Mexico City, Oct 14 (EFE) .- A healthy and balanced diet is essential to have a good quality of life, reduce the risk of disease and combat obesity, warned Beatriz Ríos, nutritionist and manager of communication and public affairs at Novo Nordisk Mexico.
On the occasion of the commemoration of World Food Day, on October 16, Beatriz Ríos told EFE that food is a fundamental human right “and we all have the right to have a healthy diet.”
In 1945, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) proclaimed October 16 as World Food Day.
The objective of this commemoration is to make the world food problem visible and strengthen solidarity in the fight against hunger, malnutrition and poverty.
HEALTHY NUTRITION
The expert recalled that a healthy diet is one that will provide each person with all the necessary nutrients to meet their needs.
“All of us require five essential nutrients: those we call macronutrients, where we will find proteins, fats and carbohydrates, and those we call micronutrients, where we have vitamins and minerals,” he pointed out.
He explained that these five nutrients are “indispensable” so that the body can perform all the functions that “keep us alive and healthy.”
Likewise, he stressed that healthy eating also refers to that which will cover the different stages of life, since the needs change according to age, sex, physical activity of each person and their lifestyle, among others. factors.
“It is also said that a diet should help us maintain health. Seen in another way to prevent the appearance of different diseases, ”she pointed out.
TOOL AGAINST OBESITY
Mexico is the first country in the world in childhood obesity and the second in adult obesity behind the United States, while two-thirds of the Mexican population is overweight, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The main causes of obesity in Mexico are the excess consumption of processed and spicy foods, as well as a high consumption of sugars.
Currently, the country is experiencing a pandemic of metabolic diseases, not only obesity, but also hypertension and high cholesterol and triglycerides.
Ríos explained that “there is no better way to prevent metabolic diseases than having a healthy diet.”
He also pointed out that metabolic diseases have to be approached in a multidisciplinary manner, including an endocrinologist, nutritionist, and psychologist, as the pillar of this team.
This is because in addition to the drugs prescribed according to the profile, physical activity, emotional accompaniment and changes in lifestyle are also required “where, without a doubt, food plays a very important role in the treatment.”
He affirmed that although there is the idea that eating healthy is complex, it should be taken into account that a healthy diet must be one that is balanced and that it provides the nutrients that the body needs.
“Hence the importance of approaching a professional who can provide education, because if the person cannot access food, even with the best prepared diet, it will be completely useless,” he asserted.
Finally, he said that eating healthy does require effort, but above all organization and planning.
“It requires planning, it requires structures, it invariably takes time, but I would tell you that the results and rewards are worth it in the long run,” he concluded. EFE
csr/ppc/cfa
(photo)
� EFE 2022. The redistribution and redistribution of all or part of the contents of EFE services is expressly prohibited, without the prior and express consent of Agencia EFE SA