By: Eugene Lotter (Health24)
2015-01-23 21:31
For better or for worse, we all have our own opinions as to what constitutes a
healthy diet, but it’s obvious that we’re not all the same and a “one size fits all” approach is not the answer.
There
are, however, general principles that constitute healthy eating that
are internationally accepted by doctors and dieticians – as laid out by
the
revised general food-based dietary guidelines for South Africans, 2012:
- Enjoy a variety of foods.
- Be active!
- Make starchy foods part of most meals.
- Eat plenty of vegetables and fruit every day.
- Eat dry beans, split peas, lentils and soya regularly.
- Have milk, maas/amazi or yoghurt every day.
- Fish, chicken, lean meat or eggs can be eaten daily.
- Drink lots of clean, safe water.
- Use fats sparingly. Choose vegetable oils, rather than hard fats.
- Use sugar and foods and drinks high in sugar sparingly.
Choosing
mostly fresh, whole, minimally processed foods, and limiting highly
processed foods and drinks that are energy-dense and loaded with added
sugar, salt and unhealthy fats, is a logical conclusion based on these
guidelines.
The ‘French paradox’The
“French paradox” is a term that encapsulates the phenomenon that the
French have a relatively low rate of coronary heart disease (CHD),
despite the fact that they have one of the fattiest diets in the world.
(They have a 42% lower incidence of heart disease than the average
American.)
If the long-held notion that
saturated fats cause heart disease is true, the French should have more CHD than countries where the consumption of hard fats is lower.
In
order to explain this paradox, one has to consider that either
saturated fat is not the culprit in coronary heart disease, that the
studies on which the observation are based are flawed (unlikely!), or
that something in the diet or lifestyle of the French offsets the effect
of hard fats.
There are those who oppose the theory that blood
cholesterol and a high-fat diet are the causes of heart disease, like
our very own
Prof Tim Noakes,
who calls this theory “one of the greatest errors in the history of
medicine”. Most experts, however, don’t agree with Prof Noakes, and
the battle continues unabated.
Red, red wineThe
most common theory is that the high consumption of red wine in France
is responsible for the French paradox – and has led to increased sales
of red wine all over the world.
Experts believe that
resveratrol,
one of the components of red wine, is responsible for its positive
effects on heart health. Another candidate may be procyanidins, a kind
polyphenol, found in red wine, olives, tea and cereals.
Others
believe that the lower incidence of CHD among the French can be
attributed to a healthier lifestyle compared to e.g. the British and
Americans.
The Fat Fallacy: The French Diet Secrets to Permanent Weight Loss, by American, Will Clower, proposes that the French paradox may be influenced by a number of other factors:
- French people get most of their dietary fat from minimally processed dairy and vegetable sources.
- They eat fish at least three times a week.
- They eat smaller portions, and eat more slowly, dividing their food into courses.
- They eat less sugar and prefer full-fat food without added sugar.
- The French tend not to snack between meals.
- They avoid sodas, deep-fried foods, snack foods, and ready-made foods, as typically found in American grocery stores.
Enter blue cheeseResearchers
at Lycotech, a biotech company in Cambridge, England, have found that
smelly “blue” cheeses like Roquefort, Stilton and Gorgonzola can protect
against heart disease because of their anti-inflammatory properties
(Published in the journal
Medical Hypotheses).
This
could help explain why people like the French who eat a diet high in
saturated fats have low rates of cardiovascular disease.
This
is interesting, because attributing the French paradox purely to the
consumption of red wine imay be a long shot, and it is probable that
there might be some other dietary factors that contribute to lower rates
of CHD.
According to the scientists, the anti-inflammatory
factors found in these cheeses work best in the body's acidic
environments like the stomach lining and contribute to a healthy gut,
which also helps to slow
arthritis
and physical signs of ageing like cellulite. They add that "...there
is a growing consensus that sub-clinical inflammation is behind many
ageing processes, from the loss of skeletal muscles and cellulite to
metabolic, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases."
Only a hypothesisBefore
rushing out to buy red wine and every ounce of blue cheese you can lay
your hands on, bear in mind that the research on the effects of these
foods on e.g. heart health is relatively new and that there are as yet
no conclusive evidence either way.
In the words of the Lycotech
researchers: "We hypothesize that cheese consumption, especially of
molded varieties, may contribute to the occurrence of the 'French
paradox.”
