Nutrition- this is the process of assimilation by the body of substances necessary to build and renew the tissues of its body, as well as to cover energy expenditure. The food composition should include organic substances, the vast majority of which are proteins, lipids and carbohydrates. If the amount of incoming food is not enough to cover energy costs, then they are compensated by internal reserves (mainly fat). If on the contrary, then the process of storing fat occurs (regardless of the composition of the food).

At the same time, issues of food culture are especially relevant today. How a person eats affects his mood, health, performance, and longevity. The nature of food to a certain extent affects general well-being, emotional background, and intellectual abilities. Nutrition issues are based on the immutable laws of nature, which cannot be abolished. Of course, the diet of each person must correspond to his type, individual characteristics, age, natural and climatic conditions in which he lives. But the basic laws of nutrition must be followed by everyone, without exception, who wants to maintain and improve their mental and physical health. But a person must understand these laws, know them and master them.

In modern society, from time to time there appears a fashion for certain food products and the way they are prepared. The most incredible diets and all kinds of diets are passed from hand to hand. Numerous media outlets, as well as various companies that produce certain products, are especially successful in this. Often, or rather often, this is the result of the creativity of people who know nothing about the problems of proper nutrition.

Another feature of modern society is that many of our contemporaries, even educated and cultured people, turn out to be surprisingly ignorant in matters of nutrition. They sometimes don’t know how much, what, when or even how to eat. They have random ideas about the chemical composition of products, their properties and know almost nothing about the impact of a particular product on the human body. Usually only some disease forces such people to pay attention to their diet. Unfortunately, sometimes it is too late: poor nutrition has already thoroughly destroyed the body, and you have to resort to treatment.

The problem of human nutrition has always been relevant. Today its relevance has increased tenfold. This is due to the fact that a lot of unknown, very dubious, and sometimes even harmful products have appeared on our market. Therefore, today the disdainful attitude of well-educated people towards their diet looks simply frivolous. There are scientific and practical principles of nutrition that must be adhered to.

Scientific and practical fundamentals of nutrition built on knowledge of the usefulness, nutritional and biological value of products, on the ability to satisfy the body's needs for the daily necessary food chemicals. The cells that make up the tissues and organs of the body, in which extremely complex biochemical processes take place, age, die, and new, young ones appear in their place. Nutrients are required for their construction and normal functioning. Depending on a person’s age, gender, nature of work, place of residence, and state of health, his body needs different amounts of these substances, which are chemical in nature. They consist of such main groups as proteins, fats, carbohydrates, mineral elements, vitamins. Products have different nutritional value (some contain more protein, others fat, carbohydrates, etc.) and therefore are able to satisfy the body’s energy needs in different ways. The human diet should almost always contain more than 600 substances. With improperly organized nutrition, the body lacks any of them. Sometimes - in vital ones, which leads to disruptions in the functioning of individual organs or even their entire systems.

The most important components of food. Squirrels– consist of amino acids, are a plastic building material from which almost all organs of the human body are composed. Biologically active substances - enzymes and many hormones - are built from proteins. From your biochemistry course, you know well about nonessential and essential amino acids, and I will not touch on this problem, which biochemists explained to you in detail. Fats – it is a source of energy, first of all. But they also take part in the construction of cells. You also know from your biochemistry course that the consistency of fats (taste as well) is determined by the unequal content and ratio of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The more saturated fatty acids a person consumes (food of animal origin), the more difficult it is for the fat to be broken down by the corresponding digestive enzymes. Carbohydrates - serve as the main supplier of energy, they are especially abundant in plants. They are also very important for the functioning of the central nervous system and muscles. Vitamins – belong to organic biologically active substances that take part in the regulation of all life processes in the body. They are part of catalysts - accelerators of biological processes, which are called enzymes. A significant part of vitamins is destroyed during storage, as well as during improper cooking of foods (therefore, the diet should contain a lot of fresh foods - vegetables and fruits). You need to be very careful with synthetic vitamins - they are poorly absorbed by the body and are easy to overdose on. Minerals – microelements, ultramicroelements. There are more than 70 mineral elements in the human body. They are building materials, part of proteins and biologically active substances - enzymes, hormones. Water – makes up about 60% of the human body weight. It is the environment in which complex biochemical processes occur in cells, tissues and organs.

I, as you noticed, very quickly described the most important components of food, hoping that you are well familiar with them from the course of biochemistry and other subjects. So, in order for the human body not to experience the need for the most important products listed above, nutrition must be correct, scientifically based, and rational. Today, the theory of adequate nutrition is accepted as a rational diet.

Adequate nutrition - This is food that replenishes the body’s energy costs, provides its need for plastic substances, and also contains all the vitamins, macro-, micro- and ultra-microelements, dietary fiber necessary for life, and the food ration itself, in terms of the quantity and set of products, corresponds to the enzymatic capabilities of the gastrointestinal tract. intestinal tract of a given individual. Failure to comply with the principles of adequate nutrition, excessive consumption of high-energy foods (especially potatoes, bread, flour, confectionery, etc.) is accompanied by obesity and can result in obesity. This contributes to the development of diseases such as atherosclerosis, hypertension, diabetes, heart attack, and stroke. Insufficient physical activity helps with this. As paradoxical as it may sound, a person who maintains proper physical activity requires less food than with a sedentary lifestyle.

Physiological nutritional standards are based on the basic principles of national nutrition and nutritional standards depend on gender, age, nature of work, climate, and physiological state of the body. Most often, the guideline for preparing adequate nutrition is based on energy costs associated with professional activities. We will talk about these energy costs at one of the lectures devoted to the problems of energy supply to the body. Now let’s touch on the problem on which the adequacy of nutrition depends - this is the diet.

Power Mode – this is the number of meals during the day, the distribution of the daily diet according to its energy value, the time of eating during the day, the intervals between meals and the time spent on eating. A proper diet ensures the efficiency of the digestive system, normal absorption of food, and good health. Most researchers believe that healthy people should have 3-4 meals a day at 4-5 hour intervals. Indeed, it is not advisable to eat food earlier than 2 hours after the previous meal. This disrupts the rhythm of the digestive tract. When eating quickly, food is poorly chewed and crushed, and is not sufficiently processed by saliva. This leads to excessive stress on the stomach and impairs the digestion and absorption of food. When you eat in a hurry, the feeling of fullness comes more slowly, which contributes to overeating. The last meal should be taken no later than 1.5-2 hours before bedtime. Eating heavily at night increases the possibility of myocardial infarction, acute pancreatitis, exacerbation of peptic ulcers and other diseases.

However, we must remember that the need for food is related to the individual characteristics of the daily biorhythm of body functions. For many (even most) people, an increase in the level of these functions is observed in the first half of the day. Therefore, they prefer “ morning routine nutrition”, which is in agreement with the famous saying: “Eat breakfast yourself, share lunch with a friend, and give dinner to your enemy.” The maximum breakfast, in this case, means 40-50% of the calorie content of the daily diet. 25% of calories are left for lunch and 25% for dinner. But the theory of the morning regime is by no means indisputable. It is known that after a heavy meal there comes a feeling of relaxation, drowsiness and, ultimately, a decrease in performance. This mode is of little use for a working person, especially for mental work.

In this regard, a theory emerged uniform load, according to which 3-4 meals a day, uniform in calorie content, are considered the most appropriate. However, in real everyday life associated with the work process, a uniform load is not always acceptable. After all, people coordinate food intake mainly with the feeling of appetite. In addition, the principle of uniformity does not take into account the daily rhythm of the formation of gastric and intestinal juices, the activity of digestive hormones and enzymes. Therefore, this principle is also insufficiently substantiated.

Evening load mode or maximum dinner, i.e. about 50% of the daily caloric intake should come from dinner, about 25% remains for breakfast and lunch. It has also been established that the maximum formation of gastric juice and enzymes occurs at 18-19 hours. Therefore, this load mode causes the least stress in the body. From these positions, as well as based on the length of the working day, this mode is apparently the most physiological for most people.

This does not mean that absolutely everyone should become adherents of the evening type of exercise. If an overweight person starts eating according to the evening type of food load, then his body weight will constantly increase. After all, in the evening there is practically no energy expenditure, and the food eaten will be stored as fat. For thin people, this regime is most suitable. Choosing a diet is an individual matter. But general trends and approaches should still be close to the regimes described above.

