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Responsible Nutrition

Nutrition is defined as the set of processes through which the body converts, uses and integrates into its systems the chemical substances that it receives from the outside through food and then excretes the byproducts of this food processing through urine and faeces. It is a complex and regulated process which is completely involuntary and therefore cannot be altered. Food intake is how the body obtains the nutrients in food. It is the external and voluntary part of the nutritional process and, therefore, this can be changed. In other words, it could be said that there are many ways of eating, but only one way to nourish the body.

There are thousands of edible substances, or food choices. All of them contain, in general, a rather heterogeneous chemical composition, with a varying mix of components of different nutritional value. However, nutritionally speaking, out of all the imaginable foodstuffs, there are only around fifty basic components or nutrients which are necessary for proper nutrition.

For centuries, attempts have been made to establish the minimal or optimal intake of these basic nutrients, which has led to the current nutritional requirements: that is, the amounts of each of these different essential nutrients that a particular person needs based on their age, sex, physiological condition and physical activity.

A poor diet, at the core of chronic illnesses

The social, economic, health, and medical achievements that have been made over the last century have led to an increase in life expectancy greater than that of the previous two millennia. However, this has come hand-in-hand with a major increase in the amount of chronic diseases and the coexistence of several of such diseases within the same person.

Chronic illnesses do not have only one underlying origin or cause, but rather appear to be the result of a complex interaction between genetic predisposition and environmental factors, often unknown and numerous, but always related to lifestyle. In particular, high blood pressure, an increase in cholesterol, diabetes, heart failure or obesity are directly linked to poor nutrition and to the nutritional changes associated with modern life.

In our islands in particular, we have experienced a significant increase in mortality due to cardiovascular disease. Equally disturbing is the alarming levels reached by the pairing of overweight and obesity both in adults, and among children and young adults, which is even more worrisome.

The commitment of Hospitales Universitarios San Roque

Well aware of this serious issue, and that a diet rich in natural foods is the best way to prevent health problems, a medical team of Hospitales Universitarios San Roque that is made up of the Endocrinology, Human Nutrition and Dietetics Departments, has developed a strategy to implement the most innovative programs with the goal of increasing the general public’s understanding of the relationship between eating certain foods and the associated pathological consequences, the relationship between different nutrients and the onset of certain chronic diseases or the application of Nutrigenomics, a branch of genomic nutrition that allows us to design a more personalized nutrition plan.

This strategy includes a series of actions which are fundamentally based on prevention and directed towards two main areas: our kitchens and education. Thus, we show our patients the benefits of a healthy diet, with menus based on the Mediterranean diet, that is, homemade, with local, natural, whole-grain, ecological products and based on the regional culinary tradition.

On the other hand, in order to provide information about the guidelines to follow for a more responsible nutrition, we have developed our ‘Responsible Nutrition Classroom’ project, where we specifically address school-age audiences in Gran Canaria and the rest of the general population through different events which revolve around healthy life habits.