Germans are becoming heavier even though many believe they eat properly.
Breakfast could be so pleasant: the croissants spring open in the bag, the jam jar crackles, and the coffee smells like an Italian vacation. But a difficult topic is what ends up on our plates.
Politicians discuss sugar tariffs, advertising restrictions on sweets, and nutrition labelling. Theoretically, we should all be specialists in good nutrition. Carrots are healthier than chocolate, according to even young children, but Germans are still gaining weight. Is it thus our fault?
No, not always. Food has greater control on us than we are aware of, according to researchers. It modifies our brains in addition to controlling our emotions. Certain sugar and fat combos essentially mess with our heads. And it probably has something to do with our gut microbes if we choose schnitzel over a salad. Food producers are skilled at making creative use of this. It gets harder to eat healthily.
In Germany, more than half of adults are overweight. Dangerously obese is one in five. Since 1975, the percentage of persons who are severely fat has increased worldwide. Paediatricians caution that the number of fat people has grown as a result of lockdowns during the epidemic. The excess weight makes us ill.
Obesity is linked to high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, colon cancer, joint degeneration, and dementia. Furthermore, being thin does not shield one from the effects of bad diet. For instance, a lot of persons of normal weight have unnoticed fat buildup in their livers. A nutritious diet can prevent two out of 10 early deaths. We essentially starve to death.
Mythical idea that calories are everything According to Hans Hauner, director of the Institute for Nutritional Medicine at the Technical University of Munich and member of the German Obesity Society, "how and what we eat has changed dramatically over the past few decades."
Eaters are getting fatter and fatter. 3500 calories have been eaten each day since 2007, up from 2800 in 1961. The stark data from the "National Consumption Study" contradicts the widespread belief that Germans eat healthily: more than half of adults do not consume enough fruit, nine out of ten consume insufficient amounts of vegetables, and all consume insufficient amounts of fibre.
More and more people are ordering food via delivery service, and many are grabbing snacks between meals. The biggest problem: More than a third of the calories consumed each day come from highly processed foods. And they are, so to speak, the enemy of a healthy diet.
Among these highly processed items include fast food, frozen pizza, and candy-flavored beverages. Additionally, there are prepared baked goods, spaghetti sauces, morning cereals, and purportedly healthy meals like fruit yoghurt with minimal fat. They differ greatly from natural foods and are produced using complex, high-tech techniques. They include substances you won't find in any kitchen, such additives, protein isolates, and hydrogenated oils. These foods are inexpensive to create, have a long shelf life, and are extremely profitable for the producer. If you consume a lot of it, you consume more calories and increase your risk of becoming overweight and ill.
There is a persistent misconception that calories are the only factor in nutrition. But for the body, it makes a significant difference whether they come from a bottle of cola or a kilogramme of raspberries. Soft drinks are sweetened in the USA with a syrup manufactured from maize starch that has a high fructose content. This one is very adorable. Fruit's fructose is only slowly absorbed by the body due to plant fibres. A bottle of Coke essentially fills the liver with sugar when you consume it. Excess fructose suppresses satiety hormones and promotes fat storage.
Damon Gameau, an Australian documentary filmmaker, put it to the test on his own body. He consumed 40 teaspoons of sugar every day, in the shape of supposedly nutritious finished goods like smoothies or energy bars, during the two months it took to make his movie Voll Verzuckert. He gained 8.5 kilogrammes despite not eating additional calories. His organs had a lot of extra fat, which is harmful.
Foods high in fat and sugar, such as chocolate and potato chips, actively affect the brain. They trigger the "reward system," a network of nerve cells that is crucial in regulating human behaviour. The reward system is triggered, for instance, when someone "likes" our social media post, but it is also triggered when we consume our preferred ice cream or the coveted bag of chips. The reward system was shown to be more active when participants slurped sweetened milkshakes while laying in an MRI machine for a research.
According to recent study from the Max Planck Institute for Metabolism study in Cologne, the brain changes if you consume sugar-fat mixes on a regular basis. Participants in the study had a more potent response from their reward network to the sweet stimuli if they consumed a little custard with a lot of sugar and fat every day for eight weeks. According to research director Marc Tittgemeyer, "as a result of these changes in the brain, we will always prefer foods that contain a lot of fat and sugar."
