How we eat

How we eat has become a great subject in the media. Is it true? Is it all hype? And how long have we been discussing our diets? How many people have said, "I am on a diet"? And what does that mean?

I read an article on Medscape by Threapleton, et al. about dietary fiber intake that correlates an increased fiber intake to a decreased risk of heart disease.(To see these articles, register for a free account.) It is a scholarly article with a review of 22 different studies. If you wade through the graphs and statistics, their conclusion says "A significantly lower risk of 9% was seen for both CVD [cardiovascular disease] and CHD [coronary heart disease]with every additional 7 g/day of total fibre consumed." What this means is that if you can increase the fiber in your diet, you will probably decrease your risk of heart disease. When you break it down to what we eat, 7 grams of fiber can be added by a portion of whole grains plus beans, or two to four servings of fruit and vegetables a day. The grocery store signs saying "5 a day" in the produce section are referring to just that.

There are other "special diets" in the media: the paleo diet, the Mediterranean diet, the vegan diet. This Medscape article by Scherer has a great summary of them. The current favorite of the media is the Mediterranean diet: a diet that uses olive oil, plant-based food, whole grains, fish, and scarcely any red meat. It also stresses daily physical activity, and is similar to the American Heart Association's recommended diet for decreasing the risk of heart disease.

Dr. Perlmutter's book, Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth About Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar - Your Brain's Silent Killers, is covered in this Medscape article. He is promoting a very low carbohydrate diet without gluten to decrease the risk of dementia. He has some scientific evidence, but many detractors who don't quite believe it, and it is the exact opposite of the Mediterranean diet.

The dietary advice is bombarding us. Even the bag of walnuts I opened this morning says "Scientific evidence suggests but does not prove that eating 1.5 ounces per day of most nuts, as part of a diet low in saturated fats and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease. So which diet should we follow? I  follow a diet that makes sense for me. First I look at my personal health risks, based on my family history and current health factors. Then I consider what I enjoy eating. To me, it is important not to deny ourselves based on some associations of food with disease. I eat steel cut oats with walnuts for breakfast because my cholesterol is borderline high, but also because I really enjoy the taste and texture. Every now and then, I even eat cake, red meat, or potato chips. It is hard to follow an extreme diet, and still have it be a balanced diet. Eating is one of the enjoyments in life. And every one of these diets also includes exercise, good for the brain and the heart!