Importance Of Australian Dietary Guidelines For Maintaining A Healthy Lifestyle

Recommended intake of green vegetables, fruits, grain foods, and non-vegetarian items

Discuss about the Health and Illness for American Journal of Neuroradiology.
 

I am a girl of 21 years of age. According to guidelines provided by Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary (2013), I need to consume ample amount of green vegetables and fruits. Being a girl of 21 years, I also require ingesting green leafy vegetables and orange or red vegetables like capsicum, sweet potatoes and broccoli.Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary (2013) states that most Australians need to eat grain foods particularly oats, reduced fat milk, pasta, wholegrain rice. Non-vegetarian item includes lean meats, fish and egg as well. Sufficient water needs to be consumed instead of soft drinks.

My diet plan clearly reflects that I am not following the dietary guidelines since my diet includes some spicy and foods that are rich in fat. I should avoid eating those fat foods because in future I will face some severe problems. It has been reported by Rankinen et al., 2015 that increasing weight may results in obesity that will increase the risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseaseslike strokethat sometimes become life threatening and reduces life expectancy.According to England et al.,2015, obesity can also lead to type 2 diabetes. I should also reduce the consumption of artificially sugar-sweetened soft drinks that again is responsible for the occurrence of type 2 diabetes(Greenwood et al., 2014). Apart from these diseases, Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary, 2013 states that overweight people face social discrimination and depression as well ( Guideline-1). Guideline 3 of Australian Dietary Guideline Summary proposes that some food item that contain unsaturated fats can replace high fat food that contain high saturated fat. These include butter, cream, cooking margarine and using coconut oil and palm oil with foods. These oils contains monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that will not result in weight gaining.My diet plan should include plenty of green vegetables, many cereals or grains, plenty of fruits.Green vegetables and fruits are rich in polyphenols which is characterised by the presence many phenol units. It is the most available antioxidant in human diets and possess some protective action as well (Lima et al., 2014).

I often take salt added food. Australian dietary guidelines,2013 also stated that the intake of food that contain added salt should be limited. This is because excessive salt consumption causes high blood pressure hypertension. This should be limited to 4 g/day (Trevena et al., 2014). My diet chart also indicates that I take inadequate amount of water. Our body need 75% of water and its deficiency cause blood to become thick and flows slowly. This in turn increase blood pressure.So I also have to increase the intake of water that will save me from dehydration. Researchers suggested some effects of dehydration on central nervous system as well. During dehydration, there is 0.67% increase inosmolality of serum, whereas, a sharp decrease of brain tissue fluid by 1.63% has been observed. The cortical thickness and volume entire brain, hypothalamus, white matter and cortex were found to be decreased that was identified by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (Biller et al., 2015).

Negative effects of excessive fat consumption, sugar-sweetened drinks, and inadequate water intake

After completion of my Quiz of Australian Dietary Changes Summary 2013, my score is 7. This indicates that I am consuming more or less healthy diet, but some changes are surely needed that will help me to lead a completehealthy life. I have to change my diet plan a little bit. I have to eat at least 5 serves of vegetables per day, ½ cupcooked vegetables of 1 serve and 1 cup of salad every day. In taking of fruits at least 2 serves a day is necessary. Fruits such as blueberries, raisins, Blackberries strawberries show antioxidant properties. This property shows protecting action inside body by scavenging free radicals that are involved in most degenerative process (Chang, Alasalvar&Shahidi, 2016).

Consumption of reduced fat milk, yoghurt, cheese and a cup of milk with added calcium is necessary. I also have to consume more whole grain cereals such as breakfast cereals, rice, pasta, oats, bulgur, quinoa and barley because provide more dietary fibre.According to guideline 3 of Australian Guideline Dietary Summary,2013, my non-vegetarian diet plan should include lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds. These provide many nutrients such as protein, iron. Zinc and other minerals. Lean red meat is rich in iron and hence can add up minerals to my body. Frequent consumption of red meat may also lead to colorectal cancer in some instances as well (Aykan, 2015). Fish items to be included are salmon and tuna that serve as significant source of essential omega-3 fatty acids (Sala?Vila et al., 2016). There is a decrease in the risk of heart disease, stroke and sometimes macular degeneration in the eyes (Siscovick et al., 2017).Lastly,I have to drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration and kidney problems (Sofia& Walter, 2016).  I also have to reduce the intake of drinks with added sugar such as energy drinks, sport drinks and soft drinks. 

According to KeshavarzMoahmmadi, 2017, during evolutionary process, the concept of Social Determinants of Health (SDH) had emerged.As defined by the World Health Organization, SDH is people are born, living and growing in a condition that is modified by many forces and system. These forces include political system, social norms, development agendas and economic polices and systems. Both Millennium Development Goals, 1990, Substantial Development Goals (SDG) selectivelyemphasized the connection between health and socioeconomic condition. Social Determinants of Health mainly include poverty, education, empowerment of women, socially healthy working and equity.Its vision is to set the world free from poverty, hunger and disease. Health is considered as the key feature of human development and SDH emphasizes on social and economic condition in order to make population a healthy one. Some social risks factors have been identified that includes identification of sex and gender, race and ethnicity, wealthand income and attainment of education. Social determinants can be addressed by interfering health-care system that will help to reduce the outcome of illness amongstdisadvantaged people. Some other determinants are reduction in the vulnerability of disadvantaged people, lessening social stratification and reducing exposure to health damaging factors (Ferrer, 2018). The markers of socioeconomic position include income and education. People who are below poverty level and are living with less socioeconomic position, have limited access to healthcare. Education is also a direct indicator of health. A person with good academic result and knowledge are more likely to have better jobs and opportunities. This in turn will help the person to attain and maintain healthy lifestyles (Johnson, 2014).

