The way we feed ourselves, the choice of our diet, the preference of our meals, and our eating habits have an impact on our bodies. Often we lose sight of the fact that good habits can become as addictive as bad habits. In our diet, it may be that we have accustomed our bodies to an unhealthy diet. If so, how to reprogram one’s body to love what is healthy? Hence the theme of this article: Forms of Malnutrition and Food Rehabilitation.
Definition of Malnutrition
Malnutrition is seen as a deficiency of nutrient inputs in the body.
Malnutrition refers to a disease state caused by the deficiency or excess of one or more nutrients.
In other words, malnutrition refers to a disease state caused by the deficiency or excess of one or more nutrients. Abnormal food intake can come from food in inadequate quantity as needed (insufficient or excessive calorie intake) or poor quality (nutritional deficiencies or excess fat …); other factors, including psychological and pathological factors, are also involved.
Forms of Malnutrition in the World
In developing countries, the biggest nutritional problem is “undernourishment” due to inadequate caloric intake. But all over the world, various forms of malnutrition exist, leading in particular to obesity and serious deficiencies. Malnutrition has been called “hidden hunger” by the United Nations, affecting two billion people with vitamin and mineral deficiencies that can cause deadly diseases.
Mortality would be a result of different forms of malnutrition in 58% of general mortality cases in 2006: “Worldwide, 62 million people, for all causes of death, die each year”. One in twelve people in the world is malnourished. In 2006, more than 36 million people died from hunger or illnesses usually related to nutritional deficiencies.
The Consequences of Malnutrition
Malnutrition increases the risk of infections and diseases; for example, it is a major risk in the development of tuberculosis. In communities or areas where access to drinking water is non-existent, these health risks are a serious problem. Low physical and psychological energy is felt and the victims are unable to perform daily tasks or obtain a proper education (in children).
Indeed, the brain is constantly traversed by electrical impulses, relayed between cells by chemical messengers: neurotransmitters. Digestion, assimilation, and storage of food are under the control of this system. But the neurotransmitters that regulate our metabolic function are also involved in our thoughts and emotions. How surprising, then, that our mental and emotional state has an impact on weight gain and weight loss?
Recent discoveries in neuroscience have shown that poorly managed emotions, excessive stress, and obsessive thoughts … interfere with both eating behavior and metabolism.
*** Global Consequences of Malnutrition
In 2006, more than 3.5 billion people suffered from iron deficiency; two billion were at risk of iodine deficiency, and 200 million preschool children suffered from vitamin A deficiency.
In developing countries, nutritional deficiencies cause diseases such as kwashiorkor, anemia (which attacks the blood system and prevents concentration), rickets (which prevents the normal development of the child’s bones), or blindness ( caused by vitamin A deficiency). Unicef’s 2004 report to the World Bank is appalling:
- Iron deficiency among babies 6 to 24 months affects the mental development of 40 to 60 percent of children in developing countries.
- Iodine deficiencies have reduced the intellectual capacity of these countries by 10 to 15 percent and caused the birth of 18 million mentally disabled children a year.
- The lack of vitamin A causes the death of one million children each year.
In adults, the most affected are often women:
Anemia caused by iron deficiency leads to the death of 60,000 young women during pregnancy or childbirth; the lack of folic acid causes one in ten heart disease deaths. Deficiencies add up and make the body more vulnerable to other diseases. The economic impact is enormous, the energy decline associated with deficiencies causing a 2% drop in GNP in the most affected countries.
Undernourishment affects some 800 million people worldwide, while obesity affects more than 300 million people (see these articles for details). According to MSF, on average, in 2009, one child died of malnutrition every six seconds (more than five million during the year). The fight against various forms of malnutrition is also one of the eight Millennium Development Goals initiated in 2000 by the UN. The third target of this goal is to halve the number of people suffering from malnutrition between 1990 and 2015.
In October 2014, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) stressed the often neglected scourge of hidden hunger. This form of malnutrition affects more than 2 billion people. It occurs when the intake or absorption of vitamins and minerals or trace elements (zinc, iodine, iron, vitamins A and B) are insufficient to ensure good health and development.