However, the brain seems to get used to the sugar kick, so over time we need more and more sweets to experience the same comforting feeling. The taste sensors also become dull – only those who do without sweets for a longer period of time can taste again how sweet a carrot is.
Highly processed foods can make people practically addicted. And they depress the mood. Those who frequently eat frozen pizza, ready-made baked goods and fast food have a higher risk of becoming depressed. Conversely, a healthy diet can improve mood. For a study in Australia, people with depression adhered to what is known as the Mediterranean diet. They ate more fish, vegetables and nuts - and were happier after a few months.
A menu for a healthier and happier diet also includes dietary fiber, which is found in grain bread, but also in pumpkins and apricots. And: sauerkraut. It may not be to everyone's taste, but it is to the billions of bacteria, viruses and fungi in our digestive tract. Because the microbiome communicates with the brain, presumably via nerve connections and messenger substances.
Experiments demonstrate the astounding impact of microorganisms, despite the fact that this field of study is still in its infancy. Despite being fed the identical meal, the kind of bacteria in the mice's digestive systems determined how much weight they gained. Additionally, the various intestinal occupants were connected to whether mice chose to eat proteins or carbs. Numerous diverse strains of balanced bacteria, fungi, and viruses make up a healthy gut flora. The conditions in the stomach seem to be more difficult when eating meals that have been heavily processed. They change the microbiome and lessen the variety of diverse microbial species.
However, our food preferences are determined by much more than just the nutritional content of the food. Otherwise we would be drinking sunflower oil and spooning sugar out of the bag. Even more important than the nutrients are our feelings. We have a strong emotional connection to our food. From the first day of life, our taste begins. Food is culture, from afternoon cake to Christmas goose. One bite can bring back memories of grandma's fried potatoes - or childhood trips to McDonald's.
"Eating is not behavior based solely on knowledge and information," says nutrition sociologist Daniel Kofahl. According to psychologists, we usually make our food choices with our fast, instinct-based decision-making system. Intuitively we choose nutritious and tasty dishes. We have to think about the impact on health. That only occurs to us after 450 milliseconds, report behavioral scientists at the London School of Economics. And many other factors influence the choice of restaurant or supermarket: the bank balance, how much time you have to cook, what the children want to eat.
Food businesses profit from this. We live in what specialists refer to as "the obese environment," where gaining weight is simpler than maintaining a lean body mass. According to American studies, highly processed foods account for more than two thirds of all products in supermarkets. Additionally, they are frequently less expensive. Additionally, it is challenging to categorise food nutritional value tables. Healthy cooking requires money and time, and many individuals don't have either. There is a snack bar on every corner that feeds every unmet appetite. Burger commercials are common, while broccoli ads are uncommon.
Political actions can have an impact; for instance, in Great Britain, the sugar tax on beverages has made many soft drinks less sweet. A preliminary study of girls aged ten to eleven reveals a small decline in the prevalence of overweight, particularly among the poorest.
According to a spokesman, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Germany can even envision "fiscal measures" like a sugar tax "to promote healthy and sustainable nutrition". But first, there has to be regulation of the harmful food marketing that targets kids in particular. The intention of this regulation is to force food manufacturers to alter their recipes in order to get around the advertising restriction. Then, because they had less sugar, morning cereals, muesli bars, and soft drinks would be healthier.
The CDU opposes such actions. The following is stated in a circular sent to the Union faction's members: "What people eat is a deeply personal decision in which the state should not interfere." The Union is speaking from a lot of people's hearts.
In his explanation, nutritional sociologist Kofahl says, "What we eat is our identity." A red E on the container of their preferred banger is sometimes interpreted as a personal rebuke by many consumers. Obesity and poor nutrition aren't a person's fault; instead, they're a result of the accessibility of bad food. However, the food sector hasn't yet improved the healthfulness of its products enough on its own.
The author Johanna Kurozchik is a German journalist current working as the editor at the science department of FAZ.
Source: FAZ