Secrets of nutrition by Tutelyan

Victor Tutelyan: Russians always have a dilemma: obesity or vitamin deficiency

Spring warm weather is finally coming to Russia, summer is ahead and the eternal task is how to build and at the same time not harm your health. Viktor Tutelyan, Director of the Research Institute of Nutrition, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences, told RIA Novosti in an interview about why any food is useful, how to balance between the necessary amount of vitamins and elements and not overeat, why dietary supplements are needed and why the absence of "prohibited" products on the shelves is not fatal. Irina Andreeva was talking.

– Viktor Alexandrovich, summer is ahead, people want to look good, lose weight. How do they eat to lose weight?

– We – Russians, especially Muscovites – are always facing a dilemma. On the one hand, we need to eat less, fight the obesity pandemic, and we need to know that 55% of the Russian population over 30 years old are overweight and obese, and this is followed by a whole bunch of diseases, some of which are fatal. On the other hand, there is a lack of vitamins and micronutrients. It turns out that there is more – there will be a stomach, and it is unpleasant to look at yourself in the mirror, no one will look at the subway from another escalator.

But at the same time, in any case – both with a low–calorie diet and with a high-calorie diet - we should get about 150-170 chemical compounds with food. Most of them – a third, and maybe even more – are irreplaceable, that is, they are not synthesized in our body from some precursors, but should come with food. If at least one of them does not arrive or arrives in small quantities, the reckoning is inevitable – it is a loss of health.

The diet of a woman who is not engaged in chopping firewood and laying sleepers, an ordinary woman sitting in an office or at home, is about 1.8–2 thousand kilocalories, no more. The man's diet is a little more – 2.2 thousand.

– Which food gives more benefits?

– Theoretically, even with the use of the best products, it will not be possible to get a full set of micronutrients, that is, nutrients, primarily 12 vitamins – the deficit will be about 20-25%. At the same time, we do not forget about the transportation of products from the other side of the world, their storage for six months, technological processing, which destroys vitamins in them.

Now the most affordable bread made from premium flour is a white loaf. Previously, the biggest gift if you go to the USA was a loaf of black bread. We now have whole grain bread the most expensive – 150, 200, 300 rubles per loaf. And from flour of the highest grade – affordable. And what is high-grade flour? At the level of production technology, B vitamins and iron were thrown away. It is necessary to eat bread from whole grains, from coarse flour.

Re-boiling the cooked first courses, and there are zero vitamins left. Of course, you need to cook less, but more often, and this is unrealistic in our lifetime.

– How can you get out of the situation?

– What to do? We have four ways. The first way is back to nature, that is, to increase physical activity. Spending energy is not 2 thousand kilocalories, but 3 thousand kilocalories. And for these 3 thousand from the usual diet you can get everything you need. Is this path real? Not very. One thousand kilocalories is about four hours of walking, two hours of jogging. But in fact, 15 minutes of charging – and already consider themselves athletes.

The second way is genetically modified food sources that can make us synthesize more substances that are useful for us. For example, we need Omega fatty acids-3. We make rapeseed oil, sunflower oil, synthesizing raw materials with an already specified chemical composition – with an increased content of Omega-3 acids. Or vitamin A – the so-called golden rice or yellow rice. They have already learned and are doing it with an increased content of beta-carotene – provitamin A. Please, this is a solution to the problem with eyes in Southeast Asia. But we are afraid for some reason. What they say about genetically modified products is nonsense. What has passed the tests, what is allowed, is safe for us and future generations. But until we understand, this way does not work for us.

The third way is technological modification of food products. This means removing what we don't need from the products in the production process, and vice versa – adding what we need. Milk counter – cost 0% fat, 0,5%, 1%, 3%, 6%. If you are a smart person, you will take 1%. Remove and replace. We learned how to add vitamins. I drank a glass of juice, and there was a half-day or daily dose of a complex of vitamins.

Bread enriched with iron, vitamin B groups, drinks enriched with iodine. But there is a problem – how to count it all, watch it, ate it here, didn't finish it there, overeated.

