Riho Ohi writes:
Mr and Mrs Mine together have a lot of problems in terms of daily food intake. Monday through Saturday they usually skip breakfast or if there's time, they'll fry some food left over from the day before. And both Mr and Mrs M share fast food that Mr M picks up on his way from the office late night-- pizza, yakitori or Chinese noodles with eggs, pork and chicken.
About Mr Mine, he has high blood pressure. Mr M has low levels of HDL but his LDL level is 170. Above the160 mg/dL level increases his risk heart disease. And high blood pressure has a relationship with heart disease, too. So he must decrease his risk heart disease. For this, he needs to do exercise. But he says he has no opportunity to do regular exercise. Since he works late it is difficult, but regular exercise decreases LDL levels. And it is essential to reduce fat. Because he has fried food at breakfast and lunch, he has too much fried food. Also, he occasionally experiences angina chest pains. He is a heavy smoker. He should stop his smoking. Smoking already kills an average of 3 million adults a year worldwide. And it is said that smoking is one of causes of lung cancer.
On the other hand, Mrs Mine has high HDL and LDL levels. Very often her dinner is a combination of snack food and sandwiches -- she especially likes cheese or eggs and butter or margarine on her bread. Several aunts and her mother have developed complications with various cancers, including cancer of the breast. She has to know that women who eat diets rich in animal foods reach menarche earlier, thereby producing more estrogen over their lifetimes and developing breast cancer at a significantly higher rate. And cancer has a relationship with his/her family history. To reduce cholesterol, she should eat egg yolks only three times a week. By the way, Mrs M is more concerned about her appearance than her health. She cannot understand why she is 10 kilos overweight, since she eats only two meals a day. She needs to know that skipping meals can lead to out-of-control hunger, often resulting in overeating.
Mr and Mrs M have to change their daily food (and also do some kinds of sports). There are no "superfoods" or easy answers to a healthy diet. They need more than 40 different nutrients for good health, and no single food supplies them all. They have eaten only some categories of food. So they should have other whole-grain products; fruits; vegetables; dairy products; and meat, poultry, fish and other protein foods.And if they miss out on any food group one day, they need to make up for it the next. They must try to BALANCE THEIR FOOD CHOICES OVER TIME.
| Click the BACK button to return to the student index.|