Impact of social determinants of health on meeting dietary guidelines

Betancourt el al, (2016)  has identified sociocultural barriers occur at three major levels of health care. All these barriers contribute to racial or ethnic disparities.  The first identified barrier is Organizational barrier. This includes limited clinical hours of service, long waiting timesfor appointment and sometimes people have to wait at the time of visit. Administrative intake process may be slow in some instances. Health care workforce includes racial or ethnic diversity and this is connected with giving quality care to different patient population. Structural barriers arise when patient is facing challenges for getting access to health care due to complex system. A system can be complex when it lacks linguistically appropriate health education. This hampers their communication with doctor due to lack of interpreter. Minority group members also facechallenges regarding referral to specialists. They lack this knowledge. Clinical barriers occurred when sociocultural differences arisesbetween patient and doctor or provider that are not accepted and appreciated fully.

According to my personal point of view, Social Determinant of Health surely has some impact on my ability to meet the guidelines suggested by Australian dietary summary guidelines, 2013. All suggested dietary changes are very costly and recently an abrupt increase in health-oriented food taxes are implemented as well.This will definitely be an issue for me to avail some products. It also suggested to takethese products at least 5 serves per day, that will again be a problem. Replacement of fat products can be done by taking various unsaturated fats items that are again very much costly. Taking lean meats, poultry, fishes, some nuts or legumes regularly will also be very expensive. Maintaining such lifestyle throughout my life will definitely be an issue for me. 

References:

Australian Dietary Guidelines Summary. (2013). [ebook] Australian Government. Available at: https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/_files_nhmrc/file/your_health/healthy/nutrition/n55a_australian_dietary_guidelines_summary_131014_1.pdf [Accessed 23 Apr. 2018].

Aykan, N. F. (2015). Red meat and colorectal cancer. Oncology reviews, 9(1).

Betancourt, J. R., Green, A. R., Carrillo, J. E., &OwusuAnaneh-Firempong, I. I. (2016). Defining cultural competence: a practical framework for addressing racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care. Public health reports.

Biller, A., Reuter, M., Patenaude, B., Homola, G. A., Breuer, F., Bendszus, M., &Bartsch, A. J. (2015). Responses of the human brain to mild dehydration and rehydration explored in vivo by 1H-MR imaging and spectroscopy. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 36(12), 2277-2284.

Chang, S. K., Alasalvar, C., &Shahidi, F. (2016). Review of dried fruits: Phytochemicals, antioxidant efficacies, and health benefits. Journal of Functional Foods, 21, 113-132.

England, C. Y., Andrews, R. C., Jago, R., & Thompson, J. L. (2015). A systematic review of brief dietary questionnaires suitable for clinical use in the prevention and management of obesity, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. European journal of clinical nutrition, 69(9), 977.

Ferrer, R. L. (2018). Social Determinants of Health. In Chronic Illness Care (pp. 435-449). Springer, Cham.

Greenwood, D. C., Threapleton, D. E., Evans, C. E. L., Cleghorn, C. L., Nykjaer, C., Woodhead, C., & Burley, V. J. (2014). Association between sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened soft drinks and type 2 diabetes: systematic review and dose–response meta-analysis of prospective studies. British Journal of Nutrition, 112(5), 725-734.

Johnson, V. (2014). Social Determinants of Health.

KeshavarzMoahmmadi, N. (2017). Social Determinants of Health. Health Promotion, and Sustainable Development Goals: Rising opportunities in Iran to address SDH and achieve SDGs Social Behavior Research & Health (SBRH), 1(1), 1-2.

Lima, G. P. P., Vianello, F., Corrêa, C. R., Campos, R. A. D. S., &Borguini, M. G. (2014). Polyphenols in fruits and vegetables and its effect on human health. Food and Nutrition sciences, 1065-1082.

Rankinen, T., Sarzynski, M. A., Ghosh, S., & Bouchard, C. (2015). Are there genetic paths common to obesity, cardiovascular disease outcomes, and cardiovascular risk factors?. Circulation research, 116(5), 909-922.

Sala?Vila, A., Guasch?Ferré, M., Hu, F. B., Sánchez?Tainta, A., Bulló, M., Serra?Mir, M., …& Muñoz, M. A. (2016). Dietary α?Linolenic Acid, Marine ω?3 Fatty Acids, and Mortality in a Population With High Fish Consumption: Findings From the PREvención con DIetaMEDiterránea (PREDIMED) Study. Journal of the American Heart Association, 5(1), e002543.

Siscovick, D. S., Barringer, T. A., Fretts, A. M., Wu, J. H., Lichtenstein, A. H., Costello, R. B., … &Appel, L. J. (2017). Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (fish oil) supplementation and the prevention of clinical cardiovascular disease: a science advisory from the American Heart Association. Circulation, CIR-0000000000000482.