You Can Train Your Brain to Love Healthy Food
Researchers at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in the United States, according to a study published in the scientific journal Nutrition and Diabetes in September 2014, have demonstrated through brain imaging that it is possible to “reprogram “our brains so as to reverse the addiction to” junk food “.
The test was conducted on 13 male and female obese or overweight volunteers due to poor eating habits. The researchers explain that eating repetitive “toxic” food for their bodies has, in a way, conditioned them to eat badly. We are genetically programmed to love what is fat and sweet. Eight of the thirteen participants attended a food program to lose weight. At the beginning of the experiment and six months later, the brains of all volunteers were observed on MRI.
Objective: to check if it could be repackaged so as to relieve the craving for junk food in favor of healthy and balanced food choices.
Those who followed the diet showed brain changes in the area associated with reward, learning, and addiction. This region has become more sensitive to low-calorie and healthy foods. In other words, this change in the reward circuit has manifested itself in a greater sense of satisfaction for a balanced diet, and no longer for fatty and calorific foods. New neural connections are created while others fall asleep.
According to the scientists, two weeks are enough to remove from the diet foods too fat and too sweet and reprogram his body to love only healthy food. How? Resisting temptation with four strategies.
Compromise
According to a study by Duke University, we would rather eat a biscuit + three apple wedges than four cookies. Same observation with chips and carrots. Being content with a small portion of fat or sweet food and compensating with something healthy can satisfy his desires while keeping a course of action to stay healthy.
Sweat Regularly
Kinesiology researchers at Waterloo University say that cardio is the best way to build self-control. Junk food enthusiasts have a lower activity of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, compared to people with a more regular healthy diet. To develop the activity of this part of the brain, it would be sufficient to practice at least 150 minutes of cardio a week or 20 minutes a day.
To Distract Yourself
It is important to keep a brain activity permanently if you do not want to succumb to the nibbling call. Thus, according to a study by Plymouth University, it was demonstrated that playing a virtual game for a few minutes was enough to kill cravings. Indeed, the coordination that must be implemented between gaze and hand leaves little room to think of ice. It is difficult to stay focused on a mental image even if you look at something moving.
Watch Yourself When You Are Hungry
Numerous studies show that the body gradually develops an appetite for foods consumed in case of great hunger. It is important to monitor your diet and limit foods that are too rich, too fat, or too sweet. Thus, if you are dependent on snacks, especially at tea time, it is better to consume fiber and protein, since, in the long run, this will ultimately make us want.
Organized Junk Food
Our body is attacked daily by an 80% food of industrial origin. Very powerful agribusiness lobbies put us in the wrong ideas, harmful to our health. Health that is true, weighs very little face the huge profit that the big brands of food make.
The manufacturers have developed strategies to make us addicted to junk food and that it is absolutely necessary to avoid. Especially among young people. As a teenager, the health capital is created that will serve all of life.
Moreover, this junk food, if it is addictive, is a real vicious circle. Eating sweeter triggers reaction hypoglycemia. Faced with a rapid influx of sugar into the blood, the brain triggers the insulin pump of the pancreas to lower the sugar level. But the brain is a big consumer of sugar, so he’s going to claim it.
The intestine is the starting point for many pathologies. It is not for nothing that we often call “the second brain”. It is therefore important to take care of your microbiota. And that’s where diet rehabilitation comes in.
According to the WHO, different forms of malnutrition are the biggest cause of child mortality, present in half of the cases. Six million children die of hunger each year. Underweight and dietary restrictions annually cause 2.2 million deaths among children. Low or no lactation causes 1.4 million deaths. Other deficiencies, such as lack of vitamin A or zinc, for example, include 1 million. Malnutrition in children under 2 is an irreversible case. Malnourished children grow up with health complications. Their own children are also smaller than the norm. Malnutrition was previously perceived as empirical in some diseases such as measles, pneumonia, and diarrhea. But malnutrition also causes disease and can be life-threatening.
