Mediterranean diet is heart-healthy; when to choose this?

Many persons ask me about the Mediterranean diet when they have high blood pressure or cholesterol. I used to tell them that Mediterranean diet is more than a diet and it is a lifelong living style. If we understand this it is easy to plan to have a good health. The modern Mediterranean diet recommendation is from the traditional dietary habits of poor coastal regions of Crete, Greece, southern Italy and Spain around the Mediterranean Basin. The basis for this lifestyle was high physical activity, typical Mediterranean foods, stress-free life and low income. Things are changed now in these areas and people eat differently too. But many are still keeping or returning to this healthy diet.

The benefits of Mediterranean diet include:

• Low risk of heart disease
• Reduced cancer risk
• Low risk of Parkinson’s disease
• Low risk of Alzheimer’s disease
• Better health in all respects

This means we need not wait till we get our health problems. Everybody, including healthy persons, must follow this to have a healthy life even in their old age.

The important recommendations of the Mediterranean diet include:

• Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, beans, nuts, seeds, herbs, spices and olive oil are the foods for daily use
• Fish and seafood can be eaten daily, but they must be eaten at least twice in a week
• Cheese, yogurt, eggs and poultry can be eaten daily or few times a week
• Meats are eaten occasionally
• Sweets are eaten occasionally

Mediterranean diet gives you all the nutrients what your body needs. It is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids and omega-3 fatty acids, good proteins, carbohydrates, fibers, vitamins, minerals and other important phytochemicals.

Red wine in small quantities is also allowed. Alcohol in small quantities is healthy, but more alcohol is dangerous and can lead to serious health problems and addiction. A glass of red wine is allowed during meals. It is not a must and so if you do not drink alcohol you need not start to drink. If you are a dry alcoholic never touch red wine.

Exercises are very important daily. Select your exercises according to your wish and time. This is a good way to be healthy and health is our big wealth.

Can you tell me the importance of vitamin B12?

Vitamin B12 has the largest and most complex chemical structure of all the vitamins and it contains cobalt ion. That is why it is called cobalamin.

Human body needs methyl cobalamin and 5-deoxyadenosyl cobalamin. Most of the supplements contain cyanocobalamin which is readily converted to methylcobalamin and 5-deoxyadenosyl cobalamin in the body.

The functions of vitamin B12 include:

• Needed for building proteins
• For the production of red blood cells
• Normal function of nervous system
• Important to our metabolism, e.g. DNA synthesis, regulation of fatty acid synthesis
• Important for the transfer of hydrogen atom between two adjacent atoms, transfer of methyl group between two molecules and removal of halogen atom from an organic molecules in the body

The deficiency symptoms include:

• Decreased red blood cell production leads to pernicious anaemia
• Affects the gastrointestinal tract resulting nausea, vomiting, bloating, gas, heartburn, diarrhoea or constipation, loss of appetite and weight loss
• Can damage the nervous system with all the negative symptoms like numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, unsteadiness, difficulty walking, confusion, depression, memory loss, and dementia
• Pale skin, cold hands and feet, weakness, sore mouth and tongue
• Confusion or dementia

The overdose side effects include:

• Can increase the danger of narrowing blood vessels in patients receiving coronary stents
• Skin problems
• Peripheral vascular thrombosis
• Can worsen liver diseases
• Can cause loss of fibres in optic nerve
• High numbers and abnormal red blood cells
• Allergy or sensitivity to cobalt or cobalamin

The recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for an adult is 2.4 microg per day. The RDA for pregnant women is 2.6 microg per day and lactating women is 2.8 microg per day. Excess vitamin B12 should not be taken during pregnancy and lactation.

Organ meat, milk and dairy products, egg, fish, clams and oysters are rich in vitamin B12.

Vegetarians can get vitamin B12 from Brewer’s yeast or nutritional yeast or from vitamin B12 fortified soy milk and cereals.

The vitamin B complex tablets have different amounts of vitamin B12. Consult your doctor always before you decide for a supplement.

What are the right foods for a pregnant?

There is no need to eat for two during the pregnancy. It is recommended that for the first trimester the food intake should remain about the same as it was prior to the pregnancy. During the second and third trimesters the food intake should be increased upto 30%. It is easy to achieve this with more fruits intake.

It is important to eat variety of foods to ensure the nutritional needs of both mother and the baby. The recommendations include:

• Fruits and vegetables very generously
• Whole grain products and cereals, but not milled grain products
• Milk and dairy products should not be eaten in excess
• Lean meat, chicken and fish in moderate amounts
• Avoid excess intake of fats, sugar and salt
• Beans, pulses, nuts and seeds
• Drink enough water

Do not diet if you are a pregnant. This bad for you as well as to your baby. Green leafy vegetables are very important for the intake of folic acid. Folic acid supplement is recommended for the health of your baby. It is better to consult your doctor before you take a supplement.

