Time and time again, we are faced with the question of who is in charge of what we eat and what we are exposed to daily. Especially when. It comes to having the chance to have a long-lasting life free of chronic diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular problems, and type 2 diabetes. Many of these diseases can stand alone through hereditary, but what about the chronic diseases that have a basis in nutrition? Like diabetes and hypertension, or other obesity category health issues, to name a few. Also, how can we reduce the impact of a food-driven country with an abundance of food choices that are not more nutrition-dense but more quick fixes in a rushed corporate society?
There are several ways and solutions to battle the ever-growing numbers of people suffering from chronic illnesses, and these battles can be avoided by changing our daily living and, most importantly, nutrition. Over the years, we have seen a growing population, especially among the active older adults following the teachings of the Blue Zones or Mediterraneanizing diet, which is taking a more natural vegetables route versus other eating trends that are easily found in highly obese countries with food that were consuming more red meat, butter, artificial sweeteners, sugars—a study on rheumatoid arthritis. This autoimmune disease takes on issues with synovial joints. The study found that more patients with a 3.2 disease activity score were on the Mediterranean diet versus those without a similar diet. The ones not on the diet scored less than 5 percent on the MedDiet score, which, in turn, were more susceptible to other health issues due to nutrition density and overall health problems like digestive problems and many other complications. (Alawadhi et al., 2023)
Building more awareness around nutrition would be another means to reducing nutrition-based chronic diseases even in our communities. It can come from something other than the government or public health relations to make the public aware that good nutrition can help them live longer and healthier. A study from Turkey was conducted to build awareness of nutrition among middle school children. It was because starting at a young age of adolescent development, when minds are still developing, they are creating a positive outlook on good nutrition and how to find it. The study concluded that when appropriately projected, there can be a lower of issues down the line for many of these individuals' children (Ok et al., 2022). Especially when we see that more and more food marketing influences target children or adolescents, these companies are doing more damage than good for making profits. These are some potential ways to reduce chronic illness and to fight back against profit tycoons that are damaging the health of many people without taking responsibility for their actions by making unhealthy foods cheaper and more accessible than a farm's market.
Alawadhi, B., Alsaber, A., Shatawan, I., Al-Herz, A., Setiya, P., Saleh, K., Al-Awadhi, A., Hasan, E., Al-Kandari, W., Mokaddem, K., Ghanem, A., Attia, Y., Hussain, M., Alhadhood, N., Ali, Y., Tarakmeh, H., Aldabie, G., AlKadi, A., Alhajeri, H., & Aldei, A. (2023). Adherence to the Mediterranean diet is associated with a reduced DAS28 index among patients with rheumatoid arthritis: Case study from KRRD. International journal of rheumatic diseases, 10.1111/1756-185X.14928. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/1756-185X.14928
Ok, M., Yenikalayci, N., & Harman, G. (2022, November 30). Nutrition awareness of middle school students in the early adolescence period. Journal of Science Learning. https://proxy.lirn.net/MuseProxyID=mp03/MuseSessionID=00432xj/MuseProtocol=https/MuseHost=eric.ed.gov/MusePath/?q=reducing%2Bnutrition%2Bbased%2Bchronic%2Bdiseases&ft=on&pr=on&id=EJ1391384
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