Optimizing nutrition: sustainable nutrition

Increasing food production is the most important task facing humanity. But this is only one side of the matter. Another, no less important, is understanding the physiological needs of a person for nutrition (from birth to old age) in different climatic, labor, living and other conditions.

Thanks to the development of fundamental concepts of the mechanisms of food assimilation, this area of knowledge has become not only an important section of biological and medical sciences, but also a key aspect of practical health care. Based on fundamental research, it is advisable to consider some important problems, including rational nutrition, further optimization of human nutrition and a number of others, from the standpoint of two nutrition theories - classical and new.

In general, rational nutrition today is in most cases not ideal nutrition. Therefore, the task of scientists and economists is reduced to the formation of a real rational nutrition, which must be constantly improved. Thus, we again return to the idea of rational nutrition as a compromise between optimal norms and limited real possibilities. However, there is a fundamental question: on what basis will the optimal nutrition standards be built - on the basis of the theory of balanced or adequate nutrition?

Nutrition is also not ideal because many healthy foods contain toxic substances. In some cases, such toxicants can be destroyed by heat treatment of food. However, a certain level of toxic substances is a constant and physiological companion of life. Most of these substances are neutralized by the protective systems of the gastrointestinal tract. In addition, recently, due to the intensification of agriculture and urbanization of the population, the amount of food impurities, the vast majority of which are not completely indifferent to the body, has been progressively increasing throughout the world. The use of environmental regulators (defoliants, insecticides, pesticides, herbicides, etc.) leads to the fact that these substances enter a significant part of food products. Such substances are used initially and above all against certain types of plants, harmful insects, poisonous mushrooms. Despite the efforts to make these agents selectively act only on certain groups of animals, due to the universality of the functional blocks, there is a danger of their impact on the body of humans and higher animals. (In many cases, such a negative effect has been proven.) Similarly, additives, which mostly ensure the preservation of food products, are not indifferent. In addition, the latter are contaminated with industrial waste, among which there may be very toxic ones.

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Optimization of nutrition

Nutrition optimization is a problem that requires a general solution. It seems especially important because nutritional deficiencies are characteristic of the present time on a global scale. People also encounter nutritional deficiencies in various emergency and extreme situations and will encounter them when creating artificial microbiospheres and microtrophospheres in connection with space exploration, ocean exploration, and other tasks. Therefore, it is necessary to understand how the consequences of various nutritional deficiencies can be prevented or mitigated.

First of all, let us consider an extreme case - the absence of food products. For a long time, it was believed that in such conditions, complete starvation is preferable to eating non-nutritious structures (in particular, plant leaves). Within the framework of the theory of balanced nutrition, this was explained by the fact that when eating leaves, the digestive apparatus works significantly and there is an additional energy expenditure, as well as the proliferation of intestinal bacterial flora, which has a negative effect on the body. However, from the standpoint of the theory of adequate nutrition, normal activity of the gastrointestinal tract is necessary to maintain many aspects of metabolism, for the functioning of the endocrine apparatus and, what is extremely important, for maintaining the endoecology of the intestine. Preservation of endoecology due to dietary fiber is apparently more beneficial for the body than absolute starvation. This point of view is confirmed by well-known examples of human behavior during hunger, adding grass, leaves, sawdust, etc. to their food. The behavior of some predatory animals, feeding on leaves, grass, berries, and other plants during hunger, may have a different meaning than it had several years ago. The differences between complete starvation and starvation combined with the consumption of products with insignificant energy value, but significantly affecting the neighboring endoecologies of the organism, also become clear. The use of dietary fiber is just one of many examples of nutrition optimization in unfavorable conditions.

The use of unrefined foods (e.g. whole grain bread, unpolished rice, etc.), which is valuable in itself, is especially important when optimizing nutrition in conditions of food shortage. Apparently, unrefined products have advantages over refined ones in most other cases as well.