Now let's take a look problems of improving the structure and quality of nutrition. Currently, attempts to improve the structure and quality of nutrition, both at the public and personal levels, encounter a number of objective obstacles. Based on the position of adequate nutrition, it follows that there is a need for maximum diversity in the diet for each individual person. Meanwhile, it is known that the everyday food of many people does not differ in variety. There are many reasons. If during the administration and planned economy the consumer was constantly faced with a shortage of one or another type of product, which forced people to eat only what was on the shelves - a very narrow assortment - now, when, in principle, it is possible to purchase the most exotic food products, the lack of purchasing power of the population comes to the fore. Some people are forced to limit themselves to the cheapest products. Such poor nutrition can cause disruption of the body's functioning.

Another problem relates to the established production trend refined products. Now it is difficult to say when and by whom exactly it was proposed to produce refined sugar, vegetable oils, purified table salt, from which, in pursuit of product purity, substances now considered beneficial have been removed. Eating refined foods, a person does not receive enough dietary fiber, vitamins, and mineral salts. As a result, there is a risk of developing early atherosclerosis, ischemia, diabetes mellitus, cholelithiasis, and cancer. And you and I are eyewitnesses of this increase in diseases, especially in the last few decades. Let's take a closer look at these products.

Refined sugar - a pure chemical substance obtained as a result of multi-stage processing of beets or sugar cane. It contains no vitamins, salts, or other biologically active substances. In this regard, a person receives only “empty calories” from it. At the same time, not completely refined, yellow sugar is less harmful. Unlike refined, it does not contribute to the formation of fat-protein substances - low-density lipoproteins, which are one of the causes of atherosclerosis. Let's think about how often we need to use sugar? Why not replace it with honey, a wonderful, natural product containing many useful substances.

Table salt - also a pure chemical. Frequent and obligatory adding of salt to food leads to more and more people suffering from hypertension. Excess sodium in food is the cause of water retention in the body, which also causes an increase in intraocular pressure, diseases of the cardiovascular system, kidneys and others. The connection between nutritional obesity and over-salted food has long been beyond doubt. If obese people are prescribed only a low-salt diet, they quickly lose 5-7 kg of body weight with liquid. At one time, when salt was obtained from natural deposits, a person received with it not only pure sodium chloride, but also other substances that were really necessary for the body. Therefore, it is best to use rock, sea and iodized salt. However, it must be said that a person fully meets the need for salts by eating a variety of vegetables and other natural products, even if he does not use salt at all.

Premium white flour – a fairly common product used by the population. Meanwhile, the whiter the flour, the more calories it contains and the less benefits it provides to the body. When finely grinding and cleaning the flour, all the substances that stimulate intestinal motility and promote the removal of toxins go into the bran. The most important trace element - iron - also remains in the bran. The germinal part of the grain, which has enormous energy potential, is also included in the screening. Reduces grain potential and yeast fermentation. It is much healthier to eat bread made from wholemeal flour, as well as homemade flatbreads with the lowest grade flour with added bran.

Recently, there has been an increase in the number of food products(mainly from abroad) that have not undergone proper sanitary control in the country of origin due to the presence food additives, harmful to health. This is another nutrition problem modern man. Technological instructions define the maximum content of food additives that do not pose a health hazard. But these norms are not always observed, and sometimes do not correspond to the actual state of affairs. It happens that food additives cause severe poisoning. This is also a tribute to the technological era, when almost all products are manufactured in factories using synthetic and artificial substances.

In modern difficult environmental conditions, a person inevitably receives numerous poisons from air, water and food - pesticides, inorganic fertilizers, nitrates, radionuclides. These substances, accumulating in the body in various doses and sometimes in very unfavorable combinations, can lead to so-called environmental poisoning. For example, in recent years, a lot of data have appeared on the presence of increased doses of nitrates (salts of nitric acid) in food. They are part of nitrogen fertilizers, used for smoking, etc. Nitrates themselves are not dangerous, but they can turn into harmful substances - nitrites and nitrosamines, which increase the content of methemoglobin in the blood, disrupt carbohydrate and protein metabolism, and have a carcinogenic effect.

All of these nutritional problems are considered global problems, or at least at the national level. Undoubtedly, their solution requires a fundamental economic and technological reconstruction of society. Only in this case can we hope that healthy eating will become the rule and not the exception for the majority of the population.

Concluding this lecture, I would like to formulate some biological foundations (or laws) of modern human nutrition. The main ones will be the following:

1. A person’s need for energy and nutrients depends on age, gender and the nature of the work performed.

2. The body’s consumption of energy and nutrients must be compensated by their intake from food.

3.Organic and mineral substances of food must be balanced with each other in relation to the needs of the body, i.e. presented in certain proportions.

4.The human body needs a number of organic substances in finished form(vitamins, some amino acids and polyunsaturated fatty acids), without being able to synthesize them from other food substances.

5. Food balance is achieved through its diversity and inclusion of different food groups in the diet.

6. The composition of food and, accordingly, the set of food products must correspond to the individual characteristics of the body.

7. Food must be safe for humans, and cooking methods must not harm them.

8.The work of the body is subject to biorhythms, following them, a person must follow a diet.

Meanwhile, the number of adherents of various nutritional systems is constantly growing in the world. And by no means, this is not always a tribute to fashion or the last straw that a doomed patient grabs. Since ancient times, in all cultures of the world, thinkers and healers have paid great attention to the issues of proper consumption of food. The wisest representatives of mankind understood that any food, depending on the dose, conditions of administration, combination with other foods, can be both medicine and poison. Some of the recommendations set out in the works of such wise people of antiquity and the present are accepted and used by official medicine, while the other part, for one reason or another, is denied or considered controversial. It seems to me that the time has come to listen to the opinion of supporters of this or that (non-traditional) food system, without categorically rejecting it (as we often see in life), but also without going to the other extreme (which also happens quite often on a daily basis) - follow blindly the instructions that are set out in them. All these “non-traditional” power systems will be the subject of our conversation in the next lecture.

Non-traditional power systems. Fasting systems and their importance for health. Modern nutrition in childhood. Today there are many different non-traditional nutrition systems, which contain quite a lot of rational and very important for the health of modern man. Let us dwell on the characteristics of some of them, the most popular among the population.

Vegetarianism– this concept means a food system that excludes or limits the consumption of animal products. The main slogan of the followers of this diet is: “Do not eat the corpses of killed animals.” This thesis has arisen regularly throughout human history. True, in fairness, it should be noted that for most supporters of vegetarianism in ancient times, the reason for this was philosophical and ideological motives. In our pragmatic age, most vegetarians are motivated to improve their health, reach old age, and avoid dangerous illnesses. And they really have such a chance! The blood of vegetarians contains less cholesterol and triglycerides, their blood pressure is lower than that of meat-eaters, their immunity is higher, and malignant neoplasms are diagnosed much less frequently. As a rule, performance is increased and the general psychological state is improved.

Proponents of vegetarianism justify their choice of food system by the fact that, in their opinion, the human body is closer in structure to the organisms of herbivores and primates than to predators. Food of plant origin (if the diet is sufficiently varied) contains all vital substances. But they do not contain decomposition products found even in the freshest meat. We must remember that only the freshest meat is a food product, and if it is stored (in any refrigerator) or “heated” after cooking, then it contains a lot of both decomposition products and atherogenic products. They stimulate the accumulation of lipids in the liver. Meat contains very few vitamins, except vitamin B 12. There is also a moral aspect - a vegetarian diet, relieving a person of the need to cause suffering to animals (“fear toxins”), shedding their blood, promotes purity of thoughts and feelings. Moreover, there are also arguments that information about the animal is also introduced into the human body with meat food. It is no coincidence, obviously, that a number of people have “stupid bestial inclinations,” “sheep’s brains,” and a “pigish attitude” to business. But there are also arguments based on data from the physiology of digestion. The fact is that the utilization and breakdown of animal proteins takes more energy than these proteins can give to the body.

