Nutrition & Food
Health, Nutrition, Diet and Lifestyle
At no time in history did we ever have so many choices in food. At no time so many people were affected by diet and lifestyle diseases.
When you look into the Australian Bureau of Statistics publications regarding the leading causes of death in Australia you cannot help but notice that the main causes are influenced by diet and lifestyle.
Diet and nutrition have become main causes of disease and can be applied as tools to restore and improve health. Since we all are different, our requirements for nutrients vary considerably. A personalised nutritional analysis and plan can significantly contribute to a better quality of life for all members of your family.
Marion Volk (Clinical Director, Cambridge Health Centre) talks about obesity;
We do not offer another diet or pre-cooked meal plan.
Our concept approaches weight loss from several angles:
- Diets need to be individualised. One-food plan-fits-all simply does not work. Diets need to be culturally relevant (organic pork is as offensive as non-organic pork to many cultures) and include all dietary preferences like vegetarian, vegan, macrobiotic, gluten free to name just a few.
- Diets need to suit personal eating styles. If your main meal is at 11am you may not find ideas for light early breakfasts very helpful.
- Fad diets work if you aim at short term loss like fitting in a dress one size smaller in 3 weeks. These diets are not sustainable and weight creeps back on even faster. Fad diets also tend to loose water first.
- Nutritional imbalanced diets cause long term health problems and again are no long term option.
- Diets need to cover all nutritional needs. Some people require no supplements, some need one or two, some may need several to feel optimally energised.
- Weight loos needs to be fat loss not muscle loss. One aspect of (reversible) ageing is sarcopenia, a decrease of size of muscle, replacement of muscle by fat, oxidative stress and degeneration of neuromuscular junction. Together these changes lead to increasing loss of muscle function and frailty. Muscle tissue does not only provide strength but increases metabolic mass.
- Diets need to become lifestyle to work.
Consider the Following Facts:
- The 1999-2000 Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study indicated over seven million adult Australians aged 25 years and over (60%) were overweight. Of these, over two million (21%) were obese.
- Men were more likely than women to be overweight, with 67% of men compared with 52% of women (aged 25 years and over) being overweight.
- If weight gain continues at current levels, by 2020, 80% of all Australian adults and a third of all children will be overweight or obese.
- Obesity has overtaken smoking as the leading cause of premature death and illness in Australia.
From the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (https://www.aihw.gov.au)