The validity of a number of provisions of the theory of adequate nutrition is well demonstrated by the example of wild animals, whose instinct helps them maintain the structure of their bodies with extraordinary precision. As for humans, they probably lose these skills and instincts that ensure adequate food selection in the process of forming the Homo sapiens species, as well as as a result of upbringing (often incorrect), traditions, prejudices, etc. It should be emphasized that optimization of nutrition was an important and useful part of national, tribal and religious traditions. However, scientific literature often focuses only on the shortcomings of these traditions, many of which have now been lost. At the same time, such a loss creates a vacuum that is often filled with incorrect and disorganized actions. The latter are based on numerous fashionable nutritional concepts, sometimes lacking a theoretical basis and not supported by centuries of practice.

Apparently, when optimizing nutrition, one should take into account its national characteristics, the range of relevant products (which depends on the environment, the method of obtaining and processing food), the level of technology, etc. It is known that the relative energy consumption in the form of fats among the Eskimos reaches 47%, while among the Kikuyu it is only 10%. Unlike the Eskimos, Europeans and Americans, like the Kikuyu, consume significantly less fat. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that people, as a rule, adapt to changes in diet quite easily.

When optimizing nutrition, it is probably necessary to take into account the information that in some cases some trace microelements may have important nutritional value.

Optimization of nutrition is associated with the solution of several other problems. Since the creation of toxicants intended for the control of agricultural pests and harmless to humans is practically impossible due to the universality of the functional blocks, first of all, such compounds should be obtained that would perform the main regulatory functions in the external environment, but would not get into food products or food. Next, it is necessary to look for compounds with such a degree of selectivity that these substances and their metabolites would be as indifferent to humans as possible. It is also important to develop food technologies, including culinary ones, in which toxic substances would be destroyed or transformed into harmless ones during the cooking process. Finally, there should be sufficiently complete and open information on the presence of toxic compounds in products and on the possibility of alternating these products in order to avoid cumulative effects of adverse effects, etc.

The concept of adequacy allows optimizing nutrition in accordance with age and the nature of work. But even in this case, the food will not be ideal. Certain prospects for optimizing nutrition are opened by improving the amino acid composition of food by introducing the corresponding peptides instead of amino acids. As is known, in the 1970-1980s, nutritional mixtures based on short peptides and free amino acids were developed. Foreign companies released a number of peptide diets. It was demonstrated that a diet containing short peptides is utilized more effectively than a mixture of free amino acids. A number of researchers have shown the high value of protein hydrolysates containing short peptides. It should also be noted that, in contrast to the unpleasant taste of amino acid mixtures, hydrolysates of food proteins (including mixtures consisting of short peptides) in many cases have a rather pleasant taste. Peptide hydrolysates can be recommended for nutrition of weakened organisms, for short-term diets, during heavy physical exertion, etc.

When optimizing nutrition, it is also necessary to take into account food additives, which are increasingly used in human nutrition and especially in farm animals. Food additives include antibiotics, growth factors (stimulants), coccidiostatics, histomonostatics, etc. Their beneficial and negative side effects have been widely discussed in recent years. At the same time, new additives are constantly being proposed, including growth stimulants, antibiotics, anabolic agents, yeast cultures, microorganisms, etc.

The main issue is the safety of such additives for the consumer. At the same time, it is necessary to remember that virtually all food products (both natural and processed) may contain undesirable substances. And the system of strict control of the entire trophic chain, while protecting a person, cannot always guarantee his health. For example, an excess of even complete, absolutely "healthy" food can lead to obesity, cardiovascular diseases, the development of malignant tumors and other serious diseases. In recent years, a number of lower-calorie diets (400-600 kcal per day) than usual, as well as semi-starvation, have been recommended for losing excess weight. Therefore, when trying to optimize nutrition, one should remember the words of Hippocrates, spoken more than 2,300 years ago: "Dietetics allows those who have good health to maintain it, and those who have lost health to restore it."

The different categories of food additives recommended by the EEC (after Vanbelle, 1989)

• Antibiotics (growth promoters)
• Growth factors (growth stimulants)
• Coccidiostatics and histomonostatics
• Aromatic and flavoring substances
• Emulsions, stabilizing agents, gels and thickeners
• Color agents and pigments
• Fuses
• Vitamins and vitamin-like substances
• Microelements
• Enzymes, choline

Finally, nutritional optimization is necessary in connection with the problem of the food of the future.