08

Eat Well to Live Well

Sri Lanka is a country which enjoyed a great food culture. Our ancestors always consumed natural foods. Greens (herbals) of medicinal value, the local vegetables and cereals were an essential component in their daily meal. They did use and adopted various ingredients to stimulate their taste buds and retain the nutritional value. Using local methods like adding tamarind, goraka, sera, cinnamon, curry leaves etc. Seven curries (Hath maluwa), Mixed green (Kalavan Malluma), Milk rice with Green gram (Munata Kiribath), Sambar, Biriyani rice, are some of their mixed preparations. Their culinary art was different from today. They had various other combinations of which in some still exist in the rural areas. They seldom cooked one kind of food. They used jack seeds for many combinations. E.g. Jack seeds and Kehel Muwa(the remainder of the banana flower), Jack seeds and Sarana or any similar green, Dhal and Spinach or any similar green, Bread fruit and a green like spinach or Sarana. The open economy gradually brought in different kinds of food to Sri Lanka and change rapidly the food consumption pattern specially among the urban population. This included junk food, instant food and processed food. People always tend to rush in for the latest now. So with the food too. But it is more wise to revert back to healthy culinary art and form a healthy food culture so that the new generation will have a taste for healthy food. We must eat to live and not live to eat. When preparing food there are two main factors to be considered. They are, to prepare food to maintain the nutritional value and also to improve the nutritional value . Cereals contain amino acids like cysteine, methoanine and pulses contain lysine, triptopan. A mixed preperation of cereals and pulses will provide all the amino acids necessary. Lime juice help in the absorption of iron. Pineapple helps to digest food.
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Consume fresh and natural food and food that can be consumed raw. eg: gotukola sambol,vegetable salad. use of oil (tempering) to preserve vitamin in food use natural seasoning. eg: Rampe, curry leaves, lemongrass, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg

Activity - Home garden. 1. 2. Get into groups. Find out the best suited vegetables to the soil of your area. Contact the representatives of the village, agriculture organization. Get them to guide you to get the necessary information from the agriculture centre about, preparing the soil seeds /plants fertilizer other information necessary for a good yield. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Each group select a few houses in your area. Along with the house holders on a shramadana basis prepare home gardens in each house. Provide the necessary information you have gathered. Sometimes youll find villagers who are aware of cultivation methods. Share their knowledge with the others. Plan out your programme with time management, location, preparing the soil, sowing seeds, caring, use of manure etc. (students in city area, organize home gardens to grow in pots and bags)

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Consider the following facts when preparing food. Avoid these things when preparing food.

Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is destroyed when canning, by cooking and by oxidation, when exposed to the air. When boiling it is partly affected because the enzymes in the plant cells attack the vitamin. Finely shredding of greens Too much of washing (destroy vitamin B and C dissolves in water) Over cooking (destroy Thiamine B1) Over heating Over boiling (destroy water soluble vitamins) Boil and straining Prolonged storage Use of expired canned food Peeling off certain foods, before boiling ( eg. potatoes) Washing after cutting Delay from production to consumption/ storing/refrigeration (eg: meat, fish) Using artificial substances, colours Using lot of spices Faulty cooking methods Keep food exposed Wrong methods of consumption.

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If we may list the instances where nutrient values are affected.They are,

the time food is consumed. the nature and types of food. combination of food. preparation of food. quantity and quality of food food habits. condition of hunger digestion. mental condition.
(a) Food should be taken when the body demands, because the system is ready with digestive juices, and at least 3 hours after the next meal. To get the maximum from the nutrients, system should be trained to a regular pattern. (b) Natural fresh food as well as the preparations and substances added should enhance the nutrient value. It should be palatable, tasty, easier to swallow and digest. (c) Combination of food should improve the quality of nutrients and also be aware of unhealthy combinations. Health Education Beaureau promotes taking 5 kinds of vegetables a day. If we combine food we should know which types we should combine when preparing, for taste, flavours and nutritional value.

Activity Make a list of combined preparation you could make in your diet. You can list some with the already used names by cooks or you can make some of your own preparations and name them.