The main objections of opponents of vegetarianism are, firstly, the danger of protein deficiency, since plant foods contain little protein. Secondly, there is a possible deficiency of microelements and vitamins necessary for hematopoiesis. Thirdly, the content of many nutrients in plant foods is not enough for the most rapid development of the body in childhood and adolescence. However, this is not at all true. It has been established that people whose diet contains 50-60 g of protein per day have greater performance than those consuming 100 g of protein or more per day. The concentration of hematopoietic vitamins in the blood serum of vegetarians is no less than that of meat-eaters. And finally, there were and are entire nations whose tradition of vegetarianism goes back centuries. Over the course of these centuries, they have not degraded at all from generation to generation (unfortunately, the majority of people today prefer a meat diet, and the level of degradation is not even worth studying, it is visible on the surface with the naked eye). In any case, official dietology certainly recognizes that at least non-strict vegetarianism is quite suitable for long-term use and has a beneficial effect on health.

Raw food diet - a more strict direction of vegetarianism. A feature of this food system is the consumption of foods only in raw form, without any heat treatment. Supporters (naturopaths) believe that it is enough for a person to consume only 20-30 g of protein per day, explaining this by the fact that with a raw food diet, the human body, mobilizing internal reserves, makes maximum use of vital protein components - amino acids. Raw food is living food, containing a maximum of enzymes, vitamins, microelements and in its natural form. All this is destroyed during heat treatment. Boiled food contains many indigestible elements that only “clog” the internal environment of the body. And really, is it possible to compare the value of boiled and fresh carrots or beets? This applies to many other vegetables and fruits.

Naturopathy – These are supporters of natural nutrition. They do not accept the theory based on the calorie content of food. The “calorie theory” has led us to overeating, say naturopaths. And there is a lot of truth in this. If we take into account our sedentary lifestyle, then we really should reduce all the norms proposed by supporters of the calorie theory (supporters of official medicine) by 800-1000 kcal. When naturopaths say that eating is a sacred act, these are not empty words; you not only need to listen to them, but also act. I am convinced that many of these nutritionists are right. Is it possible to object to such elements of the food culture that they preach? Here are some of them. If you are irritated and cannot calm down, and besides, you do not have time to eat, it is better not to eat at all at this moment. A long-known rule is that you first need to drink 10-15 minutes before meals, but during meals - no drinking. Chew food thoroughly. Saliva will dilute its consistency, why at this moment another liquid that will dilute the digestive secretions and reduce their function. You need to eat only when you feel hungry. If you're not hungry, don't eat! We must listen to the voice of nature, the voice of the body, and not follow habit. If something hurts, wait with food. It also needs to be done at elevated temperatures. Feeding the sick is more feeding the disease. Don't eat right before work. Why? When one eats, blood rushes to the digestive organs, bleeding the brain and muscles, as it were. Therefore, after eating (and even a large one), neither mental nor physical work will be effective.

From the point of view of naturopaths, the ideal food for humans is raw fruits and vegetables containing “solar energy”, vitamins, mineral salts and enzymes. Such food has an alkaline reaction, is easily digested, leaves few toxins, and cleanses the body. By the way, they include lard as such food. Other food products cause an acidic reaction in the body (meat, starch, bread, sweetened juices and drinks), they are more difficult to digest. In their opinion, two thirds should be alkaline and one third acidic foods. And one more requirement is put forward by naturopaths - the biological compatibility of products with the cells of the human body. It is better when crop products are grown where a person lives, and not brought from afar. Thus, supporters of such nutrition have a lot of important nutritional rules that, undoubtedly, must be followed by all people, regardless of their diet.

Separate food – This is food compatibility. The main provisions of the separate nutrition system are based on the fact that when food enters the gastrointestinal tract, the breakdown of nutrients (proteins, fats and carbohydrates) is carried out under the action of digestive enzymes secreted in the oral cavity, stomach, intestines, liver, and pancreas. Certain enzymes are primarily responsible for the processing of certain components: either proteins, or fats, or carbohydrates. Carbohydrates, under the influence of digestive juices, are quickly broken down into final products. Proteins, and especially fats, require a longer time. When these food components enter the digestive tract together, they force the digestive system to work as if under overload. With separate nutrition, the digestive glands work more synchronously, without overload, without interfering with each other. The recommendations of supporters of such nutrition include the following provisions. Consumption of protein and starchy foods should be in different times, one type of protein per meal, fats are not recommended to be consumed with any type of protein food, melons and watermelons (all fruits) should be eaten separately and others.

I would especially like to say about milk. It is better to turn it into a fermented milk product, take it separately or not take it at all. The fat in milk prevents the secretion of gastric juice. Milk is absorbed not in the stomach, but in the intestines. Therefore, the stomach practically does not react to the presence of milk with secretion. For many people, after they leave childhood, the enzymes responsible for the utilization of milk are completely absent.

Genetically determined nutrition - This is a new form of nutrition based on the absorption of nutrients according to blood types. The digestive tract of people with blood group I is designed to digest meat. Therefore, a high concentration of hydrochloric acid is observed in the stomach of such people. Along with meat, people of this type digest sea fish meat very well. However, it is advisable for them to avoid cow's milk and dairy products, as well as baked goods. Potatoes and some types of legumes have a negative effect on the metabolism of these people.

Proper nutrition for people with blood group II is vegetarian; soy products are especially useful. A good addition to their diet is fish and baked goods. Potatoes and tomatoes should be avoided.

People with blood type III are practically “omnivores” and can eat a variety of foods and digest meat and dairy products well. However, it is better for them to give up buckwheat, corn, and tomatoes. Fruits and vegetables should form an important part of your diet.

People with blood type IV should refrain from eating meat and poultry (with the exception of turkey, rabbit, and lamb). Buckwheat and corn are undesirable. With rare exceptions, they digest all vegetables and fruits well.

The reason for the different absorption or rejection of food in people with different blood groups is that our immune system “confuses” unusual food proteins (lectins) with antigens of someone else’s blood group. These lectins lead not only to the agglutination reaction, but also to digestive disorders and a slowdown in the metabolic process.

Thus, we see that there are many non-traditional approaches to the problem of nutrition. What should an ordinary person do, what should he do, what should he eat? I think everyone should approach all this carefully. Each diet has a rational grain. You cannot blindly follow any one of them. We need to develop our own individual regime. We must remember that improving health and making your figure slim is not a refusal of food, but a conscious choice and combination of food products. And, in this regard, one must be especially attentive to the genetically determined needs of the body. It seems to me that this plays a big role in our health!

Therapeutic fasting - this is the “waste” of fats accumulated by the body and the “mobilization” of cholesterol, increasing its metabolic activity with a further decrease in its level to normal values. If necessary, the process involves certain parts of tissues and organs that do not bear a vital load. Most often, either diseased tissues or those that have already spent their life resources are subject to decay. From dying tissues, very biologically active protein molecules are formed, which are used to rejuvenate the body and heal diseased organs. In this way, endogenous (internal) nutrition is provided with simultaneous improvement of the body. During the period of fasting, the body is freed from toxins and ballast substances that cause various diseases.

There are several “types” of fasting, differing from one another quantitatively and qualitatively. There are “classical” fasting (up to 20-30 days), fractional (intermittent), “dry” (associated with drinking regime), “cascade” (eating for a day, fasting for a day). You can use various options depending on the situation, but only with knowledge of the matter and, better, in a clinic under the supervision of a specialist.

Modern nutrition in childhood. This issue is extremely important. The fact is that a child’s “difficult” character is often the result of poor nutrition. Nowadays, the issues of organizing nutrition for children of different ages have been sufficiently developed and can be well used by the most serious and responsible parents.

It is known that in the first year of life, the most natural and necessary food for a child should be human milk. There is no substitute for this food. This is especially important in the first days and weeks. It contains not only everything necessary for the child’s life, but also immune bodies that protect him from various diseases.

From three months he begins to be fed with raw juices of berries, fruits and vegetables, as well as their mixtures. From 5-6 months, you can introduce porridge, switching to breastfeeding 2-3 times a day. From the 9th month you can introduce cottage cheese and meat products. However, it would be correct not to give a child meat at all until he is 3-5 years old. This can increase his immunity and reduce the possibility of allergic reactions.

It is very difficult to establish reasonable nutrition for a child over 1 year old if before this the nutrition was carried out incorrectly, the necessary diet was not followed and it was monotonous.

In older age groups, it is necessary to adhere to the same rules and conditions mentioned above.

