Balanced Diet By Present Day Concept
A diet is all that we consume in a day. And a balanced diet is a diet that containsan adequate quantity of the nutrients that we require in a day. A balanced diet includes six main nutrients, i.e. Fats, Protein, Carbohydrates, Fibre, Vitamins,and Minerals. All these nutrients are present in the foods that we eat.
By present day definition a balanced diet should include prebiotics and probiotics for the nourishment of the gut microbiota- your internal friends that looks after yourhealth in all respects and aspects.
Let us first find out what the cave man ate to be strong, tall robust and fit to hunt for his food.
Man is what he eats, goes a famous German saying. So, let us find out what ourstone age people’s delicacies were. Did they have a balanced diet?
These old cavemen lived in caves several thousand years ago in the jungles hunting for their own food daily. They did not have the means to cultivate and grow fruits and vegetables, but lived solely on hunted animal flesh, mostly barbecued or held on
fire to burn.
These prehistoric friends ate meat raw, lightly burnt animal bones and many a hearth excavated by archaeologists testify to a rudimentary knowledge of firemaking and roasting meats From what we can gather from the faunal remains left over from his hearty meals,
Balangoda man was a carnivore to the core.
He loved to gorge on meats of all kinds and was sure a very meaty fellow as a result. Meats gave him the protein he needed
to make his day.
Sri Lankan veddah’s were different. They are aborigines or indigenous people of Sri Lanka. Many veddahs also farmed using chena cultivation and they did kill animals to eat. They never harmed young and pregnant animals.
The staple food, rice, was cultivated in extensive paddy field, while vegetables,greens, grains and cereals were cultivated in rain-fed lands called ‘Chenas’
Veddas are famously known for their rich meat, venison and the flesh of rabbit, turtle, tortoise, monitor lizards, wild boar.
They did have a very balanced diet composed of rice, cereals, nuts, vegetables andanimal flesh.
Meat eating cave man during the Palaeolithic life, did not know that he needs tofeed his inside friends- the gut microbes.
So, you can now explain why the cave man’s Palaeolithic life expectancy was 25
On the other hand, the aboriginal veddahs in Sri Lanka lived longer because of the
variety of food such as rice, vegetable curries, mallung, ambul thiyal, kolakenda,
they consumed daily.
In contrast to the paleolithic cave man, veddah’s had a life span of about 60 or more. They naturally fed their gut microbes with fibre and probiotics.
The Western pattern diet (WPD) or standard American diet (SAD) is a modern dietary pattern that is generally characterized by high intakes of red meat, processed meat, pre-packaged foods, butter, fried foods, high-fat dairy products,
eggs, refined grains, potatoes, corn (and high-fructose corn syrup) and high-sugar ..
It is not a well-balanced diet as it lacks fibre and probiotics and prebiotics not included for the nourishment and wellbeing of the microbiota
A low-carb diet is low in carbohydrates, primarily found in sugary foods, pasta and bread. Instead, you eat real foods including protein, natural fats and vegetables.
Studies show that low-carb diets result in weight loss and improved health markers.
These diets have been in common use for decades and are recommended by many doctors.
This low carb and high fat diet originated from the lifestyles of eskimos.
The Inuit, the native people many call “eskimos” have not eaten carbs in over35,000 years. Somehow, they have managed to thrive. Ever seen a plant growing in the Arctic circle? No? So, no carbs. By the way the word Eskimo means “meat eater.” You don’t say?
Their gut microbial diversity is different from those who eat a high carb, low fat diet.
They do not live beyond 65 years because they have no microbial protection.
Modern diet relates to ‘Junk food’ that simply means an empty calorie food. …Junk food is an informal term applied to some foods which are perceived to have little or no nutritional value, but which also have ingredients considered unhealthy when eaten regularly, or to those considered unhealthy to consume at all.
Any diet regime should promote a healthier gut microbiota
“Low Carb with high fat diet regimes may not be the best to keep your gut microbiota happy and friendly”
Recent studies have revealed that over 100 trillion of beneficial bacteria, viruses and fungi are found mainly in our gut. In addition to looking after your health, mood, metabolism, mental health, autoimmune diseases endocrine disorders, gut-health, providing vitamins, immune system, cancer, and in many other ways, the gut bacteria or microbes as we call them, seem to keep bad bacteria in check.
We need to look after these beneficial microbes for our good health, and how should we do it?
Studies have revealed that gut microbes or microbiome has enormous functional responsibility to the host and the diet plays a fundamental role in the shaping of the composition of gut microbiota.ui4
A new study published in the “British Medical Journal” investigated these requirements of keeping healthy balanced diet as the traditional balanced meal containing high unprocessed carbs, low fat, and a moderate amount of proteins, and not the low carb diet referred to as a ketogenic diet, with high fat intake recommended for weight reduction.
Long term following of such diets may be detrimental for the survival of good microbiota in the gut and most likely result in self-created chronic inflammatory diseases in your body and discouraged according to present day studies.
Keto diets and Atkin types, promoting low carbs and high fat intake to combat overweight problems, may not be the best dietetic regimes, to keep microbial ecology inprime form for our health.
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