Experts warn of consumer confusion generated by the continuous changes in nutrition messages.

Foundation Health Sciences, Instituto Tomás Pascual and Student Residence managing the Day of obesity to anorexia: controversies in current food

Food is being used almost as drugs-especially-called functional, so it would not hurt that these were all the healing properties attributed to them
The Mediterranean diet has shifted from largely unknown to become a panacea, although few studies with scientific evidence of its potential beneficial effects
Dissatisfaction with self-image arises primarily from the enormous social pressure and especially affects women
The generic communication and non-commercial training should only be done by government and academia, but also by agents of the Food Chain
There are bodies concerned in accordance with criteria that we feed upon them well, and not on what one should decide autonomously



What to eat? Today is the question that we do very often, when surrounded by palatable foods cheaper and easier to obtain, due to the uncertainty of whether they are good or bad, ie if we help to maintain health or, conversely, we ill will. Never before have we had so much information and at the time, so much confusion.

The food itself has ceased to be a natural to become very sophisticated that can be used in many ways, said Dr. Susana Monereo, Chief of Endocrinology and Nutrition Service of the Hospital de Getafe (Madrid) during the journey from obesity to anorexia: current controversies in food, organized by the Foundation for Health Sciences, Instituto Tomás Pascual Sanz and the Residencia de Estudiantes.

Using food wrongly by overinformation or lack of it, just taking a toll on our health in many ways, explains Monereo. In this regard, one of the objectives of the day, held today at the Residencia de Estudiantes, is to highlight the important role that food plays in our lives. Food is being used almost as drugs-especially-called functional, so it would not hurt that these were all the healing properties attributed to them, he adds.

According to Professor Gregorio Varela, Professor of Nutrition and Food Science, University CEU San Pablo, and president of the Spanish Nutrition Foundation, despite the advances in our knowledge, no other science-an allusion to nutrition, which is more surrounded by beliefs, myths and magic. During his lecture, entitled Truths and fallacies about the power of food, the expert had expressed surprise that such things happen more now than a hundred years ago.

The constant modification of the nutritional message in recent years has generated many times, mislead the consumer, explains Professor Varela. For example, the Mediterranean diet has gone from being a stranger to become a panacea, although few studies that show scientific evidence of its potential beneficial effects, he adds. Olive oil, fish and wine are some foods whose virtues have been globalized.

For his part, Dr. Clotilde Vazquez, head of the Clinical Nutrition Section of the Hospital Ramon y Cajal, Madrid, said that under eating disorders ranging from obesity to anorexia lies an abnormal relationship with food. They have a significant genetic basis, although dissatisfaction with the self-image arises primarily from the enormous social pressure, which particularly affects women, he notes.

Following this, young people are too drastic dieting. An exaggerated caloric restriction predisposes the organism to a subsequent rebound, which usually gain more weight than they lost and more fat, says the expert. Worryingly, increasingly, obesity is reached from the desire to lose weight, says Dr. Vazquez. Balance is in the normalization of the image as something quite different, not subject to external charges, and the improvement of the relationship with food.

Regarding the reliability of information and communication on food, José Ignacio Arranz, Interalimentario CEO Forum, a nonprofit association formed by 14 leading food companies, and former executive director of the Spanish Agency for Food Security and Nutrition has stressed the need to inform and educate the society on business communication, truth, excellence and scientific support.

During his lecture, entitled The information and communication on food, Arranz communication has suggested that generic non-commercial training and should only be done by government and academia, but also have to engage the operators of the food chain. In this sense, it is clear that businesses or business associations that come will be less challenged and the better your profile and increased its record of excellence, he concludes.

The ethical aspect of dietetics has been commissioned Professor Diego Gracia, Professor of History of Medicine at the Complutense University of Madrid and president of the Foundation for Health Sciences. There are many bodies involved in that nourish us according to criteria that suits them, and not on what one should make independent decisions, says the expert.

Professor Grace said that when the supply of products is so large, it is necessary to promote truthful reporting and accountability in the election: only mature personalities make the right decisions to get such a broad range of possibilities.

Tomás Pascual Sanz Institute for Nutrition and Health
Tomás Pascual Sanz Institute for Nutrition and Health is a non-profit organization created to promote research and training in the field of health and nutrition. Among others, are objectives of the Institute Tomás Pascual Sanz clinical research, collaboration with public authorities in nutritional programs, grants offered by scientific research, through agreements with various universities and the promotion of Environmental Management studies.

http://www.institutotomaspascual.es/


Foundation Health Sciences
Foundation Health Sciences is a nonprofit institution that seeks to be a meeting place for different social sectors involved in the world of health. Founded in 1991, its priority objectives revolve around bioethics, health, science and humanities, with a broad range of activities and projects.