Dietitian saves the Day

Over the past years South Africa has gained attention in regard to the bad eating habits, eating disorders and chronic diseases.   The recent study by the Chronic Diseases Initiative in Africa (CDIA) and the Chronic Diseases of Lifestyle Unit of the Medical Research Council (MRC) in partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation South Africa (HSF) and Pharma Dynamics revealed the disturbing misconceptions of unhealthy eating habits of many South Africans at a time of chronic conditions such as heat diseases.
Chronic diseases such as hypertension (raised blood pressure) hyperlipidemia (high cholesterol levels), type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer of the lungs, pancreas, colon, breast and rectum can actually be prevented since they are primarily caused by a similar factor, unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise.
Ivonne Mashite is a consultant dietitian, she reckons that a healthy person should have a minimum of 50 or 60 percent energy per day; this could be a combination of all the vitals that a body needs, be it vitamins, protein or carbohydrates. Nevertheless, even if one has the minimum energy requirements level for a day, they should still have a healthy diet, have a fruit in the morning, and ensure that you drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
Ivonne has a list of five things that she recommends that people adhere to, to stay healthy, they are: eat lots of vegetables, fruits, fiber  which you can get from eating tomato, zucchini, spinach, sweet potato, onion, kales and cooked Brussels sprouts, drink lots of water and exercise. “I always tell people to do these five things and I know they will be healthy’ she says.
Getting children to eat vegetables is most parents’ nightmare, Ivonne advises parents to make the young ones love their veggies by being more creative with the preparations, cut them into beautiful shapes or alternatively mix them with soup or in stew.  When Children are growing they need fat, as it is a crucial factor when it comes to their brain, not just any type of fat, good fat, avocado for instance contain very good fats.  She also advises that vegetables should be eaten as raw as possible, those who use frozen vegetables should “defrost them and add them to the cooked food they have more vitals when used in this form than when overcooked” Ivonne added.
The say too much of everything is bad proves to be true after all, Ivonne confirmed that, eating a burger once in a while or fried chips is not bad but it becomes a problem when fatty foods are eaten constantly without any form of physical exercise. A balanced diet consists of a balance of all the vitals that a body needs.