Inspiring Women SUMMER 2020

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“An apple a day keeps the doctor away…”
While a 2015 study by researchers from
Dartmouth and the University of Michigan found
no evidence that this old Welsh proverb was
true – adult consumers of one small apple per
day had the same number of physician visits as
those who did not eat apples – better nutrition
can be the key to better health, particularly in
the area of non-communicable diseases. Food
can often play a role in both disease prevention
and disease treatment.
Lisa O’Hearn
What is the role of food in our lives? From a
purely health and well-being standpoint, food is
used to maintain our health, prevent disease, allow our body to function and provide our cells
with information. We all know that a healthy diet is recommended – but most of us don’t always
follow that recommendation. Why not? Researchers at the University of Minnesota suggest two
possible reasons – 1) we focus on what to avoid, not what to eat; and 2) we know what to do,
but choose not to act.
Eating the wrong diet has made us sick – sicker than many even realize. Poor diet causes more
than half a million deaths per year in the US; it is the leading cause of mortality. However, it’s not
just the US that has a problem. Cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, cancers, and diabetes
are responsible for 71% of global deaths (41 million) each year (World Health Organization, World
Health Statistics 2018.) Malnutrition is considered a major risk factor in the development of noncommunicable
diseases (NCDs) such as these. While malnutrition can be defined by a lack of
sufficient energy or nutrients, it can also be characterized by excessive and imbalanced intake
of nutrients. Nearly one in three people worldwide are currently considered malnourished. This
number is expected to rise to two out of three by 2025 if current trends continue. Children
affected by either form are at a greater risk of developing NCDs as adults.
What happened to our diets and health? Over the last 50 years or so, the food and farming
industry focus has been on efficiency – to increase the amount of available, inexpensive, and
high calorie foods to feed the hungry. Unfortunately, this has often decreased the diversity of
foods available – as well as displacing the typically healthier local diet. Foods high in salt, sugars,
saturated fats and trans
fats have become more
widely available, while
availability of fresh
produce, legumes, nuts
and pulses has not always
improved as much.
According to researchers
at the Gerald J. and
Dorothy R. Friedman
School of Nutrition
Science and Policy at
Tufts University, nearly half
of all deaths in the US
each year from heart
disease, stroke and type 2
d i a b e t e s c a n b e
attributed to 10 foods –
whether by eating too
little or too much of them .