With the aim of making visible the diseases caused by incorrect habits and the mechanisms by which they generate damage, The fourth session of the Cycle of Conferences on Basic Sciences, organized by the Social Communication Coordination of the UNAM Faculty of Medicine, was dedicated to the topic “The significance of our habits in health”where strategies were offered to improve lifestyles.
In the conference broadcast by YouTube and Facebook LiveDr. Ana Lilia Rodríguez Ventura, academic from the Department of Embryology and Genetics of the Faculty, gave an overview of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and respiratory diseases, which are responsible for 70 percent of deaths in the worldand how in the majority of these pathologies another chronic disease appears as a causative or triggering factor, which is adiposity (obesity or overweight).
She is also a pediatric endocrinologist and researcher in Medical Sciences at the National Institute of Perinatology. “Isidro Espinosa de los Reyes” mentioned that the increase in chronic degenerative diseases is due to the changes in today’s society, both in diet and habits, predominating foods high in saturated fats and sugars, lack of exercise and smoking.
“It is important to know that adiposity is a multifactorial disease, where genetic causes, despite increasing the risk of acquiring it, only explain 20 to 30 percent of its appearance, but the reality is that the other 70 to 80 percent It is caused by psychological, behavioral, economic, cultural and perinatal issues.”he warned.
Within her investigations, Dr. Rodríguez Ventura indicated that The main barrier for people to approach a doctor or a nutritionist is that there is no awareness of what excess weight is, Well, it is not seen as a disease, many people continue to see it as a risk factor, as something banal, aesthetic or even superficial, however, it is a chronic disease that needs monitoring to avoid all its complications.
Our country had the highest rate of adiposity in the world, increasing it 2 percent each year between 1988 and 2006, which is why currently almost 80 percent of the adult population and around 40 percent of children and adolescents suffer from the disease: “If a child forms good habits from a young age, it will not be difficult for him to continue with them, and even if he were to develop diabetes or some disease of this type, it would not be difficult for him to change his lifestyle.”
How to prevent these diseases? Among the most important habits to maintain good health are: reducing sitting time and increasing physical activity, a greater intake of fiber and unsaturated fats, lower consumption of sugars and trans fats, stopping smoking and alcoholism, Well, studies have identified that each of these factors protects the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 35 percent, together by 82 percent and, if people maintain a normal weight, they could prevent it by up to 89 percent. : “A healthy lifestyle is 2 times more effective than the best drug,” he said.
The speaker explained that The Mediterranean diet is highly protective against adiposity or cardiovascular diseases, as it is characterized by being high in polyphenols that inhibit pro-inflammatory molecules. They increase the absorption of glucose at the muscular level, so its concentration in the bloodstream decreases, in addition to reducing hepatic gluconeogenesis, that is, the formation of new glucose by the liver; Likewise, among its ingredients are spices that have anti-cancer and antioxidant properties.
Finally, he explained that at the “Isidro Espinosa de los Reyes” National Institute of Perinatology, They have “Sacbe”, a comprehensive educational program, to treat and prevent adiposity and diabetes as a family with an interdisciplinary team using the ARMA strategy, acronym that means TOnutritious feeding, Rcircadian rhythm and sleep, Mmobility and exercise, and TOpositive attitude, aspects that make up in a more comprehensive and complete way what a healthy lifestyle implies.
In 10 steps you can remember it: 4 have to do with nutritious food (eat everything that comes directly from Mother Earth and cook it naturally and using spices, leave everything ultra-processed, eat at home and drink enough natural water), 3 with the Circadian Rhythm and sleep (respect meal times – do not go wrong – and sleep, sleep in adequate quantity and quality and that there is not a difference of 2 hours or more between the time of waking up during the week vs. weekends), 2 aspects of Mobility (Not sitting for 8 hours or more a day and not watching screens for 2 hours or more a day and taking 10,000 to 15,000 steps a day, as well as moderate to vigorous exercise 5 hours a week) and 1 step to achieve a positive attitude by prioritizing solutions so as not to wear yourself out with problems.
Tomas Ortega