - this is today in the daily diet of both the townspeople and the peasant. Well, maybe in the villages the situation is somewhat different, but not much.
Since 1991, a number of countries have been conducting large-scale research on the usefulness of food for health. So, the first lines in the list of such products are cabbage, beets, carrots, tomatoes, flax seeds, garlic, onions, watercress, celery, apples, blueberries, cranberries, raspberries, untreated cereals. All this we have. Of course, it is not easy to give up food preferences, but for the sake of a healthy lifestyle it is necessary to reconsider your diet, your habits.
Tips for every day
We daily face a choice: what products to choose, how to cook them. Here are the recommendations of nutritionists, which should be heeded.
1. Give preference to domestic products. In Russia, more stringent standards for the content of fat in foods, fast-digestible carbohydrates, preservatives, dyes, flavor enhancers, etc. Trust, though, and do not forget to check.
2. To fry? Stew? Cooking? Steaming? Each landlady has her own answers to these questions, dictated by both taste sensations, traditions and habits. And yet, even if you are a pischalik, as they say, with experience, gradually refuse to fry. Scientists have found that fried foods can contain acrylamide - a substance that can damage the genetic machinery of the body. Well, and if you can not refuse fried foods at all - shorten the frying time, avoid burning and over-frying.
3. Every meal should be started with a vegetable salad from raw vegetables. There are hundreds of recipes on this subject. But one thing worth mentioning. In France, Belgium, Holland, in other European countries "beetroot-cylindrical" salads of beauty and health have firmly entered the culture of nutrition. Its basis is beetroot varieties Cilindra, carrots, sour apple, flaxseed or olive oil. In spring and summer time, wild plants are added - snyt, mokritsa, raspberry, currant, apple, cherry ... In autumn and winter - sprouted grain, nuts, raisins, dried apricots, prunes, apple or grape vinegar, lemon juice, honey - what is at hand. Calories in such a salad are few, but there are a lot of useful substances.
4. If you need a second breakfast, snack, then snack is best with vegetables and fruits. Take them with you to work - the places will not take much, and the benefits will bring a lot.
5. Slowly chew - you live longer. Everybody knows about this, nevertheless the food on the run, on the run is a habit of many of us. And with it you just need to fight!
It is advisable to adhere to these recommendations in order to maintain health, mental and physical activity for many years.