Every year new trends emerge in eating habits – intermittent fasting or eating food in a certain order are some examples. «Currently, in Western countries, the general diet of the population is very enriched in proteins and it is, precisely, protein foods that are … most expensive in the shopping basket,” says Antonio Murillo Cancho, professor of Nutrition at UNIR.
In his opinion, “this is not consistent with a healthy diet,” even though most people follow it. “If we refer to the typical Spanish diet, like the one that was given in the 60s in most homes, it was much healthier.” Murillo remembers that it was “based on cereals, legumes, vegetables, fruit and with some meat and fish.” There would lie the nuance of what he considers a balanced and healthy diet.
“A healthy diet is varied and is committed to principles related to a balanced diet, that is, 55% carbohydrates, 30 or 35% fat and approximately 15% protein,” specifies this nutrition expert, who alerts that currently the protein goes from 15% to almost double. «We are scandalously reducing carbohydrates because we believe that they make us fat, which is not true; “What makes you fat is inactivity.”
«We should not talk about good or bad foods, but about good or bad use»
Antonio Murillo Cancho
Nutrition Professor at UNIR
On the other hand, there are studies, he admits, that relate the order of food intake to an increase in blood glucose. “Technically it can affect,” but “the consumer in general should not worry about it. “We have to eat normally, like we have done all our lives.”
Therefore, he advises avoiding magic formulas. “We have an internal system capable of regulating everything we consume, unless we have some pathophysiological problem that prevents it,” he clarifies. “The agency itself is in charge of ordering and regulating.” And he emphasizes that experimental studies “are one thing and the daily practice of eating, another.”
Strike a balance
And this practice points out glucose – blood sugar – as necessary, despite being in the spotlight. “It is the main energy substrate that the body has and is absolutely necessary for our cells and, especially, neurons to function.” Although he admits that we do have to avoid the glucose spike, which can be harmful and can be caused by foods very rich in simple sugars “and when eaten in a significant quantity.”
Therefore, for Antonio Murillo there are no foods that we should banish. “We should not talk about whether they are good or bad, but about their good or bad use.” The secrets to eating well “we publish them continually, but no one pays attention to us.” In summary, he emphasizes that “the key is to eat everything, in a balanced way, in the right amount and to exercise. There are no more secrets.
This nutrition expert sees training from the first educational levels as vital. “We eat several times a day, 365 days a year, but no one teaches us how to do it,” when nutritional education “is the basis, which will allow us to make a good selection of foods throughout our lives.” , he explains.
And he concludes by assuring that “the greatest effect that facilitates or harms the life of an individual is due to diet” and well-chosen food can “perfectly reduce the symptoms of aging and in a society with increasing life expectancy, this is essential.” .
Diet, a key factor for a healthy microbiota
Diet influences the gut-brain axis, that is, as explained by Edwin Fernández, director of the Master in Precision Nutrition and Nutritional Epidemiology at UNIR, between the relationship that exists “between the functioning of our microbiota, which are the microorganisms that found in our digestive system, and certain cognitive functions. When diet affects the composition of that microbiota, “it is possible that this axis is also negatively affected.”
These alterations may only be physical, the symptoms of which are the first to be discovered, but they may also develop some chronic pathologies related to metabolism or pathologies of a cognitive nature, as “everything related to mental health” is affected.
Fernández points out that when the composition of the microbiota is closer “to what we consider healthy, the person usually has a more optimal state of health.” For this expert, it is crucial to follow a balanced diet to achieve that long-awaited emotional well-being. He agrees with Antonio Murillo in pointing out that most of the energy “should come from carbohydrates, from the soluble and insoluble fiber of legumes, fruits and vegetables, and a small part from healthy fats.” and proteins.
For Fernández, each person should follow a dietary pattern according to their needs. This is where precision nutrition comes from, with “specific recommendations, not based on general comments, but on multiple factors that surround that person and that make them completely unique.”
