Check It Out: You are what you eat
By Joan Janzen
A woman attended her great granddaughter’s birthday party and said to her, “You’re five now. You’re pretty old.” The little girl responded, “Nanna you’re so old you’re running out of numbers!”. And when it came time to sing to the little girl she protested, “I don’t like that silly song!”
Even if we don’t like hearing that “silly song” or maybe we’re running out of numbers, birthdays and good health are usually valued and appreciated. Although there’s no shortage of topics to be discussed in our world, our physical and mental health are a primary concern. Because chronic illness often forces people to focus on little else beyond their health.
Dr. Suneel Dhand specializes in lifestyle medicine and metabolic health and practices acute care in a US hospital. In his podcast he advises his listeners to ask their physicians the right questions and seek alternative treatments and pathways to care if needed. “Always prioritize your metabolic health through lifestyle choices, so we have the best possible chance of not needing the healthcare system in the first place,” he advised.
Dr. Mark Hyman, a US family physician reported in an interview 75% of North American adults and 45 percent of kids are overweight and 6 out of 10 people have a chronic disease. This is largely due to our explosion of ultra processed food.
The doctor said most people don’t understand why we’re seeing an increase in anxiety, depression and suicide. He did a literature review on how our food is affecting our brain. When our brains are inflamed it causes brain disorders such as autism, anxiety, and depression.
Yet the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has almost nothing slotted in their budget for nutrition research, which is the biggest driver of chronic illness, he said. NIH receives millions of dollars to study cancer, but they’re not studying the root causes.
“We’re focussed on the downstream things we can treat with medications rather than the causes,” he said. Ultra processed food is one of the causes driving all the other diseases.
He explained that the food industry designs processed food to be addictive, just like alcohol or drugs. According to studies 14% of adults and 12% of North American children meet the criteria for having an addiction.
In one study they gave a group of people as much ultra processed food as they wanted to eat, and they gave another group of people as much whole food as they wanted to eat. In this cross over trial they discovered the one group ate 500 calories more a day of processed food because their bodies didn’t register that they’re being satisfied eating that food.
A recent program on the Canadian show Marketplace, discussed artificial synthetic dyes added to food to make it look more appealing. Those dyes are especially unhealthy for children and can cause hyperactivity, sleeplessness, inattention, and irritability. In the United Kingdom foods that contain those dyes are required to have a warning label about the effects of these ingredients on children. However Health Canada says they can’t prove that the dyes cause behavioural problems in kids.
As for Dr. Dhand he says for his own personal health he does everything possible to stay away from the healthcare system. He lists the top ten foods he consumes on a regular basis. These are anti-oxidant foods that help neutralize the effects of radicals that cause inflammation and diseases.
According to Dr. Dhand, 100 grams of blueberries contain more antioxidants than five servings of fruits or vegetables. Turmeric and ginger are also potent anti oxidants that he adds to his foods regularly.
His list included green, leafy vegetables such as kale, spinach and broccoli, and also tomatoes. Not many people know that red and yellow peppers contain three times as much Vitamin C as an orange. Those were also on his list of preferred foods, as well as eggs which he described as a “super food” and valuable source of protein.
His preferred beverage is green tea, and his healthy treat is dark chocolate. However he advised to read the ingredients and be sure it contains about 70 percent of cocoa. But he also said supplements are always beneficial, especially anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant supplements.
Another interesting bit of information Dr. Dhand supplied was that breakfast is not the most important meal of the day. “No other animal in nature gets up in the morning and immediately eats,” he said. “There’s a lot of evidence out there claiming the longer you fast in the morning the better it is for your metabolism. And definitely don’t eat sugary cereals first thing in the morning,” he advised.
There’s an old saying that claims “you are what you eat”. Opting for healthy food choices rather than processed foods comes with a lot of health benefits, and unlike medications it doesn’t have any negative side effects.