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(d) Food habits play an important role in the nutrition of an individual. Selection of food, quantity, quality, place, condition should be included into a pattern and a system of food habits for it will affect adversely to the nutritional value. Food served should be sufficient to the individual's needs. Serving too much and throwing away is not a good habit. (e) Food should be selected to suit the time, age, period, condition of the individuals. False beliefs, false sense of status, should not be the criterion when selecting food. But strictly consider the nutrient value of the food to suit the condition of individuals. (f) The quantity and the quality of the food consumed is another important factor. Having a bellyful of food disturbs the proper function of digestion. The quantity, quality should suit the age, sex condition of the individual. The deciding factor of the quantity of food consumed should be the condition of the hunger. Similarly the condition of the person, specially when a person is sick if the same quality and quantity is consumed, it will disturb the absorption of nutrients. Easily digested foods are best suited for the sick. Other conditions like pregnancy, lactation, old age too should be considered to maintain nutritional standard. A mother needs more food and an elderly person should take easily digested food. Food spoilage Food spoilage means that the food is unconsumable. Mentioned below are some instances of food spoilage from production to consumption. During food production During Harvest Transportation packing careless handling delay in transporting poor methods of transportation
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Storing delay in store under unhygienic condition poor methods of storage

Consumption preparing cooking boiling frying

natural off season harvest disasters careless handling poor farming using polluted methods water improper pests methods of threshing pesticides unhygienic chemical condition fertilizers

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Factors that affect the food spoilage bacteria, virus,fungi (micro-organisms) cockroaches and rats articial flavours and colours improper packing interaction of substances in the food. interaction of food with the atmosphere. unhygenic preperation . adulteration of food. poor ways of preserving food. unsuitable utensils. Spoilt food affects the well being of an individual. Spoilt food is a waste. Wasting food brings down the economy. Food poisoning The main cause for food poisoning is bacteria and its poisonous substances. Disease causing organisms enter our body with the food we eat. Most organisms are harmless but those organisms that are active pathogens cause diseases. Spoilt food are breeding grounds for such organisms. Micro organisms such as bacteria and fungi cause decomposition so that food smells and tastes unpleasant and becomes unfit to eat. Foods that contain lot of water such as meat fish, fruit, meat, and most vegetables are described as perishables, that decompose quickly in warm conditions. Food get spoilt by the use of various substances used as flavouring agents. Some of the producers use various chemicals to keep vegetables and fruits look fresh. Consumption of prepared food in unhygienic ways cause digestive disorders. Use of colour is another cause for food spoilage. Certain foods when exposed to the environment specially cut food when exposed for a long time get spoilt. Adulterated food too get spoil soon. eg. Coconut oil mixed with other kinds of oil gives an unnatural colour and taste.

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Consumption of spoilt food will not provide the necessary nutritional value but results in various kinds of diseases related to the digestive system eg,typhoid, diarrheoa Let us find out the instances of food becoming poisonous. not storing fish or meat below 10 0c eg: Salmonella Disease causing organisims are not destroyed in half cooked food. Frying frozen chicken before defrosting Aflatoxin is a harmful poison produced by a fungi called Aspergillus flavus formed in unhygienically packed coconut, cashew, ground nuts packets. Sometimes traders sell these spoilt packets after removing the affected nuts. which can be poisonous too. Certain kinds of fish contain amino acid histidine which produce a poison called Histamin which is allergic to some individuals. Use of pesticides and other chemicals close upon harvest of vegetables. Using aluminium utensils. Use of some preservatives Certain poisonous mushrooms

Certain measures can be adopted to prevent food poisoning.such as, find out the expiry date boil manioc without covering. select fresh unspoilt yams. use water to cover the food. boil and strain avoid cooking in aluminum utensils care about personal hygiene cleanliness at home and kitchen grow your food in the home garden store meat and fish below 0 0C use clay pots or any recommended utensils

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Adulteration of food Food poisoning causes symptoms like vomiting , faintish, loss of apetite, pain in the stomach, diarrhoea. Sometimes food poisoning can cause death. You may have heard of many instances where people have died of food poisoning. This is a serious threat to the nutritional value of food and to the health of people. This is very common in developing countries like ours where cost of living is high but the income is low. Mixed or improvised food are called adulterated food. These food are not of quality. Some food are adulterated to be sold at a lower cost but some are adulterated and sold at the same cost. Whatever the price be, adulteration victimize the population in that country. Public Health department should take up their responsibility and perform their duty well to eradicate this health menace which is gradually increasing and victimizing the helpless consumer. Some foods that are easily subjected to adulteration are, addition of