We must remember that the ideal diet is an individual diet. We should eat food only when we really feel a real feeling of hunger. Our nutrition should be limited in caloric equivalent due to the sedentary lifestyle of many of us. And most importantly, do not make a cult of food out of food, but join the food culture! Individual elements I tried to introduce this culture to you in the process of reading these lectures. If you follow them in your life, you will not only get full health, but also many additional years of an active, happy life. Make food a medicine, not a poison, as, unfortunately, for most people, and your health is guaranteed! I wish you success in this matter!

Ecology of consumption: Chemist-technologist and flavorist Sergei Belkov will tell you why you should not be afraid of chemistry in food. Modern food. Many people consider it something unnatural, harmful, and cancer-causing.

Chemist-technologist and flavorist Sergei Belkov will tell you why you shouldn’t be afraid of chemistry in food.

Modern food. Many people consider it something unnatural, harmful, causing cancer, diabetes and chronic depression. No, this is not how our ancestors ate, before the invention of all this chemical disgrace. No, this is not how our children should eat; their diet should not contain components whose names cannot even be pronounced correctly. Why are the Ministry of Health and Rospotrebnadzor silent when manufacturers add chemicals to our food? What do incomprehensible names and strange digital codes with the letter E hide? What should we really be afraid of in modern food, and what is just fantastic inventions of popular nutritionists and television journalists? Sergey will try to answer these questions and remind you that chemistry is not a dirty word, but a very interesting and useful science. Especially if it is “food”.

“We want to know the truth about food!” - under such slogans come defenders of natural food and opponents of chemical food. Everyone wants to know the truth about food. They want to know which products contain more chemicals. In natural yogurt without flavors, preservatives and dyes with bifidobacteria, supposedly very healthy, as indicated on the packaging? Or maybe there is more chemicals in the orange, which was treated with pesticides while being transported from warm countries? Or maybe there is more chemistry in the hamburger of a well-known chain, which is very disliked for the fact that they add chemistry to them? Or maybe there is more chemistry in copper sulfate, which is used as a fungicide in agriculture? Maybe there are more chemicals in a pack of salt, which has zero calories, no stones and no cholesterol? So where is there more chemistry?

To answer this question, we look at the scientific journal Chemistry, which examined all the products and compiled a list of those that do not contain chemicals. Their list turned out to be empty, because there is only one answer to the question of how many chemicals are in food. There are exactly 100% chemicals in food. Everything in the world consists of chemistry. The table of our compatriot Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev tells us that even the cheese that the fox wants to eat consists of chemistry, because it contains specific chemicals, the fox may not know that they are there, but they are anyway fall into the fox along with this cheese.

The DNA molecule is the main molecule of life on the planet. Even based on the name, it is a chemical molecule, just like the ubiquitous bacterium, and everything that happens in it: the movement of flagella, the release of substances, etc. - this is the result of some specific chemical reactions. And even a person consists of chemistry, he has chemical formulas, chemical elements from the table, many chemical processes take place in his body every minute. Therefore, you should not be afraid of horror stories about “chemical food”. But this does not mean that you can eat any chemical, because it comes in different forms. And in order to understand what can be consumed and what cannot be consumed, you need to understand why chemicals are added to food.

Cucumber

Chips

Another example is potato chips. Everyone knows that this product is very harmful due to the fact that it consists of glutamate, flavorings, etc. Also, any chips contain the toxic substance solanine. What is important is whether the substance is poisonous or non-toxic, but in what quantities it is contained in the product. And if you compare the toxicity of the corned beef, glutamate and flavoring that are in the chips, taking into account their actual quantity, it turns out that the most poisonous thing in the chips will be the potatoes themselves from which they are made, the most natural part! And what is made artificially is much less harmful.

Cranberry

Cranberries have their own preservative, sodium benzoate, which protects and prevents mold and bacteria from eating the berries and seeds. In the process of evolution, cranberries have biologically developed the ability to create acid in their composition. And people later began to use this property of cranberries for their own purposes, realizing that if cranberries were able to protect their berries, then we can also protect soda. This does not mean that benzoic acid is beneficial or harmful. But the fact remains: the “harmful preservative” appeared in nature itself.

Mustard

Mustard is a unique chemical weapon. Through millions of years of evolution, mustard developed allyl isothiocyanate, which gives it its pungency. This substance, which is formed only when plant tissue is damaged, is a natural remedy for pests; why shouldn’t a person take advantage of the achievements of natural evolution?

Almond

Many people have heard that if you eat a handful of almonds, you can get poisoned. They also say that if you smell almonds, it means there is hydrocyanic acid nearby, and you should run away from this place. In fact, almonds, just like apples, cherries, peaches and some other plants, do produce hydrocyanic acid, which is a plant protection chemical. Since hydrocyanic acid is a fairly chemically active and toxic substance, the plant cannot retain it in the form of the hydrocyanic acid molecule itself; it converts it into a glycoside, which, when decomposed, can release hydrocyanic acid. And if you ate a handful of almonds, you consumed the amount of glycoside contained in it, and inside you it broke down into aldehyde and hydrocyanic acid. The aldehyde smells like almonds, and the hydrocyanic acid serves to kill you. Therefore, if we are talking about flavorings, the smell and taste of natural almonds, then you always consume a small amount of poison, and when using a flavoring identical to natural, you absorb only the smell without hydrocyanic acid.

Vanilla

It would seem that vanilla aroma is a natural smell, but if you have seen green vanilla pods, you should know that they have no smell because there is no vanillin in green vanilla pods. Vanillin as a chemical is not meant to be added to buns, but to protect the seeds of the vanilla bean from pests. This substance is far from the most useful, and it was not intended by nature to be eaten.

Coffee

Few would think that a product that is 100% insecticides and artificial flavors is coffee. The smell of coffee does not exist at all in living nature, since green coffee has no smell. The smell of coffee is formed during heat treatment in unnatural, unnatural conditions, which releases a huge amount of substances that are in coffee - they char, heat up, interact with each other, there are much more of them than in cigarettes, somewhere around 2000. So Thus, the so-called natural drink consists of 100% insecticides and artificial flavors.

It is a little unreasonable to say that all plants in nature are beneficial. Almost all of them protect themselves with a variety of chemicals. We eat natural food not because it tastes good, but because plants have failed to develop a defense against us. The most delicious and useful plants, which appeared in the process of evolution, were eaten, only the most harmful and most poisonous remained, which they could not eat.

The fact that everything natural is healthy is not entirely correct. About a hundred years ago, the famous English philosopher George Moore formulated the so-called “naturalistic fallacy.” Its essence lies in the fact that there is no basis for identifying the natural with “good” and the unnatural with “bad.” Natural and not natural, good and bad - these are two completely different categories that we cannot compare. There are many natural things that are considered bad. There are many artificial things that are healthy to eat. Therefore, when we talk about chemistry in food, we should evaluate it from the point of view of whether a particular molecule is good or bad, harmful or not harmful, but not from the point of view of whether it is natural or not natural.

What is natural anyway? Let's look at the composition of natural lemon. Ascorbic acid, starch, citric acid, essential oil, sucrose, water. What happens if we divide a lemon into lemon slices? We get an antioxidant, acidity regulator, flavoring, sweetener, stabilizer and water. But in fact, nothing changes - these are the same molecules, although perhaps in slightly different proportions.

Flavors

What can flavorings do? It is unknown whether all these substances lead to obesity and Alzheimer's disease, but the story with autism is interesting. And if we look at the graph, in which purple indicates the number of cases of autism in the world, and red the number of sales of organic food, we can draw two simple conclusions from the graph. First: if autism cases are on the rise, who said it was fragrances that caused them? Maybe the Internet is causing them? Secondly, autistic people, according to statistics, prefer organic food.

Index E

Each of us has heard that food additives with the E index are harmful. The permitted list E is not based on the principle that these are artificial substances that are added for unknown reasons. The list has a logical structure. If a substance has been studied, its safe dose is known, everything about the substance is known to science, then it is included in the list. E is the last thing that, from a logical point of view, should scare the consumer.

