A balancing act
NUTRITION vs TASTE. A perennial challenge. And chances are, Taste and those who root for it will end up the heavyweight champs. Pun intended. In a food haven like Malaysia where a vast variety of food is available any time, any day, anywhere, it is an extreme tussle with temptation when choosing what goes into our bodies.
Our eating habits have evolved with growing affluence and unfortunately, have become more unhealthy. We are not only eating more. We are also eating more of the wrong kinds of food.
Carbohydrates, protein, fat are the three main macronutrients which contribute to the calories or energy we need. It is recommended that we should only consume 55-70% of carbohydrates, 20-30% protein and 10%-15% of fat.
But for many Malaysians, the consumption of protein and fats has increased while consumption of carbohydrates has decreased, says Family Health Development director at the Health Ministry Datuk Dr Narimah Awin.
"We suspect Malaysians are eating way too much fats but exactly how much, we do not know yet," she says, adding that this will be revealed when an ongoing National Diet Survey is ready year-end.
While we eat too much, we have also become less active compared with past generations which has brought on an imbalance between what we eat and how much we eat with how physically active we are. Eating habits and physical activity decide how healthy we are. But only 11.6% of Malaysians do adequate exercise.
http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=8909
As what mention above, fat is bad !! Not everyone has a clear image about fats and most people that wish to change their sedentary life style to a healthier tend to remove fats, sugar and even carbs. Firstly let us have a look at the food pyramid. Most country has different type of food pyramid. On the left side is Malaysia food pyramid and as for the other side is Japan food pyramid.
The Japanese diet has been known for centuries as one of the healthiest due to it's high levels of nutrients and antioxidants.
"The Japanese diet is the iPod of food," says Naomi Moriyama, co-author of Japanese Women Don't Get Old or Fat: Secrets of My Mother's Tokyo Kitchen, "it concentrates the magnificent energy of food into a compact and pleasurable size."
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/diets-of-world-japanese-diet
In Malaysia food pyramid, poultry and fish are in the same category same as for fats and sugar. Fish and poultry has different benefits and obviously fish is more beneficial. If fat and sugar is in the same category it means that fat is categorize as unhealthy.
Now, not all fat is bad. Fats are an essential part of healthy eating so it’s good for you to eat a certain amount of the healthier fats. Fat is important for our body processes. We should consume some fat inour diet. Fat protects the organs, keeps and helps our body absorb and move nutrients around. It also helps hormone production. Some fats are better than others and having too much of any type is not a good idea.
Dietary fats are classified by their structure. Different types of fats react differently inside the body. Saturated fats (found mostly in animal products) increase blood cholesterol, which is a risk factor in coronary heart disease. Mono-unsaturated and polyunsaturated fats tend to lower blood cholesterol.
Healthier fats
Healthier fats include monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats - omega-3 and omega-6. These fats reduce the 'bad' LDL cholesterol in the blood and increase the 'good' HDL cholesterol. This helps to lower the risk of getting heart disease.
Unhealthy fats
Unhealthy fats include saturated fats and trans fats. Too much saturated and trans fat contributes to the build up of fatty material, called plaque, on the inside of your blood vessels and is a major cause of heart disease. These fats can increase LDL cholesterol in our blood that leads to the plaque. Lowering saturated fat in the diet will help to lower LDL cholesterol.
We can still consume fat and be aware with the type of fats. Always control the portion size of a meal because to much of everything is not good.
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