We are happy in this bright moment in which we have welcomed a new school
blog/journal, month and springtime season. We can just put the cherry on the top
when we will celebrate on Saturday 7th the World Health Day and it is
celebrated globally with the sponsorship of the World Health Organization (WHO)
and locally by the town hall in this city during the days 4, 5, 6 and 7 of
April the XII Health Fair Fuenlabrada 2018 mainly in the Plaza de la Constitución with a
lot of stands from the Concejalía de Salud, Natur Siglo XXI, Council of Sports
and Equality, the College of Dental Hygienists, Red Cross, ASAV, Fundación
URJC, Association of Patients ARMAREL, AFIBROSUR; AFIFUN, Nieman Pick, etc.
In order to
keep a healthy lifestyle regular physical workouts or relaxation exercises or
activities, good breathing, good sleep patterns and motivational, creative or spiritual goals in our life will make our
life more armonious, mindful and fulfilling such as the best seller Eat, Pray and Love
by Elizabeth Gilbert proclaims. Besides finding inspiration to fulfill our life
with our life-long dreams we can also take into account the way and what we eat
daily. We can adopt some advices or a diet from a wide array of them. We have avoid extreme dieting measures that could lead us to lose something else
apart from weight such as protein only diet, very low calorie diets (VCLD) or
dietary aids such as laxatives, water loss tablets or amino acid pills.
There are
also many myths or old wives tales in relationship with food that may be partly
true and false, thus there is a list of ten myths debunked (desmentidos), the
10 myths are the following:
1. Fried foods rise heart disease risk: After a study released by the
British Medical Journal studied more than forty thousand Spaniards over 11
years and their fried food intake daily and the researchers found out that
their death rates did not correlate with their regular consumption of oil or
sunflower.
2. Raw is better than cooked: Researchers at the Institute of
Nutritional Science in Germany found out that a raw food diet was linked to
lower risk of cancer and cardiovascular conditions but it is confirmed also
that cooked food increases the human neurons and brain activity and protects us
from diseases and infections in food. Meanwhile steaming or boiling vegetables
such as cabbage, spinachs, etc. increases antioxidants like carotenoids and
ferulic acids. So a good balance of raw/cooked food ratio will be better for
us.
3. Nutrient-deficiency cravings: craving some particular foods do
not indicate we need them because our body has a deficiency of them, instead it
is related with social and emotional reasons.
4. Organic food are better than regular food: Organic food is cultivated without
pesticides and food additives which is an asset to their nutrients. However, the
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine has examined organic and
conventional food for the last fifty years and has found out that there were no
significant differences.
5. Eggs make a fast increase in your
cholesterol: eggs
contain very little saturated fat (1.5 grams per egg) and no trans-fat which
both are considered bad cholesterol (Low Density Lipoprotein LDL) and more High
Density Low or HDL (the good) cholesterol apart from proteins, vitamins and
other beneficial nutrients, so we should not skip this savoury ingredient from
our daily recipes.
6. Drinking milk is essential for strong bones: even though dairy products contain
calcium it can be found also in dark-green vegetables and sunflower oil,
sardines, shellfish… besides and vitamin K and Magnesium found in almonds,
oatmeal, potatoes, etc. make our bones stronger too.
7. Low fat foods are better for your health: it is the trendy label of most food
found in the supermarkets but a moderate consumption of good-fats items such as
dried fruits, fish, olives, meat, eggs and so on are vital for the body tissue
regeneration specially for elderly people, children, teenagers, athletes, pregnant
women and overall adults. In addition to this most of low fat products replace
fat with sugar and sodium and are high in refined carbohydrates.
8. Alcohol cooks away when added to a dish: a study of the USA agriculture
department has proved that different percentages of alcohol remain in the dish
after being cooked, in higher or lower levels depending of the cooking method,
the lowest found in meals baked or simmered for a minimum of 1.5 hour retain
from 10 to 5 per cent alcohol at the end.
9. Light or low calorie sodas: there are a lot of fizzy drinks
that are very trendy now as low calorie and consumers feel easy now to drink
more of them because of their neutral or healthier option regarding the usual
soda and fizzy sugary drinks. But this can be harmful too as the consumers
overindulge themselves drinking more light drinks, apart from the chemicals
added instead of sugar to make them sweet too, eventually both reasons can make
more harm than benefits to the gullible (crédulo) consumer.
10. Wooden cutting boards are a nest for
bacteria: knives
use to cut the wood in tiny multiple cracks where dirt and bacteria from raw
food, fish, etc. can contaminate other food. Fortunately after a study at the
University of California proved that the natural properties of wood filter the
dirt inside where no longer multiplies and dies.
These are
just few advices and we are grateful you have read them till here and we encourage
you to add more tips in order to achieve a healthier life and pay a visit to the Health Fair in Fuenlabrada ;)