The fourth way: biologically active food supplement. This abbreviation is a dietary supplement, it is not a curse word, not a medicine. An identical structure was extracted from another source, concentrated in a convenient form in the form of a tablet or capsule and given. I swallowed it in the morning and solved the problem.

Vitamins in the form of a biologically active supplement should be drunk every day, all year round – a multivitamin mineral complex. I drink any multivitamin. The more vitamins, the more trace elements, the better for us – I drank it myself, gave it to my loved ones and solved the problem. Every day, especially now – in spring.

– What else do you need to know about yourself in order not to be the same Russian who "doesn't like looking at himself in the mirror"?

– 98% of people need body weight control. These are healthy people with a healthy digestive system, but who are overweight.

First, you need to know your needs, your energy consumption - approximately, you do not need to count every calorie. Know your genetics – look at your mom and dad, your grandparents, if they are full enough, we will assume that this is waiting for you. Half of the problem is genetic. These are the formations, the peculiarities of your metabolism.

For some, it is economical, they spend little on themselves. And others spend a lot on themselves. These can be very serious differences – one has 1500 kilocalories, and the other has 900 kilocalories. This difference of 600 kilocalories is a big one. This is due to the peculiarity of metabolism – you can't do anything, dad and mom laid. It is necessary to understand and know that you have low figures of the basic metabolism (the minimum level of human energy to maintain vital activity – ed.), any movement is already work and, therefore, additional expenses.

It is necessary to understand that how much: one cake is 400-500 calories. I ate it, and then I have to spend it – an hour of running, two hours of walking.

Don't count every calorie. You can also eat at your own pleasure in a restaurant, but tomorrow you need to "take a drag". Train yourself to discipline and not hope for miracles. We are heterotrophic animals (organisms that are not capable of synthesizing organic substances from inorganic ones using photosynthesis – ed.), all the energy is only with food, how much I ate – I spent so much.

– And what do you say about the various diets that have appeared now for every taste and color in the literal sense of the word?

– Any diet is motivation. As soon as you see that the arrow has crept, you will already believe in yourself that you can do something. And only a few strictly follow dietary recommendations.

– We have no motivation. The media know how to convey information to everyone, I know what needs to be conveyed. Hand in hand, we can make people think about their health. Still ready. The state is responsible for food safety, I am responsible for it with my head. For the development of methods, regulatory framework, and monitoring. The manufacturer responds. And the structure of nutrition is your taste, taste education and your responsibility for your children, you choose.

– After Russia imposed a food embargo, some types of products disappeared from store shelves. Did this have a strong effect on the diet of Russians?

– The assortment and choice has narrowed noticeably due to the introduction of the food embargo. We got used to one thing – now it's gone, but let's get used to the other. Nothing fatal has happened, all the basic products on the shelves are in abundance. You come to the dairy row – there were some yogurts, now we are looking for others. The main thing is to look at the label, for dairy products – fat content, vitamin content. Pineapples, bananas, kiwis – everything is there. The availability of some products has changed. It must be replaced.

– And what products do we need?

– We need ordinary leafy vegetables, cabbage, carrots, beets, potatoes containing good protein – it's all ours. There are no bad products. Generally. Everything that humanity has attributed to the category of "food product" by trial and error during evolution, which is a source of energy, plastic materials, biologically active compounds, is useful. There are no completely healthy foods. An apple is a completely healthy product, but you won't last a week on it.

Only our diet can be healthy or unhealthy. Snatch a certain product and say: this is poison, and this is good – wrong.

– What should be in the regular diet of a Russian?

– There should always be protein in our diet – meat, fish, legumes, eggs, milk. There should be less fat–saturated foods - if you like sausage with sausages, you should understand that there is 20 or even 30% fat, with cholesterol. There must be cereals – porridge, bread. Vegetables, fruits, potatoes.

To a lesser, most insignificant extent, there should be confectionery products – treat yourself once a week, and so – go sideways.

The purpose of nutrition is the same – to convey to each cell the necessary amount of energy, nutrients and micronutrients, including biologically active ones.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru09.04.2015