Excess Acidity
Our diet has an impact on the degree of acidity of our internal environment. Our body is composed of about 70% water. It is present inside our cells, but also in the interstitial fluid where they bathe, and in our body fluids (blood, lymph). When these liquids become too acidic, it leads to a state of latent micro-ignition that promotes fat storage and cellulite clusters.
Excess acidity has many other negative effects. It promotes cell aging, joint pain, and fatigue. For this, it is sufficient to focus, on the daily diet, alkalizing foods, and reducing acidifying foods.
* Alkalizing foods: fresh fruits and vegetables.
* Acidifying foods: animal protein (especially red meat), cereals, and sugars (especially refined).
* Neutral foods: fat and dairy products.
Learn to Want Healthier Foods
Good habits can become as addictive as bad habits.
A normal brain clearly receives signals that the body is hungry. Once the body receives its food, it tells the brain that the caloric fuel consumed is enough and it sends a pleasing and comfortable feeling of fullness.
The brain of an obese person is not a happy and functional place, at least as far as food is concerned. This is because human beings are extremely emotional creatures and emotions have the power to strongly affect metabolic processes.
The strong emotions associated with eating can stifle the natural chemical process of communication in the brain of an obese subject. Without clear communication, the brain cannot know when it is hungry. The proportion makes no sense and reinforces bad eating habits. Rather than relying on the body to communicate that she is hungry, an obese person can learn to eat as a response to stress, boredom, or anxiety. This is where the relationship with food might become abusive.
Food Rebalancing: A Healthy Lifestyle
Rebalancing food is a healthy way to regain control over your diet. No deprivation or frustration; nothing but common sense.
Food Rehabilitation
This is where diet rehabilitation comes in. An ideal way to regain control of your body. It’s about focusing on the quality of nutritional inputs that ensure your vital functions. Weaned of what clutters you daily, your body will never be so well.
The goal is to establish a healthy nutritional background, adapted to your needs and your rhythm of life. No deprivation, no frustration. If we combine a re-educated diet with the benefits of sport, the results will be long-lasting. Nothing serves to change everything. Focus on good foods, and take good habits.
That’s the key.
* Listen to your body and the messages of hunger and satiety it sends you. Eating in full awareness means taking your time and savoring every bite.
* It takes about 20 minutes for your stomach to send the message of satiety to your brain. If you eat fast, this message will not have time to reach your brain and you will continue to eat even if you are no longer hungry. This will make your digestion heavy and difficult.
* The pleasure of eating is an essential factor for good digestion, but this pleasure must be accompanied by the conscience of the quality of what we eat: “We are what we eat”.
* Cook “home” and forget toxic industrial preparations, too fat or too sweet.
* Opt as often as possible for organic food, and modes of cooking soft, steam, or wok.
* Adopt raw, seasonal fruits and vegetables that are detoxifying and rich in antioxidants. They provide fibers that promote good transit and good elimination of toxins.
* Do not succumb to temptation, stop snacking but yes to healthy snacks if you are hungry. Take 5 small meals a day and at regular times.
* Take your meals in a pleasant and serene atmosphere. Put some color on your plate, decorate your table, cut your phone, and do not sit in front of your little screen while eating.
Focus on good foods, and take good habits. This is the key to a successful food rebalancing. Thinness is not just about the digestive system, food metabolism, and nutritional choices. Admittedly, it comes into play. But weight control also involves the nervous system, the mind, and emotions. It is on all these factors that we must act, at the same time, to restore weight balance.
As a Note on Forms of Malnutrition and Food Rehabilitation
By combining a few daily exercises with new eating habits and a few detoxifying gestures, you will give yourself every chance to lose weight naturally, without much effort, and guarantee your body’s optimal functioning.
Malnutrition, in the form of iodine deficiency, is “the most common cause of mental disorder in the world”. Even a mild iodine deficiency, especially in children and pregnant women, decreases intelligence by 10 to 15 of IQ7. The most visible and consistent effects – not to mention cretinism or dwarfism – affect a minority, particularly localized in the villages.
Nutritional treatment can help treat depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, the four most prevalent mental disorders in developed countries8. Additional treatments to help improve and stabilize mood include eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), vitamin B12, vitamin B9, and inositol.