Liceo Scientifico - Linguistico Statale

“Leonardo da Vinci” Bisceglie (Italy) A.S. 2007-2008

COMENIUS PROJECT 1Contract n. 2007/07 – ITA – 01 – C06 - 01462 – 2

Food, we are what we eat

teachers: Giulia Dell’Orco, Giuseppe Torchetti

In collaboration withINSTITUTE SAINT LÔ (FRANCE)

ROSBORG AMTSGYMNASIUM (DENMARK)GRUP SCOLAR INDUSTRIAL (ROMANIA)

inizio

The weight of the body has always been relevant in the human evolution.

Fat people were considered in good health

differently from slim people.

Even if in the past food was chosen just as

nourishment…

…today it is chosen for its amount, its

taste, its good looking, quickness and easiness in its

preparation.

Recent studies show that the more a

person is fat, the worse is the quality

of his life.

The modern man makes at least three kinds of

mistakes when he sits at table for a meal :

he eats too much

he eats hypercaloric food

he eats “not natural” food

A man is, on the biological side, the result of the

transformation of the food that he eats :

WE ARE WHAT WE EAT

These modern eating habits have

consequences on human health impossible to be

avoided.

The most common consequences are:

Hypertension

Hypercholesterolemia

Diabetes

Hypertension

Blood pressure is the force exerted by blood on the walls of blood

vessels. Normally, the blood pressure is below

120/80 mmHg. If it is higher, we can talk of high pressure, while hypertension is the

chronical rise of blood pressure.

It can cause a stroke, or an aneurysm. It is dangerous even if

pressure is just a little higher than normal values. The most common form of hypertension has

several contributing factors:

salt, obesity, sedentary life,

diabetes, genetics, age

We cannot act on genetics and age but

we can avoid hypertension by

reducing the amount of salt, preventing

hypercholesterolemia and diabetes, and by increasing physical

activity.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a polycyclic alcohol whose synthesis occurs in the liver, which

metabolises saturated fats. Our body produces

cholesterol continuously, but it will use only the

necessary amount for the synthesis of biliary salts,

vitamin D and several hormones.

Cholesterol is normally transported in blood by

lipoproteins: LDL and HDL.

The first one carries cholesterol from the liver to the other tissues, and

the second one in the opposite direction.

The hypercholesterolemia is an higher amount of cholesterol in the blood

dued to hereditary causes or food.

Diet is the basic treatment of hypercholesterolemia, in order to reduce the higher

levels of cholesterol.Hypercholesterolemia can lead to atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis

The atherosclerosis is a disease which consists of

the progressive hardening of the arteries

and loss of elasticity. Although it is a disease that develops with old age, it could start to develop very soon.

The main clinical symptom of

atherosclerosis is the ischemic heart

disease. The most common causes are:

lack of physical activity, wrong diet,

smoke, diabetes, obesity and

hypertension.

The typical damage of atherosclerosis is

the “plaque”, a thickening of the

artery wall.The plaque is

responsible for the symptoms of

atherosclerosis since it obstructs

the vessel.

When the “stenosis” of artery exceeds a

threshold level, the passage of the blood is difficult and nutrition

of tissues is compromised.

Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease characterized by disordered metabolism and a high level

of sugar in the blood resulting from lower levels

of insulin .The causes of diabetes are still unknown. It is thought that it is often caused by hereditary characteristics

but it is sure that a large use of carbohydrates

predisposes to this disease.

Diabetes is more common among white people than

among black one, therefore it is a typical disease of developed

countries.Diabetes causes many complications. Acute

complications might occur if the disease is not

adequately controlled. Serious long-term

complications include cardiovascular diseases,

chronic renal failures, retinal, nerve and

microvascular damages.

Since hypertension, hypercholesterolemi

a and diabetes depend on a wrong

diet, it would be enough to avoid diet mistakes in order to

be healthy.

The most important thing is to match

the food we eat with the capacities of our

organism and the climate of the place

we live in.

In our case the diet must be

composed of a lot of vegetables and few animal foods.

Any food such as

bread, rice, pasta, oatmeal,

breakfast cereals, and

grits are examples of

grain products.

What food is included in the grains group?

Any vegetable counts as a

member of the vegetable group. Vegetables may

be raw or cooked; fresh, frozen,

canned, or dried/dehydrate.

What food is included in the vegetable group?

Any fruit or 100% fruit juice counts

as part of the fruit group. Fruits

may be fresh, canned, frozen,

or dried, and may be whole,

cut-up, or pureed.

What food is included in the fruit group?

Oils, butter and margarine are fats used in cooking. Oils come from many different

plants, butter and lard are derived

from animals. It is not healthy to eat large amounts of oils and butter.

What food is included in the oil group?

All foods made from milk are

considered part of this food group.

Foods rich in calcium are part of

the group, while foods that have

little to no calcium, such as cream

cheese, cream, and butter, are not.

What food is included in the milk group?

What food is included in the meat & beans group?

All foods made from meat, poultry, fish, dry beans or peas, eggs, nuts, and seeds are

considered part of this group. Dry beans and peas are part of this group as well as the vegetable group.

Most meat and poultry choices should be lean or low-fat. Fish, nuts,

and seeds contain healthy oils.

The last colour you should use to live better is

white...physical activity!

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Physical activity simply means movement of the body that

uses energy. Walking, gardening, briskly pushing a baby stroller, climbing the stairs, playing soccer, or

dancing the night away are all good examples of being active.

For health benefits, physical activity should add up to at

least 30 minutes a day.

Emma

Marina

GiuseppeDaniele

Elena

Rosita

Francesco

Tiziano

Sergio

Roberta

Marilisa

Vincenzo

Emiliana

Giorgia

Giuseppe

Giulia

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