malnutrition

When summer arrives, important routine changes also come to our daily lives, beyond ‘hiding’ from the scorching sun that we are having these days. And something that has surely happened to many people is that heavy digestion becomes unbearable and the body cries out for fresh foods like a salad. The problem is that this can also pose a very important nutritional problem by giving up essential nutrients due to having a much lighter diet. The heat takes away our hunger. It is not a subjective idea that, when we are at forty degrees, we do not feel like stuffing ourselves with food, since it is pure biology. Here scientific evidence shows us that heat reduces appetite and, consequently, the amount of calories we eat (with some exceptions in people who do not have this problem). Here is a study published in 2021 in the British Journal of Nutrition put to the test this premise in healthy men, seeing that acute exposure to an environmental temperature of 30 ºC drastically reduced food intake during lunch in those exposed to 20 ºC ambient. In addition, the overall perception of appetite before sitting down at the table plummeted. In Spain. In our country, the data also supports this summer problem, as pointed out in a study published in 2005 that revealed that we eat significantly less in summer than in winter. And in the cold months, the average intakes of calories and almost all nutrients were much higher in both sexes. The most worrying thing about this last study was the conclusion on the coverage of dietary recommendations, since During the summer, a greater percentage of the population was unable to meet their minimum calorie needs or most micronutrients. And this is a serious problem. The salad trap. The statement that “you eat light in summer” is not inherently bad, but it does not justify poor nutrition. According to the WHO healthy eating parameters, the risk of malnutrition appears when our diet does not cover our physiological needs for an extended period, and summer lasts long enough to wreak havoc on our diet. Experts here point out that, when we lose our appetite, we usually replace full meals with salads with little variety or simply fruit. That is why if we go from eating three full meals to surviving on a couple of light dishes, we run the risk of have some nutritional deficiency. Our shortcomings. Among the nutrients we lack is, above all, quality protein and also iron. Added to this are the dangerous summer “fad diets”, which restrict food to fruits or juices. And beyond how healthy it sounds, these practices not only cause rapid deficiencies, but, if maintained over time, they can trigger adverse metabolic effects. Hydration a priori it is essential throughout the summer because we do not stop sweating and that means a greater loss of water and minerals. However, replacing meals with drinks (especially if they are sugary or excessively juiced) is a textbook error. Something to keep in mind is that hydration should come from water and seasonal foods rich in it, but not at the cost of emptying our diet of solid nutrients. This is something essential to take into account in people who are more vulnerable to color or nutritional losses, such as children, the elderly and the chronically ill, where dehydration and loss of appetite overlap very easily. A varied diet. If the body asks to eat less food to avoid heavy digestion and increased internal heat, logically it will have to compensate with a greater nutritional density of the little that is ingested. This involves eating cold legumes in the form of a salad, oily fish such as tuna or sardines, boiled eggs as a source of protein and nuts to have a lot of energy. Images | atlascompany In Xataka |We have searched for the formula for the definitive pre-workout breakfast. The answer from science is much simpler