The Healthy Gut Cookbook: How to Keep in Excellent Digestive Health with 60 Recipes and Nutrition Advice. Marguerite Patten

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СКАЧАТЬ the middle, smoking and lack of exercise set the stage for an unhealthy gut. Other habits that contribute towards gut problems are drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, using recreational drugs, running on the ragged edge of mental and physical exhaustion, caffeine addiction and consuming fatty takeaway foods as standard fare. Specific facts about how these lifestyle choices affect the gut are discussed in Chapter 5, ‘When Things Go Wrong’. Hundreds of self-help books and videos are available to help you overcome your personal lifestyle problems.

the ageing gut

      Passing years affect the way we look and feel. Our skin changes, we tend to feel less energetic, and we suffer more from niggling aches and pains due to wear and tear on joints and muscles. To fight off the years, we may try a new face cream, join a gym or start a diet designed to correct whatever we feel affects us most. We worry about our hearts, our brains, our muscles and our bones. And yet, as strange as it may seem, very few of us stop to worry about our ageing digestive system. We fail to recognize that caring for this part of our body can not only improve the way we feel, but – best of all – increase the likelihood we will live longer, healthier lives. Here are just a few ways ageing – and our behaviour as we age – affects our digestive system.

      

      • Lost teeth and poorly fitted dentures can interfere with chewing. This makes it less likely that food will be crushed and mixed before reaching the stomach, thus slowing digestion.

      • Many people avoid fresh fruits, such as apples, and nuts because they are hard to chew, missing out on needed vitamins, minerals and fibre.

      • Meat may become difficult to chew – or prepare – and appears less frequently on the table, potentially reducing the intake of protein and vitamin B12 below healthy limits.

      • Older people tend to drink too little water, thus failing to provide the watery environment needed for digestion. (Those worried about bladder control frequently suffer from this problem.)

      • The stomach produces less acid with age, reducing the ability to digest proteins.

      • Fewer digestive enzymes and secretions are produced by the pancreas and gut.

      • Health problems may increase the need for regular medication that may have side-effects, altering the gut (see Appendix Two).

      • A poor appetite and decreased activity are associated with ageing. A lowered food intake means that the body has less chance of getting the nutrients it needs.

      • Smoking and drinking alcohol are habits that may become stronger with age. Smoking is sure to damage health. Consumed beyond moderation, alcohol can impair mental and physical health.

      • Many older people may suffer from low levels of vitamin D because they tend to stay indoors, thus getting little exposure to sunlight.

      • Preparing food becomes a bother and there is greater reliance on ready meals, thus reducing the intake of fresh fruit and vegetables.

      All these factors lead to poor nutrition. Scientific studies have shown that it is not uncommon for older people to consume less than their daily requirement of calcium, magnesium, zinc, folate, and vitamins B6, B12 and D. There is only one word to describe the consequences: malnutrition! The cost is high. Consider one fact: low levels of just one of the nutrients listed, vitamin B12, can lead to poor balance and coordination and memory lapses.

      What can be done about this? The simple basics are:

      

      • Stay physically active to work up a good appetite.

      • Make an effort to eat fresh foods that are a natural source of the nutrients you need.

      • Find a pleasant place to sit in the sun and let your body build up valuable levels of vitamin D, the sunshine vitamin.

      • Drink plenty of water.

      • Choose simple-to-digest forms of protein, such as meaty soups and consommés.

      • Enjoy live yoghurt whenever possible, and eat fresh fruits and vegetables every day.

      If you feel that this is not enough, talk to your local chemist or doctor about taking vitamin supplements. If you wear dentures, see your dentist and make certain they fit properly. Later chapters explain how choosing the right foods can help you maintain a healthy body – no matter what your age!

      

      Remember: Medical evidence shows that older people who eat plenty of fruits and vegetables live longer, healthier lives.

food allergies, intolerances and sensitivities

      Not everything on your plate may be good for you. Eating the wrong foods can cause a variety of symptoms ranging in severity from mild headaches and constipation to life-threatening anaphylactic shock. Other symptoms are hives, skin rash, asthma and inflammation of the bowel. There is no agreement on how reactions to food should be classified, but in general, any reaction causing asthma, hives, swelling and potentially fatal anaphylactic shock is a food allergy. Migraine, nausea, gastro-intestinal distress and wind are most frequently referred to as symptoms of food intolerances. Less well-defined symptoms occurring when a food, or member of a group of foods, is consumed may be classified as food sensitivities.

      FOOD ALLERGIES

      Food allergies arise when a normal food acts as an antigen or foreign substance in the body, setting off a train of events in the immune system leading to the release of antibodies. Allergies cause severe symptoms arising anywhere in the body. A typical scenario would be a woman enjoying crabmeat salad for lunch. Suddenly she experiences tingling lips, then swelling of the mouth and tongue, followed swiftly by a severe asthma attack.

      FOOD INTOLERANCES

      Food intolerances are diagnosed when antibodies to an allergen cannot be found. Unfortunately, some medical personnel tend to dismiss the idea of food intolerances because there is no clear-cut allergic response. These conditions may have less dire consequences, but nonetheless can cause real illness. Two examples of food intolerances are gluten intolerance (see Crohn’s disease,) where the body reacts to gluten in wheat, rye and barley, and lactose intolerance, where the body reacts to substances in cow’s milk. Why people become sensitive to gluten is not clear, but we do know that lactose intolerance develops when the body is deficient in an enzyme needed to digest milk and milk products. This is not an ‘allergic’ reaction but a failure of the body’s biochemistry. Lactose intolerance can cause belching and flatulence, either constipation or diarrhoea, and catarrh. A recurring crackly cough with no sign of infection may indicate a milk intolerance! In babies, symptoms of milk intolerance include chronic blocking of the nose (rhinitis), glue ear, colic and asthma. People changing from a diet containing little or no dairy products may find they develop lactose intolerance when they begin eating substantial amounts of milk and cheese. In these cases, the condition rights itself as the body begins producing the necessary digestive enzymes.

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