Glutamate

The story with glutamate is very simple. Let's imagine what will happen if there are separate shelves in supermarkets for products with glutamate. The remaining shelves will remain empty because glutamate-free products do not exist. There is a simple explanation for this. Everyone knows what hemoglobin is; hemoglobin is a protein, it is in all of us. Just like growth hormone, it also contains protein. Protein is made up of amino acids. We have 20 of them in total. Amino acids are assembled into chains, and protein is obtained. One of these amino acids is glutamic acid. There is not a single protein without glutamic acid. It is contained in different amounts in different proteins. In dairy products, for example, it is 20%, in some others it is 10%, in wheat protein it can be 40%. Glutamic acid is one of the most common acids in nature. When protein hydrolysis occurs in a product, it breaks down and amino acids appear, including glutamic acid, which gives the product its taste. It has a unique taste, the so-called “umami”, which has become the fifth in the flavor line after bitter and sweet, sour and salty. Glutamic acid indicates that the product contains protein.

Why is the red tomato the most delicious? Because it contains the most glutamate. Or, by consuming cottage cheese, which contains a lot of milk protein, we somehow get glutamic acid. Its content in cottage cheese is approximately six times higher than in the strongest “over-glutamed” chips. Scientists like to conduct different experiments: for example, they injected newborn mice with glutamate, and after a while the mice became covered in fat. On this basis, they concluded that its consumption causes obesity. But the question arises, why was this done at all? After all, glutamate is usually consumed with food, and not intravenously. Of course, mice will become obese if they are injected with pure glutamate.

Isomers

The properties of any molecule are determined not by where it came from, but by which atoms and in what sequence are included in this molecule. In nature, substances exhibit optical isomerism. Some substances exist in two forms of optical isomers, which seem to consist of the same atoms and in the same sequence, but the substances are different. According to the classification, ordinary store-bought glutamate contains about 0.5% D-isomer; ordinary cheese, which also contains monosodium glutamate, contains from 10 to 45% D-isomer, depending on the degree of ripening. Any permitted food additives are substances that are known to be tested, safe, and do not harm your health.

Sweeteners

Aspartame is one of the best known sweeteners, and the most unjustifiably maligned. The molecule, when interacting with water (including during digestion in your stomach or in a bottle of cola), decomposes into three substances: aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol, which is a poison. To talk about the dangers of methanol, you need to talk about quantity, and you need to understand why it is harmful. Methanol itself is harmless, but its breakdown products are harmful: formaldehyde, etc. The very fact that a substance is contained in a product does not mean at all that it is harmful in the quantities in which it is present in the product.

Carcinogens

The world's first flavor was roasted meat. Those substances that are formed during frying are not natural, they have been studied only recently, and when a person first learned to fry it, he did not know which of the components of fried meat were harmful. However, we believe that natural meat is somehow healthier than unnatural meat. This is wrong. Sausage, for example, does not contain the “dreaded creatine” and is therefore less harmful. Or acrylamide, a carcinogen that forms in fried potatoes. The secret is that it also forms in our kitchen, although we think that this is not the case. It is formed chemically, which is the same for all processing methods. We can choose natural way smoking, but in addition to the smell of smoke, it contains a whole range of harmful substances.

Proportion of substances

For hundreds of years, people have eaten natural foods that have proportions. Let's imagine a nice Italian dinner consisting of wine, pizza with basil, tomatoes and cheese. This dinner contains the proportion of substances that people have been eating for hundreds of years. Let's look at this proportion in cheese. There are a million varieties of cheese, and what substances are contained in the cheese depend on what bacteria it was treated with, what kind of milk it was made from, under what conditions it was produced, etc. The milk that makes up cheese is also influenced by a huge number of factors, starting with what the cow ate, what kind of water she drank, etc.

The amount of substances from one sprig of basil depends on where in the plant it was picked, since in different parts of the plant the amount of different fragrant substances is different. The proportions of substances will be different in each of the leaves of the plant. We take the cheese, mix it with tomatoes, flour, eggs and put it in the oven, where it all warms up. All the substances that are there interact with each other, and as a result, thousands of reactions are formed in which new substances arise. Chemical composition wine and the proportion of substances depends on what grapes were used, under what conditions they were made, what kind of dishes were used, and temperature.

If we talk about aromatic substances that are contained in everyday food, there are about 8000 of them. Of these, about 4000 are allowed in the food industry. They were tested, after which it turned out that they are not harmful and can be used in flavoring. Any artificial flavor identical to natural one consists of these 4000, which have been studied. The remaining 4000, which were not included in this list, are present in natural products, and they contain not only studied safe ones, but also dangerous ones that were prohibited for use, but which we consume. So, our ideas about food are far from the real state of affairs, because even an ordinary apple contains a huge amount of E-additives. published

We all think about our diet sooner or later: problems with weight, skin, and health in general force us to open our refrigerator and skeptically examine its contents. We ask ourselves the questions “what to exclude from the diet?” and “how can I start eating right?”, we are looking for our way to a healthy and beautiful body.

Meanwhile, healthy and proper nutrition is not a strict debilitating diet, not a mockery of the body and not depriving it of its joys, it is just a series of rules, if followed, you can radically change yourself, acquire new useful habits, a beautiful figure and significantly prolong your life.

Our body is a reflection of what we eat

It's no secret that obesity has become a huge problem for modern people - we move less, consume large amounts of fatty foods, high-calorie sauces, and sweets. There are endless temptations everywhere, and manufacturers compete to see who will offer the next super product that no consumer can resist. The result of this race can be observed on the streets of any metropolis - according to statistics, almost every second resident of developed countries has overweight. Obesity, unfortunately, leads to problems not only in aesthetics and self-esteem, but also to serious consequences for the body: the risk of many diseases is directly proportional to the amount of excess weight. Diabetes, problems with the heart, gastrointestinal tract, and reproductive function are only a small part of the possible diseases that arise when the diet is not followed.

The good news is that in recent years, taking care of your body has begun to become fashionable: more and more calls to exercise are being made by the state and public organizations, organic and dietary products are appearing on store shelves, and advice on how to eat healthy is being disseminated in the press. .

The basics of healthy eating, or how to eat healthy

When creating a healthy eating menu, you should remember several general rules: firstly, you need to eat often and in small portions. It’s most convenient to get yourself a small plate that can hold a handful-sized portion. No need to be afraid of hunger! A healthy diet involves 5-6 meals per day. It is also good to accustom yourself to eat at the same time - this will stabilize the functioning of the stomach and will promote weight loss.

Second important rule– remember about calories. There is no need to scrupulously calculate them throughout your life every time you eat; just watch your diet for a week or two, and the habit of automatically “estimating” the calorie content of food will appear by itself. Everyone has their own calorie intake; you can find it out, for example, by using a special calculator that is easy to find on the Internet. For example, a woman is 30 years old, weighs 70 kg with a height of 170 cm and is small physical activity About 2000 kcal are needed per day. To lose weight, you need to consume 80% of calories from the norm, that is, in our example, about 1600 kcal per day. Additionally, there is no point in cutting down your diet - the body will simply slow down its metabolism, and such a diet does more harm than good.

Rule three - we maintain a balance between “income” and “expenses”, that is, the energy that is spent by the body on basic metabolism, work, sports, and calorie intake. Food includes four main components: proteins, fats, carbohydrates and dietary fiber - all of which are necessary for our body. The only question is which of them (fats and carbohydrates are different), in what quantities and proportions to consume. Approximate recommended values ​​are 60 g fat, 75 g protein, 250 g carbohydrates and 30 g fiber. The fourth rule is to drink water. Often we don’t want to eat, our body simply mistakes a lack of fluid for hunger and forces us to eat something that we really don’t need. One and a half or more liters of clean drinking water will help get rid of pseudo-hunger, make you more elastic skin, will improve the general condition of the body, speed up the metabolic process.

And the fifth rule is to choose products wisely. Read labels, composition and calorie content of products, exclude fast food, mayonnaise sauces, products with chemical additives, preservatives, and dyes from your diet. You must know what you eat, and then the path to beauty and health will become quick and enjoyable.

Healthy food

We will try to answer the age-old question “what to eat to lose weight?” The main thing when creating a menu for a healthy diet is maintaining a balance between expenses and consumed products.

