We can find few such popular topics at the heart of medicine and, in fact, at the frontiers of medicine, as the topic of various weight loss programs and diets.
I write that it is borderline, because until the advent of modern medicine, various diets were often tried during healing, with less success than more. Thus, the treatment option related to food remained the privilege of medicine for a long time.
Nowadays, however, everyone deals with this. Private people talk about it in the same way as self-proclaimed flu shots, nutritionists flood the Internet, various currently popular diets dominate the public discourse, everyone has an opinion about it and some even think they understand it. A bit like soccer…
While our relationship with food in the XX. century completely changed. While humanity has essentially fought against starvation until recently, we have gotten to the point where far more people are currently dying from being overweight than from starvation. In 2014, 2.1 billion people were overweight, compared to 800 million undernourished (of course, this is also a shame, knowing the overconsumption of the more affluent part of the Earth...). And in 2010, obesity accounted for three times as many deaths as malnutrition. This is a grotesque grimace to our history...
Since I refer to it below, let's talk about BMI. BMI (body mass index) is an abbreviation for body mass index, an easily calculated ratio. The weight in kilograms must be divided by the square of the height in meters. So, for example, for a 78 kg, 178 cm tall person, 78:1.78:1.78 = 24.344. The value between 19-25 is appropriate, above 25 we are talking about overweight, above 30 we are talking about obesity
Based on the literature data, for which we took into account the 2020 data of the World Obesity Federation, the frequency of obesity is increasing worldwide. In 2020, the number of overweight adults (BMI between 25-30) on Earth was 1.39 billion, and the number of obese (BMI over 30) was 810 million. This is a total of 42% of the adult population. But to give even more frightening numbers, according to forecasts, half of the world's population will be overweight by 2032!
The annual increase in the frequency of overweight and obesity is known, which was not so interestingly highest in Southeast Asia between 2010 and 2016 (3.8% in Laos and Vietnam, while 3.5% in Thailand). These data also show that, unfortunately, the increase in living standards also rapidly increases the proportion of overweight people. In Europe, this number is 53%. In this comparison, Croatia leads with 63%, but we are on the podium, as we are tied with the Czech Republic with 60-60%.
In Hungary, 40% of men are overweight and 32% obese, while both overweight and obesity are present in 32% of women.
The lack of energy balance between consumed and used calories is responsible for the development of overweight or obesity. This is a dry formulation, but translated, when we eat more and take in more energy than we use, we gain weight. It's that simple…
So, during a healthy diet, let's get as much energy into our body as we need, no more, no less. This can also be helped by balancing the distribution of nutrients. We should cover 14-16% of energy needs from protein, 28% from fat, and 52-55% from carbohydrates.
How much food do we need per day depends on what? Several factors play a role in this. It is influenced by the individual's gender, age, current body weight, height, the nature of work, the amount and intensity of active movement (sports, of course...).
The right meal, tailored to individual needs, contains all the important nutrients needed to maintain an ideal body weight, including vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber.
Recommended:
• in addition to plant-based, high-fiber foods (vegetables, whole grains, legumes, oil seeds, fruits with lower sugar content), consumption of about half a kilogram of vegetables and fruits per day;
• prioritizing vegetable oils (eg olive oil, seed oils, avocado, rapeseed oil) at the expense of fatty meats, butter, cheeses, coconut oil, palm oil;
• choosing low-fat dairy products, meat and fish;
• avoiding or drastically reducing foods and drinks containing added sugar (e.g. sweets, soft drinks);
• avoiding artificial foods rich in additives (food colorings, preservatives, flavor enhancers);
• reducing high salt intake;
• restriction of alcohol consumption.
And how we can do this, with what practices, with how simply or sometimes not so easily applied lifestyle changes, will be discussed in the next section.
Featured image: Steve Buissinne/Pixabay
