“To have a healthy body and brain in the future requires being informed and taking responsibility”, says Dr Wilma Lourens, a retired consultant endocrinologist who is passionate about preventing metabolic diseases. This will be the focus of Dr Lourens’ talk, Good Food, Bad Food, at the Ardcarne Garden Centre on Saturday January 25th at 11 am at the Boyle branch and on Sunday January 26th at 11 am in Roscommon.
Chronic inflammatory conditions such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, dementia, obesity, fatty liver and cancer have increased at alarming levels over the past 50 years with no sign of abating. In the past, patients were prescribed a diabetic or heart or weight reduction diet depending on their diagnosis. Scientists now recognise that these conditions share a common dietary origin. Unprocessed and minimally processed foods have been replaced to a large extent by processed and ultra-processed foods. Industrialized foods are much less expensive to produce, are highly palatable and require very little time and input from the consumer. But this convenience comes at the price of increased intake of rapidly absorbed sugars and products that were inedible in their natural state, such as vegetable oils. Processed foods are devoid of fibre and essential phytonutrients; instead they are boosted with artificial sugars, artificial sweeteners and food additives that are foreign to the human body. These substances may have metabolic, hormonal and brain effects that perpetuate their consumption.
Billions of chemical reactions are happening within the body at every moment. Choosing to eat mainly REAL nutrient-rich food can activate your genes to expand health and vitality now and in future –the link to well-being of you and your loved ones.
