If our grandparents saw how we eat, they would not understand. They would probably need a food dictionary that translated what are all that collection of seeds, plants, spices and algae (with somewhat 'complicated' flavors) that we have incorporated into our dishes as if infallible elixirs against all present or future evils were .

Surely they would wonder how they could enjoy such a long-lived life without having changed the lentils for the quinoa, without having seasoned with turmeric all their spoon stews or having breakfast ginger infusions.

We have gone from the abusive consumption of fast food to a nutritional obsession that, sometimes, borders on orthorexia , forgetting about the path of pleasure that involves enjoying food in a healthy and balanced way . Just like our grandparents did.

Is our desire to lead healthy living habits getting out of hand? "No, I think it is quite the opposite and what is getting out of hand is eating badly and excessively, according to a little Mediterranean eating pattern. Health, along with sustainability, should be the pillars of our diet, "says Lluís Serra, Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health and director of the Institute of Biomedical and Health Research at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Coordinator of 'The Pleasures of Good Health', a cycle of conferences that started in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and will tour the main Spanish cities, far from recommending a diet marked by deprivation, Serra advocates to achieve the balance between enjoyment and health on the table: "Eating poorly and having a sedentary lifestyle will lead us to diseases and imbalances that will force us to deprive ourselves of many things. A healthy and balanced meal is not incompatible with pleasure at all, rather everything otherwise".

What would be, in your opinion, the golden rule to be well fed? Easy. " Eat what our environment and our culture provides us in its proper measure, " he says.

FALSE MYTHS AND 'INFLUENCERS'

Become the speaker for many gurus and experts of doubtful credibility but with a great popular pull, social networks are undermined by messages as false as dangerous. "The problem of these people is that they are not even celebrities; they are people without any merit (at most they have managed to finish a degree, but never a doctorate) and that they show us their intimacies, their home, their fridge and their followers abide by their advice as if they were abducted . In a way, the problem is more in the follower than in the 'influencer' himself, "says this expert.

In this sense, remember that "it is very important that, when we want to know about something food and health, we go first to health professionals and that we make sure that the sources and websites we review are duly accredited ."

The three keys to being healthy

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Food, physical activity and happiness. This is the perfect equation for a correct well-being and to achieve a balance in all this is the key to achieve it, according to the participants in the first debate of the cycle "The Pleasures of Good Health".

Javier Aranceta, president of the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Society of Community Nutrition (SENC), stressed that "the best way to achieve an adequate nutritional status is to incorporate a wide variety of foods, mainly fresh, seasonal and proximity."

"Proper nutrition is not intended to put the population on a diet or raise utopias. Food always has a gastronomic, cultural, convivial and playful component. Let's think about shared and pleasant improvements. Nothing against the population and yes in harmony with the uses and customs of our traditional Mediterranean model, "said Dr. Aranceta.

Are turmeric, ginger or quinoa really as 'necessary' as they are making us believe? "Not at all. Many times, it is quite the opposite. They represent less sustainable options and, sometimes, they are not even really healthy, like coconut oil. By consuming them we do a disastrous favor to our planet and our culture and that of other peoples ( as with the case of quinoa, which occurs in the Bolivian and Peruvian highlands). "

Serra shares with ZEN his assessment of the applications that evaluate the quality of the food we eat. "There is some very good. The problem is the definition of nutritional profiles; I am in favor of those that include the 'nutriscore' and also the environmental impact of the product. I consider that they are useful when choosing between different points of purchase products of the same category (cookies, canned tuna, etc.) ".

What should we really eliminate from our diet? "We should discard sweets (in excess), red and processed meats (more than 2-3 times a week), poor quality white bread and industrial pastries, ultraprocessed foods (especially those that contain a lot of sugar , a lot of salt or some fat like palm oil), sugary sodas, oils other than olive and butter or margarine.

And, on the contrary, what would we have to consume more? "We should continue to have fruit for dessert, a natural orange juice for breakfast, a good bread if possible whole grain or cereal, extra virgin olive oil, a beer or a glass of wine with the main meal of the day, legumes , salads, nuts every day, white and blue fish, cheese and yogurt without sugar, and all those local or local foods. In short, return to the Mediterranean diet, "he concludes.

I said it. The 'influencers' do not exist ... They are the grandparents!

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