Who are we? What do we eat?

"We are what we eat," - said Hippocrates more than 2 thousand years ago. But this statement is still relevant today.

The standards of eating behavior of people in different countries have been formed over many centuries. However, they have changed fundamentally in just a few decades. And this has negatively affected the health of modern people.

Experts at the Harvard School of Public Health have developed a food pyramid - a schematic representation of the principles of healthy eating. At the base of the pyramid are products that should be consumed as often as possible, those at the top - as rarely as possible or avoided altogether.

At the base of the pyramid are vegetables, fruits, whole grains, vegetable oils. On the second step of the pyramid are proteins of plant and animal origin (legumes, nuts, fish and seafood, poultry, eggs). The third step is milk and dairy products. At the top of the pyramid are red meats (pork, beef), butter, sources of "fast carbohydrates". Outside the pyramid are alcohol, fast food, carbonated drinks, chips, mayonnaise, chocolate bars and other "food junk".

Many people have turned this pyramid upside down. And the basis of their diet is not the most useful products, but very often - "food junk", which scientists have thrown out of the healthy eating pyramid.

Even if the products are of more or less normal quality, this does not mean that they completely cover the body's needs for proteins, fats, carbohydrates, macro- and microelements, vitamins necessary for its normal functioning.

Modern products from the supermarket cover energy costs with a large reserve (and very often greatly exceed them), but do not satisfy the physiological needs of the body. This leads to the fact that the need for macro- and microelements and vitamins has to be replenished with the help of vitamin-mineral complexes, dietary supplements, fortified products. Currently, there is a huge selection of such products, but it should be remembered that they can only replenish the deficiency of macro- and microelements, but not eliminate the pathological conditions that have already arisen, i.e. in this case, medications will be needed.

To eliminate problems with digestion caused by irregular and unbalanced nutrition, overeating, eating fast food, enzyme preparations, hepatoprotectors, antacids, sorbents, etc. are most often used. But still, it should be remembered that no drugs and dietary supplements will help if nutrition is not normalized.

And it is very important to remember the words of Socrates: "We do not live to eat, but eat to live."