So, you definitely need to include in your healthy diet every day:

• cereals, in the form of porridges and muesli, rich in slow carbohydrates, which will provide our body with energy;
• fresh vegetables (cabbage, carrots) provide the body with dietary fiber - cellulose;
• legumes are a rich source of vegetable protein, especially necessary for those who rarely or do not eat meat;
• nuts, especially walnuts and almonds, have a beneficial effect on the entire body and are a source of polyunsaturated fatty acids omega-6 and omega-3, microelements;
• fermented milk products: natural yoghurts (without added sugar), kefir, low-fat cottage cheese provide calcium and improve the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract;
• saltwater fish contains protein and essential omega-3 fatty acids;
• fruits and berries are a storehouse of vitamins, heal the skin and protect the body from diseases;
• lean meat - chicken breast, rabbit, beef - a source of protein.

Healthy products should not contain preservatives, artificial colors, or palm oil. It’s better to limit pickles – you can treat yourself to them from time to time, but you shouldn’t get carried away.

If you have a problem with excess weight, then you should give up sugar altogether, even if you have a sweet tooth and cannot live without a cup of sweet coffee in the morning - sweeteners will solve this problem. Don't be afraid of them; high-quality natural-based substitutes are harmless, contain virtually no calories and taste good.

Strictly prohibited!

We've decided on healthy foods, let's look at the list of foods that are incompatible with a healthy lifestyle and proper nutrition:

• Sweet carbonated drinks. They do not quench thirst, irritate the gastric mucosa, and, as a rule, contain a monstrous amount of sugar - about 20 g in each glass, artificial colors and flavors, and preservatives.
• Deep fried food. French fries, chips, crackers and anything that is fried in large amounts of oil should be eliminated from the diet. Carcinogens, lack of nutrients and fat are not what a healthy body needs.
• Burgers, hot dogs. All such dishes contain a mixture of white bread, fatty sauces, meat of unknown origin, appetite-stimulating seasonings and a large amount of salt. What do we get as a result? A real calorie “bomb” that instantly turns into folds on the body and does not carry any nutritional value.
• Mayonnaise and similar sauces. Firstly, they completely hide the natural taste of food under spices and additives, forcing you to eat more, and secondly, almost all mayonnaise sauces from the store are almost pure fat, generously seasoned with preservatives, flavors, stabilizers and other harmful substances.
• Sausages, frankfurters and semi-finished meat products. There is hardly any need for any explanation at this point - just read the product label. And this is only official data! Remember that under the “pork, beef” items in the composition, skin, cartilage, and fat are most often hidden, which you would hardly eat if they were not so skillfully processed and beautifully packaged.
• Energy drinks. They contain a heavy dose of caffeine combined with sugar and high acidity, plus preservatives, dyes and many other components that should be avoided.
• Instant lunches. Noodles, purees and similar mixtures, which just need to be poured with boiling water, contain large amounts of carbohydrates, salt, spices, flavor enhancers and other chemical additives instead of nutrients.
• Floury and sweet. Yes, yes, our favorite sweets are one of the most dangerous foods. The problem is not only the high calorie content: the combination of flour, sweet and fatty foods multiplies the harm several times and instantly affects the figure.
• Packaged juices. Vitamins and other beneficial substances almost completely disappear during processing. What benefit can there be from a concentrate diluted with water and flavored with a fair amount of sugar?
• Alcohol. Enough has already been said about its harm to the body; we will only note once again that alcohol contains calories, increases appetite, interferes with the absorption of nutrients, and if the minimum doses are not observed, it slowly destroys the body, because ethanol is a cellular poison.

The transition to a balanced healthy diet will not be a burden if you follow simple recommendations.

First of all, don't starve yourself. If you feel discomfort, eat an apple, some nuts, dried fruits or muesli.

Secondly, drink a lot and choose healthy drinks. Chicory is good for weight loss - it suppresses hunger due to the large amount of fiber in its composition and has a beneficial effect on the body. Green tea is also beneficial, especially with ginger.

Diversify your diet! The more different healthy foods you consume, the more your body receives various microelements, vitamins, and amino acids.

If you really want something forbidden, eat it for breakfast. Of course, it’s better to give up unhealthy foods altogether, but at first it helps to think that sometimes you can still pamper yourself.

The fewer unnatural ingredients in food, the better. If you want to eat healthy foods, it’s better to choose a piece of meat instead of sausage, fresh vegetables instead of canned ones, muesli instead of buns.

Creating a “Healthy Eating” Menu

How to start eating right? First of all, you need to find out how many calories your body needs. Let's say it's 2000 kcal daily. In order to lose weight, you need to consume 1600 kcal per day, distributing it over 5-6 meals.

So, let's create a healthy food menu for every day:

Breakfast. Should be rich in slow carbohydrates and proteins, it can include:

• oatmeal, muesli or grain bread;
• kefir, unsweetened yogurt or a piece of cheese.

Second meal– light snack between breakfast and lunch:

• any fruit weighing approximately 100-200 grams, or some nuts, dried fruits;
• 100 grams of cottage cheese or unsweetened yogurt.

Dinner should be the largest meal of the day:

• 100 grams of buckwheat or brown rice, pasta made from durum flour. You can add carrots, onions, peppers to the dish;
• boiled chicken breast;
• A salad of fresh vegetables seasoned with yogurt, a small amount of soy sauce or flaxseed oil.

Afternoon snack, between lunch and dinner - another light meal:

• A small piece of fruit or a glass of freshly squeezed juice, preferably from vegetables.

Dinner– light and tasty:

• 100-200 grams of lean beef, rabbit, turkey, chicken, fish or legumes;
• Salad made from cabbage, carrots and other fiber-rich vegetables.

And finally, a couple of hours before bed:

• A glass of kefir, chicory or drinking unsweetened yogurt.

Throughout the day, you can drink unlimited quantities of water, green tea and chicory drinks with natural extracts of rosehip, ginger or ginseng.

Portion sizes are approximate and will depend on individual parameters - daily norm calories, rate of weight loss and other individual factors. In any case, it is better to consult a nutritionist.

Today, a huge literature, both scientific and popular, is devoted to the problem of healthy eating, and to one degree or another it worries almost every modern person. We all want to eat right so that the food benefits our health and longevity (and tastes good, of course). However, what diet should you choose? Why are there so many of them and in what cases should one be preferred over the other? And why are doctors in no hurry to put an end to this “competition” of diets, recognizing some of them as more and others as less useful? Perhaps we would ask such questions less if we remembered that the choice of food is not only a medical issue. Cultural and social traditions also play a huge role, due to which different people and nations consider very different foods to be healthy. We'll talk about these differences.

Anthropologists have always been interested in the topic of nutrition, both from an evolutionary and cultural-social point of view. Countless scientific articles, books, and even an entire scientific community are devoted to studying the lifestyles of representatives of various cultures of the present and past, including such issues as their relationship with food, the presence of forbidden or especially valuable foods, methods of cooking, ceremonies of meals and hospitality, gender differences in food and the relationship between food and health.

Not by bread alone

An important feature of the anthropological approach to healthy food and healthy eating is the focus on understanding the internal point of view of the people being studied and the terms they use. What you and I call “healthy” and “useful” may be considered harmful in other societies and vice versa. We must remember that food can be considered useful not only from a biological point of view, but also symbolically, especially from the point of view of a person’s spiritual connection with ancestors, gods and animals.

For example, for Christians, the consumption of consecrated bread and wine as the body and blood of Christ is an important ritual that goes beyond the nutritional value of bread and wine as household products. For the Inuit from Arctic Canada, eating the meat and blood of freshly caught seal is an equally important ritual of unity between man and animals, since the Inuit believe that the souls of people and seals are in constant circulation in this and the other world and therefore the body of an Inuit cannot be healthy if there is no seal blood in his blood. The key to health is considered to be responsible hunting, sharing the kill among neighbors and relatives, and eating all parts of the seal's body, including internal organs and fresh blood. Thus, “healthy eating” among the Inuit is directly related to ideas about the ecological balance of human and seal populations, as well as the relationship between soul and body.

Due to the symbolic value of food, people from different areas around the world and in different historical eras, completely different foods and substances were considered useful, including, for example, dog meat, edible bird's nests and even human bodies. Of course, one should not think that such “products” were part of the regular diet. Rather, they were consumed on special or extreme occasions (for example, as part of a rare ritual, to heal a serious illness, or during a severe famine), but were somehow considered integral ingredients to maintaining a healthy body and a healthy mind. At the same time, from the point of view of anthropology, it is important not only what people eat in different cultures, but also how the process of preparing and eating food occurs, especially ceremonial meals.

