MY EXPERIENCES AND OBSERVATIONS

If you look at the population of Asia or the developing world, you will notice that the percentage of overweight people is much less than in the ‘developed’ western world. Discounting the increasing problem of food shortages caused by famines and the underlying genetic makeup of the people, there is a common link:

They eat very little processed food.

The main portion of their diet is made up of fresh vegetables straight from the earth, fruits directly from the trees, fish straight from the rivers, lakes and the sea and fresh meat from the forests, plains or farms. The important thing is that the food is fresh, seasonal, not refined or pumped full of unpronounceable chemicals, and local. The fresher the food, the higher the proportion of vitamins and minerals it contains. The nutritional value of imported goods is less because these important natural components degrade over time. Fruit, in particular suffers from losing its nutrients steadily as soon as it is picked.

I have lived in various parts of the world and seen my own weight fluctuate depending on whether I was buying fresh, local produce spread out on banana leaf mats or familiar brand name products in shiny plastic wrapping in a supermarket. Either way I didn’t go hungry but when I was eating fresh local produce, my weight dropped and I felt so much healthier and happier. It happened too many times with exactly the same result to be a coincidence.

I spent some time in the Solomon Islands in the south west pacific which was a battleground for America and Japan in WWII, leaving behind many crashed aircraft, sunken ships and rusting tanks and guns. A reunion was held 50 years after the end of the war by soldiers, pilots and seamen of both sides. As they climbed down the stairs of the plane, the difference between the appearances of the two parties was incredible. The Japanese were at least 30-40kg lighter and looked about 20 years younger than their American counterparts of the same age. It seemed impossible that they could have fought in the same war, let alone been of identical age. Genetics isn’t the difference here; you just have to consider the Japanese Sumo wrestlers to see that overeating and overindulgence of the wrong things pile on the weight the same as for western people. The difference is diet and lifestyle. Much of the protein in the Japanese diet comes from fish, an easier protein for your body to deal with than red meat and one that contains far less fat; very little dairy produce; rice, a cereal and carbohydrate which is easier to digest than wheat; a lot of fresh vegetables and several varieties of edible seaweed which are packed full of vital vitamins and minerals. Need I say more? Admittedly a Japanese diet isn’t one that appeals to everyone but it’s important to note the use of fish, rice and vegetables and the fact that these are more easily digested by your body than red meat, wheat, dairy products and processed foods. The Japanese also tend not to overeat and recognise that cereals and vegetables form the majority of their diet supplemented with a much smaller amount of protein, not forgetting that they take daily exercise often provided by their employers at their place of work.

The people of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka also prepare food from fresh whole foods and, like the Japanese, do not eat a large amount of animal protein. In some regions the people are almost all vegetarian, acquiring good quality protein from pulses (such as lentils and chickpeas) which also assures a regular amount of fibre. It is often thought that spicy food is not good for the stomach causing irritation and upset, but in fact these symptoms are only likely to be caused by chillies, whereas the numerous other spices used all have medicinal properties and actually aid digestion.

Having said all this, don’t think that spending every night in an Indian restaurant is your key to weight loss and health. Far from it, as more often than not chefs in these restaurants will use a basic gravy mix purchased by the barrel from a central supplier containing - you guessed it - hydrogenated vegetable oil and palm sugar! It is much cheaper to buy it in bulk like this than to make their own much healthier version and is also the reason why dishes from different Indian restaurants often taste the same. Let’s face it; they’re not there for your health, but to make a profit!