Wheat flour and some dye Husk or flour, brick dust, yellow dye Kurakkan seeds Used tea powder or factory waste dust Palm oil Cotton seeds Paddy dust flour

to chillie powder to saffron to mustard seeds to tea leaves to coconut oil to pepper to kurakkan

Food colouring are harmless but many use texile dyes which are very injurious to health.It is better to avoid coloured food and drinks. Sometimes it is difficult to identify adulterated food. Purchasing should be done carefully and from reputed places. Check the expiry date. Very cheap items are a cause for doubt. To improve the nutritional value of food,

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use combined or mixed food, use lime and tamarind consume natural food lot of salads use cinnamon, rampe, carapincha, sera

Activity - Do a survey to find out the methods adopted to adulterate food. Get the help of the P.H.I. in the area. Name of the food Chillie powder provided substance brick dust

Selecting consumable food Since you have studied this chapter you must have comprehended how difficult it is to select consumable food. Ours is a country where majority pay less attention on the hygienic condition of the food and also on personal hygiene. Therefore it is your responsibility as people stepping onto the future to be aware of the value of consuming nutritious food and how to select them. When there are lot of hazards in production, transportation, storing, spoilage by microorganisms, adulteration and poison, you must find solutions to these problems.

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What are foods that are safe to consume ? Consumable foods are those foods that are,

of high nutrition value unspoilt, unadulterated not poisonous without artificial substances and chemicals. natural and fresh

What are natural foods. They are food without any artificial substances.

The safest place to find natural food is the home garden Less expenditure, safe, economical High nutritional value Natural food keep us healthy and wealthy (Junk foods instant foods and carbonized drinks should be avoided).

Processed foods are clean but many items contain more salt or sugar. They are with less fibres and nutrients other than natural food. If one consumes these ready made foods there is a possibility of having nutritional problems. Due to lack of vitamins mostly. Consumption of this kind of food constantly brings loss of apetite and loss of income Junk food or cooked food packed with sugar or fat which gives instant energy can be called useless food. This junk food is a serious threat to the health of school children

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Parents as well as you have a great responsibility to rescue these children from these junk foods for when once they get used to it they reject natural normal food. There are various other kinds of food in the market presented in small economical packets, which do not confirm to standard value (SLS). They can be very unhygienic due to the condition of water used. Other tasty packets are ground nuts, fried grams with chillie and various kinds of pickle. There are some products which do not have any food value but stimulate the taste buds. Consumption of unhealthy fat (SFA) is a threat to health but can be substituted with healthy fat (PUFA-MUFA) Less intake of sugars, salt and fat but more intake of fruits and vegetables.

Selecting Healthy food A knowledge of the following points and a correct attitude to consumable food will improve your skill in identifying the correct food. You should know the contents, its proportion and nutrient value. Whether the food is of quality and possess the SLS standard. Remember to findout the expiry date and the of manufacture date. Never purchase an item if the dates of expiry and manufactured are not been displayed. The appearance of the product whether pressed deformed or cracked. If its a tin whether its abnormally puffed at the lids. The smell will reveal whether its fresh, spoilt, expired or old.

Fat will provide 25% of the calories necessary for us. Fat can be divided into three categories. Study the chart below.

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Fat Saturated Fat Poly Unsaturated Fat gingerly oil corn oil soya oil sun flower oil fish Mono Unsaturated Fat avacado ground nuts olive oil almond oil

coconut oil corn oil soya oil Beef, Pork chicken cheese cake, biscuits, pastry rolls

energy

growth functioning of kidneys, arteries and nerves Prevent heart diseases

Cholesterol is necessary for every cell in the body and for synthesis of hormones. It is produced in the liver and distributed through blood vessels . The required amounts of cholesterol is produced in the liver, but when food containing a large amount of cholesterol, it disturbs the balance of cholesterol, This is very dangerous and affects health. There should be a control of food. Daily intake of cholesterol according to doctors opinion should be less than 30 mg. Consuming vegetables, fruits, seeds and cereals will help to control the level of cholesterol.

The following foods are rich in cholesterol kidney eggs chicken liver butter

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bacon boiled prawns pork crabs beef

Food preservation methods Ancient methods of preseving food were drying and soaking in bees honey and smoking. Following methods are used to preserve food. pickle canning refrigeration use of chemicals drying salting(fish) Suggestions are for your consideration but please take more concern about our duty to enlighten the public on the most valuable subject of our lives. Make your programme useful to people in all walks of life.

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