With proper food it is possible to manage the iron content of your body also. Iron supplement could be taken only if your doctor recommends it.

Avoid excess of vitamin A intake and vitamin A supplements are not required. The excessive intake of vitamin A may cause birth deformities.

Fish and omega-3 fatty acids – what is the origin of these fatty acids?

It is a good question. The human beings could not synthesize the omega-3 fatty acids. That is why we have to take them from our food.

Salmon, herring, mackerel, sardines and anchovies are rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Other fatty fish have lesser amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. The important question is whether the fish could synthesize omega-3 fatty acids or not.

The fish could not synthesize the omega-3 fatty acids like human beings. What is the origin of omega-3 fatty acid then? The orign is the food habits of fish. Their diets contain much plankton and algae and the fish gets the omega-3 fatty acids from them.

Fish is very healthy, but some precautions must be taken by us. Too much of fatty fish are not good for our health. It is because they could contain lot of poisonous heavy metals like cadmium, arsenic, mercury etc. and the fat soluble chlorinated chemicals like many pesticides, PCBs and dioxins.

But the benefits of fish intake generally outweigh the potential risks. But persons with problems with environmental poisons must be careful with fish consumption. As you know always the dose makes the poison. Twice in a week, 150 to 200 g fish is good for all.

Mackerel

Fish are very healthy for us. They are good source of omega-3 fatty acids. Two to three times a week, 150 to 175 g, are good.
The average nutrients in 100 g edible mackerel-meat include:

• Water - 68.0 g
• Protein - 18.7 g
• Fat 11.9 g
• Minerals - 1.3 g – sodium 85 mg, potassium 395 mg, magnesium 30 mg calcium 12 mg, iron 1200 micro g, copper 115 micro g, zinc 520 micro g, selenium 40 micro g, iodide 50 micro g.
• Vitamins - vitamins A, B1, B2, B6, B12, nicotine amide, pantothenic acid, biotin, folic acid, vitamins D, E, K
• Cholesterol 75 mg
• Purine 145 mg

Prepare as you like. The fish protein is damaged very quickly in room as well as in warm temperatures. So it must be fresh or frozen before you cook.

Fish is a good food for all.

Food & Fertility: Food rich in vitamin B6, Folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium and zinc

Food rich in Vitamin B6

• Vegetables
• Whole grain products
• Nuts
• Legumes
• Fish
• Poultry
• Meat
• Milk

Plant food loses less Vitamin B6 than meat and milk during cooking. Milling reduces vitamin B6 and so white flour (Maida) has very little vitamin B6. All the processing techniques including freezing, cooking, canning etc. can make vitamin B6 loss.

Food rich in Folic acid

• Meat and inner organs like liver, kidney etc.
• Nuts
• Beans and legumes
• Leafy vegetables
• It is present in all vegetables in small quantities and it is very difficult to take the necessary amount from the food or from raw food. The loss in cooking is always very high. Here we have to think about the supplement.

Food rich in Vitamin C

• Citrus fruits like oranges, grape fruit and lemon
• Vegetables with dark green leaves
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Strawberries
• Kiwi
• Spinach
• Cabbage
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Capsicum
• Liver
• Oyster

Vitamin C is unstable. Losses occur from exposure to air, light, heat and copper.
Also dissolves in cooking water and is mostly wasted.

Food rich in vitamin E

• Edible vegetable oils such as sesame oil, coconut oil, groundnut oil
• Unprocessed cereals
• Unprocessed nuts
• Seeds
• Green leafy vegetables
• Fish
• Poultry
• Fruits and vegetables contain small amount of vitamin E

Vitamin E is relatively stable except at deep frying temperatures.

Food rich in Selenium
• Meats
• Seafood
• Poultry
• Eggs
• Nuts and seeds, particularly nuts from tropical countries including coconut
• Whole grains are rich in selenium

The problem is in most countries the soil is poor in selenium and the local food contains almost no selenium. That is why in most of the developed countries it is added in bread or in other food stuff. Or they must eat nuts imported from tropical countries. If nothing helps supplementation is the last step.

Food rich in Zinc

• Onion
• Garlic
• Nuts including coconut
• Milk, yoghurt and cheese
• Meat
• Liver
• Fish
• Eggs
• Seafood

Fruits and vegetables contain only little zinc. The vegetarians must be careful in their food. Nuts, pulses and milk and dairy products may be the rich sources.

Seafood contains poisonous metals like mercury, cadmium, lead etc. and one must be careful to eat them.