Engraving of a cannibalistic orgy by Theodore de Bry, from the 1593 German edition of Jean de Léry's "Brazilian Diary". Written in French in 1578, the book chronicled the author's travels through Brazil and included graphic descriptions of Aboriginal cannibalism.

Library of Congress, Rare Book & Special Collections Division

But let's turn to everyday nutrition. Cross-cultural and archaeological studies often compare the standard diets of different cultures with the lifestyles of modern Europeans and Americans in order to understand what determines longevity and health. However, sometimes careful hypotheses of scientists are interpreted by the general public as proven truths and turn into fashion trends.

For example, in 1985, Boyd Eaton and Melvin Conner put forward the “discordance hypothesis,” the essence of which is that human genes evolve very slowly, unable to adapt to rapidly changing historical eras and people’s lifestyles. The authors suggested that modern human physiology still operates in accordance with the diet of hunter-gatherers who lived in the Paleolithic (that is, before the advent of agriculture and livestock) and ate roots, berries, nuts and meat. Therefore, according to Eaton and Conner's hypothesis, the causes of modern diseases are rooted in the consumption of grains and dairy products to which our genes have not yet adapted.

It is important to note that the scientists did not propose to radically change the diet and return to the lifestyle of hunter-gatherers, but nevertheless, their hypothesis instantly spread through printed and virtual channels under the fashionable name “Paleolithic diet”, becoming for many a commandment of healthy eating. Even today, 30 years later, this diet continues to exist and has many supporters, despite ongoing scientific debate and the lack of definitive evidence. Many in Russia, America and other parts of the world continue to actively popularize the paleo diet and even a low-carbohydrate diet, calling for eating only meat and vegetables. Why? For what purpose do people accept unproven theories on faith, radically changing their behavior? And why do we often eat things that, from a medical point of view, seem extremely harmful?

The field of knowledge called "anthropology of food" offers several answers to these questions. As already mentioned, food is important for humans not just as a resource for mechanical saturation of the body, but as a cultural symbol and a tool for maintaining social relations. Food preferences, eating habits, and even access to certain foods directly reflect a person, nationality, and are also an attribute of our social identity and individuality.

Eat modern

Coca-Cola or tea, steak or salad, potatoes with meat or branzino with asparagus, cheap rice or organic non-GMO rice - our food and diet choices indicate who we consider ourselves to be: people from the people or sophisticated aristocrats, supporters of a healthy lifestyle life or the principle of “live here and now”, adherents of traditional values ​​or progress.

For example, an anthropological study of McDonald's customers in Beijing in the late 1980s found that many Chinese enthusiastically ate hamburgers and bikmaks because they wanted to appear advanced and modern. One of the young mothers interviewed even noted that although she herself does not like the strange taste of food at McDonald’s, she is trying to get used to it so that she can take her daughter there, whom she wants to raise “Western” and “modern.” Those Muscovites who witnessed the opening of the first McDonald's restaurant on Pushkinskaya Square in January 1990 can also remember something similar.

These and other ideas - about modernity, capitalism, environmental responsibility, animal welfare and so on - often become the main criteria for people when choosing food and diet. Moreover, these ideas are very elastic, which allows different people to express the same ideas in different ways. Take, for example, the idea of ​​modernity: while some demonstrate their modernity through the consumption of Western products, others, for the same purpose, are addicted to the paleo diet or prefer local farm products. The second often goes hand in hand with rejection of modernist values, criticism of life with “everything ready,” and rejection of semi-finished products and other “semi” things. But this does not mean that these people are nostalgic for the past and are opposed to progress. They are simply looking for alternative ways of development - they are also modern, but in their own way.

"Modernity" and health

There is a small town in the Indian Himalayas where Indian and foreign tourists come to escape the heat and noise and admire the breathtaking snow-capped peaks. Thanks to the influx of tourists, there are always jobs in this town, and residents of nearby villages flock there in huge streams.

Villagers deeply respect Western medicine and, at the first sign of illness or illness, consult a doctor and take prescribed pills. And village girls who want to emphasize their “modernity” come to give birth in a city hospital, because they believe that giving birth at home with midwives is shameful traditionalism.

That mountain town is also home to very wealthy and highly educated Indians who often travel abroad and keep up with fashion trends. Many of them try not to use painkillers, antibiotics and other “modern” drugs unless absolutely necessary, preferring herbal infusions and yoga classes. And when the question arises of where to give birth, they prefer to do it at home, since it is more “progressive.”

As anthropologists note, historical eras such as the Renaissance, Modern Times or modernity, which we were taught about at school, are conventional theoretical categories and go beyond the limits of objectivity in the sense that, for example, “modernity” is perceived differently by everyone. Therefore, it is more correct to talk about multiple or “alternative modernities”: for some, being modern means having the latest model of smartphone and eating burgers, while for others it means refusing excessive consumption, using a four-year-old but still working phone and growing tomatoes on the balcony. This does not mean that someone is more “modern” than others. It’s just that modernity is different.

In the late 1980s, a movement called “slow food” was born in Italy in response to the spread of fast food culture. It is aimed at supporting regional culinary traditions and introducing product quality control. However, the most important thing from the point of view of slow food activists is the preservation of the culture of feasting. In their opinion, modern people have stopped cooking and eating together common table, which has a devastating effect on social relationships, on mutual understanding between loved ones - and even on their health.

Instead of long family dinners, when people slowly shared news over a common meal, the time has come for convenience foods, snacks on the run and coffee to go. Thus, the meaning of the slow food movement is not so much to return to healthy eating, how much to the traditional way of life. Again, this does not mean that all followers of “slow food” are Luddites and are opposed to globalization, they just believe that it is necessary to look for an alternative to the version of progress that is built on the alienation of man from society and on the increasing dependence of his life on all kinds of technologies .

Nutrition and inequality

The ideas of slow food and so-called traditional nutrition may seem reasonable and important to many people, but one must understand that they contain certain social values and settings that not everyone will like. In almost any country, cooking falls on the shoulders of women, and it must be admitted that semi-finished products, canned food, microwave ovens and other advances in the food industry have made their lives much easier. Proponents of returning to traditional cuisine, baking homemade bread, making pickles and a variety of “slow” dishes unwittingly contribute to the consolidation of gender roles. However, there are also supporters of slow food who are consciously ready to equally distribute the “female” load between spouses or partners.

Women and Rotimatic

Roti is a wheat flatbread that is served freshly prepared at almost every meal in India and Southeast Asia. Until now, in most Asian families, women (even those who have professional work from morning to evening) are forced to get up early in the morning to prepare fresh tortillas. Moreover, women often prepare 4–5 flatbreads for each family member for breakfast, and also take with them for lunch. Naturally, all this takes a lot of time, and that is why a food processor called "Rotimatic", who makes fresh roti himself, freeing women from the tyranny of the frying pan. It is not surprising that it was women who greeted the new invention with enthusiasm.

There is another important factor that is constantly kept silent when it comes to healthy eating. This factor is economic hierarchy and the growing gap between rich and poor. As research in political economy, the study of how material resources are distributed in society and who has access to them, shows, not every person, even in rich and developed countries, can afford organic and natural products. When a person barely makes ends meet, he doesn’t have to think about healthy eating. Therefore, calls for eating fresh meat and vegetables, exotic foods such as yams or goji berries, and so on, may have meanings that go beyond the desire for health or criticism of the modern world. In a sense, following any diet is a demonstration of your social status, as well as “cultural capital”, in the words of the famous French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu.

Discussing social inequality, Bourdieu came to the conclusion that people maintain their position in society, and sometimes even climb the social ladder, not only through the use of economic mechanisms, but also through cultural and symbolic “wealth”, that is, the ability to maintain a conversation about high art, knowledge of fine food or fashionable clothing. So, within the framework of Bourdieu’s theory, if in modern society people are not very wealthy, but talk about the dangers of lactose and the need to replace cow’s milk with almond, about the benefits of spirulina, chickpeas and quinoa, about the dangers of gluten and carbohydrates, about replacing sugar with stevia, then Thus, they emphasize their belonging to the educated and “high” strata of society.

