What we eat has effects, for better or for worse

According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), every year 2.8 million people die worldwide due to problems associated with overweight or obesity, such as type 2 diabetes, arterial hypertension, sleep apnea, liver failure, musculoskeletal disorders, depression, and anxiety, which implies a major health problem and high health care costs, said Cecilia Guadalupe Silva Gutiérrez, an academic at the School of Psychology (FP).

The latest National Health and Nutrition Survey "showed that the prevalence of overweight and obesity in Mexican adults aged 20 and over is 72.5 percent (75.6 women and 69.4 percent men). The WHO reports that 50 years ago the number of underweight individuals was greater than those with obesity; from 1975 to date, the number of people with this condition "has tripled in the world and, therefore, it is considered a non-infectious pandemic" because today we consume a large amount of ultra-processed foods loaded with salt, sugars, and fats, in addition to a sedentary lifestyle.

She commented that the ideal weight does not exist, it depends on the constitution, height, activity, physical condition, age, and sex, we cannot generalize one, but neither should we try to fit into any model or figure; the important thing is that I feel happy with the body I have, to have a healthy weight. "It may indeed be in our hands to better cope with our emotions, feel better about ourselves and change habits."

During the conversation "Better not, because I get fat", which was part of the distance activities of the "Festival of Sciences and Humanities 2021", the academic of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Sciences and Humanities (CEIICH), Margarita Maass Moreno, assured: What we eat has positive or negative effects on our organism; it has to do with the quality of the food and with the quantity. There are more and more obese people and it is related to what we eat; in addition, it is essential to understand that chronic degenerative diseases, such as arterial hypertension, are silent, emphasized the specialist.

"It is important to generate a culture of health and wellness in homes, health has measurable parameters and elements, and wellness is a sensation," said the expert. Talking about health is more than the absence of ailments, it has to do with the bad information that exists on the internet and social networks, so the population must be careful with supplements and weight-loss drugs that are advertised by these media, even about food, warned Maass Moreno.

In turn, Andrea del Carmen Hernández López, a graduate in Nutrition and Integral Wellness from the Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico City campus, said that to maintain a healthy weight it is not necessary to go on restrictive diets, since this decreases our metabolism and, therefore, we spend fewer calories. The expert commented that each meal should include the three main groups of macronutrients: proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, our main source of energy, even when they are demonized.

She specified that there are no good or bad foods, but only portions and eating habits; the only things we cannot consume are those that cause allergy or because of some comorbidity we have to restrict them, but none of them should be prohibited. The keto diet is a food plan for the therapeutic management of children with epilepsy because it is low in carbohydrates, moderate in proteins, and high in fats; through this food plan the body metabolizes them and they are converted into ketone bodies and in this way energy is produced. However, it has disadvantages because it subjects the body to a metabolic challenge, it generates a change in macronutrients and affects the content of vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes that a balanced diet provides; in addition, gastrointestinal discomfort and irritability occur.