In Defense Of Food Traditions - The Quality Of Life

2023 Author: Oswald Adamson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 20:18

Our great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers considered breakfast made of milk with bread tasty, satisfying and healthy. And in our country, traditional products raise more and more questions and concerns. Gluten, lactose, simple carbohydrates, free sugars - all these concepts that emerged from scientific research, popular magazines and stories of friends, settled in our minds, creating a terrible jumble of facts, speculation and rumors

We come to the store and freeze in confusion in front of the counter, bursting with a variety of products. Adding to the difficulty of choosing healthy food is the problem of “stress seizing”. And with a dynamic lifestyle, you also need products that give you a feeling of fullness for a long time. Which bread to choose? Should you buy it at all? Perhaps it's time to give up milk? Let's talk about what facts about traditional products you can believe.

Bread is the head of everything

Bread and other grain products are essential sources of dietary fiber, vitamins, trace elements and minerals. They provide energy and also serve as a source of fiber for us. Every day a person for normal functioning of the digestive tract needs to receive 25-35 g of dietary fiber - this is 6-8 pieces of whole grain bread. Avoiding bread altogether will make it extremely difficult to recruit fiber. As a substitute, you will have to eat 14 fresh apples, 21 raw carrots, and several kilograms of cucumbers.

Rye bread is healthier than wheat bread, as it contains more fiber, has a lower glycemic index (which means it gives you a feeling of fullness for a long time) and contains more vitamins and trace elements (for example, vitamin B, potassium and magnesium). They normalize the functioning of the nervous system and help maintain stress resistance. They are also responsible for a healthy complexion, skin condition and the functioning of the cardiovascular system.

What is the fear of bread?

There is an idea of the high calorie content of yeast products, as well as their harmful activity when ingested. However, yeast is needed only at the stage of dough formation; during baking, it does not withstand heat treatment and is deactivated. The main calorie content of bread is provided by butter, sugar, grain.

Another "claim" to bread is gluten. It is a vegetable protein found in the seeds of cereal plants. Exclude gluten from the diet for two reasons: with a diet for weight control or with individual intolerance - celiac disease. This is a very rare autoimmune disease (on average 0.5–1.0% of the total population of the planet). With celiac disease, the body begins to fight its own tissues, producing antibodies and damaging substances that are directed against the intestinal mucosa. Symptoms of celiac disease vary: headaches, anemia, dystrophic changes, increased bleeding, and others. Gluten intolerance leads to atrophy of the mucous membrane of the small intestine of varying severity, anemic syndrome, osteoporosis, growth retardation and other serious consequences. Therefore, in case of suspicion, you should consult a doctor.

What other ingredients can cause unpleasant symptoms? These are fermentable oligo-, di-, monosaccharides and polyols. In short - FODMAP. They are carbohydrates that are poorly absorbed in the small intestine. Once in the large intestine, they quickly ferment, causing discomfort - excessive gas production, irritable bowel syndrome. Rye, apples, cabbage, legumes are rich in such carbohydrates. Low FODMAP content is typical for oats, rice, potatoes. That is, there is a dependence: bread that is more useful in fiber and vitamins can sometimes cause bloating and other unpleasant symptoms.

What is the cause of the malaise, the diet will help to find out - a temporary exclusion from the diet of foods containing FODMAP or gluten. Keep a food diary for 8 weeks: if there are no unpleasant symptoms after eating the "right" bread, there is nothing to be afraid of! If there is, you can try another cereal, another bread.

Milk for adults

Scientists are adamant: milk is healthy and necessary for everyone and at any age. It ensures normal growth for children, and helps athletes in the formation of the muscular skeleton. Pregnant women need milk for the full development of the fetus, and people in old age in order to maintain healthy bones.

Teeth, nails, hair - all this needs calcium, which is rich in milk. Milk contains 20 amino acids, while there are more essential amino acids in milk than in meat or vegetable protein. The presence of such amino acids in the diet is critically important: their deficiency disrupts protein synthesis and can lead to serious consequences - weakening of memory functions, decreased immunity, and impaired blood formation.

There are several reasons for skipping milk - switching to a vegan diet, special diets for weight loss, lactose intolerance, or an allergy to cow's milk protein.

As for lactose, milk sugar, according to various sources, from 30 to 50% of the population of Russia to one degree or another do not assimilate lactose: they simply do not have enough enzymes in their intestines to digest this complex carbohydrate. This enzyme is called lactase, which is why lactose intolerance is also called lactase deficiency. It is easy to check if you have lactose intolerance: if within a couple of hours after a glass of milk (you need to check it with whole milk) your stomach is swollen, rumbling or worse, it looks like it is.

Despite the widespread prevalence of lactase deficiency, there is very little knowledge about it, and the attitude towards milk is ultimately expressed in extremes. Because of unpleasant sensations, people often refuse not only milk, but in general from all dairy products. And in vain. After all, the content of lactose during fermentation, for example, in cheese, is reduced to a minimum, such products can be consumed with lactase deficiency, of course, if we are not talking about an extremely high degree of intolerance to milk sugar.

If the rejection of milk is associated with the transition to a vegan diet, or an allergy to milk protein, then it is worth mentioning the need to compensate for the consumption of proteins, as well as vitamins, microelements. Milk contains a set of essential amino acids that the human body is not able to synthesize on its own and gets only from food. Fortunately, there is now a wide range of milk analogue products on store shelves.

Traditional products are useful and useful at any age. Apparently, in some ways, our great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers were right. Of course, individual intolerance to the components exists and is quite common, but only a specialist can give the most correct recommendations.

Specialist comment

Even with the highest degree of lactose intolerance, you shouldn't give up this unique source of nutrients forever. At the beginning of the 21st century, Valio was the first in the world to introduce Valio Eila lactose-free milk, which is now also available to Russians. It contains less than 0.01% lactose, while retaining all the benefits of cow's milk and does not differ from it in taste. In addition, Valio Eila milk is fortified with vitamin D, which is deficient in the northern regions of the country. Due to the presence of this vitamin, calcium from Valio Eila milk is absorbed 50% better than without it. A nice bonus for those who count calories - due to the removal of lactose, such milk contains 35% less carbohydrates.

With the rise in popularity of veganism and mindful eating, we began to notice that more and more people are seeking to diversify their diet and are thinking about a product that could become a milk substitute. This is how our Valio Oddlygood oat drink was born. The choice of oats as the basis for the product is due to the fact that 37% of the amino acids in oat protein are essential - this is more than, for example, in wheat or pea protein. By the way, the FODMAP content in oats is lower than in other grains. Oats are rich in sulfur-containing amino acids, as well as leucine, which is essential for maintaining muscle health - it is this amino acid that helps to restore muscles after active sports.

Anna Orekhova, brand manager of Valio LLC