This is why fad diets often give rise to counter-movements that criticize food elitism. Take, for example, the kitchen of punks. The ideology of punk as a social phenomenon is associated with a critique of economic privilege and a challenge to the hierarchical structure of society. According to an American study of punk culture in Seattle, many local punks believe that industrial food "contaminates" the body with the norms of corporate capitalism. Therefore, in protest against modern waste, punks prefer to eat so-called spoiled food, which large supermarkets throw away at the end of the day. For them, expired, rejected products are quite “healthy”, both for the body and for the moral state of the spirit.

Freegans demonstrate a somewhat similar approach to food (from English word free- free, free). The idea of ​​freeganism is based on refusal to participate in the global food industry and on a return to the pre-capitalist way of life, when each family provided itself with food. The results of a study conducted in the US state of Oregon indicate that freegans are concerned not only with personal health, but also with the “health” of the entire planet - which is why they are categorically against modern production and consumption of products, with huge volumes of daily waste. They do not propose to completely abolish capitalism (they understand that this is impossible), but only strive to ensure that their behavior causes as little harm to the planet as possible.

Punk on the hunt (inscription on the container: “Only for garbage”)

Wei Tchou / flickr

Don't eat cold things

In addition to the non-medical approach to nutrition in the West, there is also a whole universe of non-Western medical systems in which ideas about “healthy” food take into account not calories, nutrients and vitamins, but compliance with a whole series of nutritional rules. These rules may depend on the constitution of the person’s body, his gender, age, physical condition, as well as the time of day and even the season.

Thus, according to Ayurveda - a collection of medical traditions of South Asia - all food products are divided into two symbolic categories: “hot” and “cold”. However, what is meant here is not the temperature of specific products, but the expected effect they have on the human body. For example, milk and coconut are cooling foods, so you should avoid them during the cold season. But papaya is a hot product, so pregnant women are not advised to eat it, since pregnancy refers to a “hot” state of the body, and if a woman eats any of the “hot” food, she may have a miscarriage.

In many areas of India, rice is a fundamental part of every family's diet, and yet, in some situations, rice is considered more harmful than useful product. In one Himalayan village where the author of this article lived in November 2015, the locals ate only wheat flatbreads for breakfast, lunch and dinner, explaining that the cold season had already arrived, which means they should abstain from rice, as it cools people. body.

So, we see that the choice of diet, in addition to medical factors, is influenced by many others: religious traditions, cultural values, the desire to look modern, the desire to establish one’s status in society, and much more. All people want to eat healthy, but, anthropologists emphasize, ideas about “healthy” food are extremely diverse and depend both on the society to which a person belongs and on the historical period that this society is experiencing. This is why it is impossible to pinpoint once and for all what diet will be best for everyone.

"The Last Supper". Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449-1494), Florence

Museum of San Marco

Venera Khalikova

It has long been well known that the standard American diet has a terrible effect on human health. But what remains unknown is how the food industry uses science and psychology to create surrogate products that do not contain nutrients, but contain an excess of chemical additives and dyes, which are highly addictive.

In fact, knowing how food companies get consumers hooked on their products (physically, mentally and emotionally) makes for a good conspiracy theory. The largest food manufacturers know very well that the way to encourage repeat purchases is to outwit the body and mind, interrupting a person's natural cravings for healthy and nutritious food.

“This knowledge has been available to the public and food companies for decades - or at least everyone will know it after today's meeting: sweet, salty and fatty foods are not healthy in the quantities in which people now consume them. So, why is there a rapid (out of control) increase in diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure? It's not just a matter of weak willpower on the part of consumers, or an attitude on the part of food producers that is expressed in the phrase: "We have to give the people what they want." In four years of research and study, I have discovered that it is a conscious act that unfolds in laboratories, in marketing meetings, and on grocery store shelves, an act called: getting people hooked on products that are convenient and accessible.” Michael Moss .

It's all about physiology, psychology and neurobiology, as well as three key ingredients: salt, sugar and fat. And at the root of the science that creates addiction to certain foods is our understanding of the physiology and neurochemical reactions of humans to food. Scientists managed to succinctly express this in the simplest equation: “Food = pleasure.”

“The Food = Pleasure equation postulates that the brain has the ability to quantify the pleasure contained in the experience of eating food through the operation of certain dopamine neurons in the brain and the feeling of fullness in the digestive tract. When a person is faced with a choice of which food to prefer, the brain at this moment actually calculates how much pleasure can be obtained during the absorption and subsequent digestion of this or that food. The goal of our brain, gastrointestinal tract and fat cells is to maximize the pleasure received from the external environment, both through taste and through a set of macroelements (macroelements are chemical elements necessary for the human or animal body to ensure normal functioning). If food contains few calories for some reason (for example, in order to improve the body’s health), the digestive system senses this, and over time the food becomes less appetizing and less tasty.”

The task of the food engineering scientist is to figure out how to override this function by deceiving the brain and body into believing that high-calorie, nutrient-poor food will lead the body to the coveted reward of satiety and pleasure. To achieve this, they focus on a short list of key factors.

In a recent article about food cravings and how to overcome them, James Clear, author of the book "Sneaky Habits: A Simple, Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Habits," discusses six the key driving forces involved in tricking people into eating unhealthy foods.

Dynamic contrast. Dynamic contrast is a combination of different sensations from a single product. According to Witherly, food with dynamic contrast has “an edible shell in the form of a crispy crust, behind which there is something creamy or puree-like in consistency and creamy in taste, and this activates different human taste buds. This rule applies to a wide range of our favorite foods, think: the caramelized crust of a crème brûlée dessert, a slice of pizza, or an Oreo cookie (Oreo is a cookie consisting of two chocolate-sugar black discs with a sweet cream filling in between). . The brain perceives the combination of crispy crust and creamy filling as something original and exciting.”

Salivation

Salivation is part of the process of digesting food, and the more salivating a food makes you, the more likely it is to end up in your mouth, and you'll savor it longer through the taste buds on your tongue. Emulsified foods such as butter, chocolate, salad dressing, ice cream or mayonnaise cause salivation, which moistens the taste buds on the tongue and contributes to the enjoyment of food. That's why many people love dishes with various sauces and gravies. As a result, food that makes you salivate feels like you're tap-dancing happily in your brain, and often tastes better than food that doesn't contain gravy or sauce.

“Melt on the tongue” food and the illusion of low calories

Food that quickly literally “melts in your mouth” gives a signal to the brain that a person has not eaten that much, although in fact this is not the case. In other words, such food literally tells the brain that a person has not yet eaten enough, although at this moment he is absorbing a lot of calories. This leads to overeating.

Specific receptor response

The brain likes variety. When it comes to food, when you experience the same taste over and over again, you begin to enjoy the dish less and less. In other words, the sensitivity of a particular receptor decreases over time. This process can happen in just a few minutes.

High-calorie surrogate food

(called "junk foods" in English) is created in such a way as to avoid this satiation response. Junk foods contain enough flavor to keep it interesting (the brain never tires of eating them), but junk foods don't stimulate the sensory system enough to cause satiation boredom. That's why you can swallow an entire bag of chips and be ready to eat another one. The crunch and taste sensation of eating dry snacks gives the brain a new and interesting experience every time!

Satiety

High-calorie surrogate products are created with the purpose of convincing the brain that it is receiving nutrition, and not at all to actually saturate the body. Receptors in the mouth and stomach tell the brain about the mixture of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in each product, and how good and satisfying it is. Junk foods contain just enough calories for the brain to say, “Yes, this will give me some energy,” but not so many calories for the person to think, “That’s enough—I’m full.” As a result, a person craves such food, but a lot of time passes before he feels full.

Past Experiences

This is where the psychology of harmful surrogate products actually works against you. When you eat something tasty (like a bag of chips), your brain registers that sensation. The next time you see that food, smell it, or even just read about it, your brain begins to replay the sensations you experienced the last time you ate it. Such memories can cause an immediate physical response in the body, such as salivation or a craving for that food, making your mouth water—the sensations you typically experience when thinking about your favorite foods.

Conclusion

Scientists have outsmarted your taste buds and your body's natural ability to determine which foods are good for your body. Knowledge will allow you to win in this game. After all, your health depends on it.