Many people believe ”gourmet” and ”healthy” are contradictory terms.
Each year more people become afraid of more foods, it seems. Some authorities believe they should scare people away from certain foods-salt, for instance. But science doesn`t back that up. The more we study, the more we find that the keys to a healthy diet are what sensible people have followed all along: variety and moderation, plus exercise.
Quite simply, good health need not rule out gourmet eating. But like most good things in life, it takes awareness, some effort and possibly some adjustments, at least initially.
Here is my approach to eating and some of the basis for it. Whatever you do, it`s best to have a good idea of your health before making major changes, so consult your doctor before following anyone`s advice.
Start with nutrition
Contemporary nutrition is an amazingly precise science. We even can
”prove” it: A woman in Toronto has been living for years without a drop of water or morsel of food passing through her mouth, yet she leads a
”normal” life, working, raising her children and enjoying life with her husband. (She had cancer surgery that removed her small intestine and has been living since on intravenous feeding.)
This is the first time that a human being has been kept alive for so long without eating or drinking, more than 20 years in her case.
Individuals have varying requirements determined by factors such as heredity, but nutritional science knows exactly what is required to keep you healthy.
What everyone needs is mostly water, glucose (the main nutrient in carbohydrates), nine amino acids, at least two fatty acids, 13 vitamins and as many as 20 minerals. And how you get this is not so important as that you do. The bottom line is that there are no ”bad” foods. There are no ”best” diets: Mediterranean, vegetarian, oriental, whatever. But that does not mean you can eat as much of whatever you want and still be healthy.
Paul Saltman, professor of biology at the University of California at San Diego, puts it thus: ”Nutrition is knowledge, not rigid rules and prohibitions. Understanding nutrition makes it your servant rather than your master. It doesn`t mean that you will necessarily always eat wisely. But it does mean that you can balance your diet and compensate for its
inadequacies.”
So if you eat a load of french fries tonight, don`t panic. This can be balanced by eating less foods with saturated fats than you normally would in the next few days.
Saltman goes on: ”Balance is the goal, and variety the primary means. Variety makes it easy to keep the ratio of carbohydrates, proteins and fats in your diet within reasonable limits-getting about 50 percent of your calories from carbohydrates (no more than 10 percent from refined sugars), 15 to 20 percent from proteins and no more than 30 to 35 percent from fats (keeping saturated fats to 10 percent). And variety can go a long way toward ensuring that all your micronutrient needs are being met.”
The current myths
Here are thoughts on the most popular nutritional and diet points:
Salt: At most, only 15 percent of the population has any problem with consuming too much salt, yet it seems as though we are being brainwashed into believing that less or no salt is better for everyone. There also is a solid 15 percent of the population with low blood pressure who really can be harmed if they don`t get enough salt.
Saltman cautions: ”Cutting down on salt provides no universal benefits. It can help certain people to lower high blood pressure. But high salt consumption will not cause blood pressure to rise in the rest of us.”
Those who have most to worry about, besides the 15 percent or fewer mentioned above, are those who subsist on prepared and packaged foods. Generally, the salt content is three times that of normal cooking; commercial ”low-sodium” items run about twice that of normal cooking.
Red meat: No one can prove that red meat is bad for you. Eating too much of it certainly will upset the balance of carbohydrates, protein and fat that you need for a healthy diet. And it can raise the amounts of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, which for some people pose health risks. But so does ice cream. But in abstaining from red meats you risk significant deficiencies of iron, zinc and other minerals.
Take iron, for example. Approximately 60 percent of the population doesn`t get enough iron. Women need roughly twice the iron that men do. Probably the easiest way to get iron is to consume 3 ounces a week of red meat, which contains iron in a form that the body absorbs six times as readily as the iron in spinach. It takes about 8 1/2 pounds of broccoli or 3 pounds of spinach to get an equivalent amount. But it`s your choice: If you don`t want to eat red meat, to assure your getting enough iron, you probably will have to take supplements.
Artificial sweeteners: Research has shown in several animal studies that although the sweeteners do not contain calories, those who consume them ultimately eat more food and often gain more weight than those who consume sugar. Studies on humans are under way.
If you have to watch calories, drink the new seltzers with natural flavorings. (With coffee I found that I was able to break my own habit of a sweetener in about 10 days; then I discovered I liked the coffee much better by itself or with just a little milk.)
Non-dairy creamers: You may know that these are filled with saturated fats. Using non-fat powdered milk in place of non-dairy creamers is less expensive and works almost as well. It is also an excellent source of calcium. Dietary fats: You need fats to survive, but you probably are getting more than you need. A reasonable rule is to keep saturated fats (those solid at room temperature) to an average daily allotment of 2 tablespoons a day for women and 3 tablespoons for men; for liquid fats, or oils, double those allotments and remember, they are in addition to the solid fats.
There is no difference in calories between butter and margarine. The choice is that of taste, although butter does have more saturated fat than most margarines. For salad dressings, make and use the real thing, but spray them on your salad to control quantities.
Eggs: The poor egg gets it going and coming, first over cholesterol and now, salmonella. Still, an egg is one of the most efficient sources of every vitamin except C; and in addition to its ”bad” cholesterol, it is one of the best sources of ”good” cholesterol. Again, unless you are in the small percentage of people who have a real problem, eat cooked eggs in moderation. They`re still good for you.
In any event, you should not separate exercise and the food you eat. Exercise is a vital aspect of nutrition; without it you will probably never be able to sustain a healthy weight. It makes you feel better and helps you to function better.
