The eating habits of Israelis are not as bad as we think.
People aged 35 and up are eating more or less balanced diets.
Their food consumption is relatively controlled, including
more carbohydrates, vegetables and fruit and less fat.
However, the consumption of sodium (salt) is hundreds of
percents higher than recommended levels and the rate of
weight gain in women is relatively high.
This information arises from an extensive nutritional study
on the eating habits of Israelis. It was conducted by the
International Center for Health and Nutrition of Ben Gurion
University over a period of three years.
"Evaluating nutritional habits is not easy, since information
based on reports of people being interviewed is not
necessarily accurate. This explains why conflicting studies
appear and why certain puzzling studies have noted that heavy
people do not necessarily eat a lot," according to researcher
Iris Shai, member of the staff of researchers who conducted
the study.
Apparently, the heavier a person, the more unreliable are his
reports. It could be that heavy people relegate the truth to
subconscious levels and are simply ashamed of it. Woman tend
to report lower food consumption than men, according to the
study. The discrepancy between reports and reality is a
worldwide phenomenon, prevalent mainly in the western world
and particularly in Israel. In countries like Japan, where
being heavy is considered respectable, the phenomenon doesn't
exist.
The research team, headed by Professor Drora Preiser, is
currently compiling a special information pool which includes
12,000 types of foods. The list was compiled in accordance
with Israeli eating habits. (Israeli cheese, for example, has
a lower percentage of fat than American cheese.) The purpose
of the study is to determine the influence of nutrition on
various diseases, such as heart disease or cancer in women,
whose rates in Israel are among the highest in the world.
The rate of obesity of Israeli women is significantly higher
than that of Israeli men. The study also indicates that the
peak eating hours of the average Israeli are between 12-4 in
the afternoon, when 31% of the daily intake of calories is
consumed. Only 17% of the calories are consumed between 8
P.M. and 12 P.M. Eating at that time is considered one of the
main causes of overweight. Eating before sleep, researchers
explain, adversely affects the hormone which breaks up fats
during sleep.
When will we stop being hungry? The study doesn't bear good
tidings, and says that after the age 70 our appetites as well
as our caloric intake decrease significantly for objective
reasons. It is precisely at this age, however, that eating
too little is unhealthy and often contributes to sickness,
overall weakness and deteriorating health.
The study reveals disconcerting information regarding
Israelis' sodium intake, which is 400% above recommended
levels (not including salt added to food at the table). This
trend is apparently the result of the change over to
processed and preserved foods which include large quantities
of sodium. The recommended amount of sodium is 2-4 grams a
day, while the average Israeli consumes 12.8 grams without
even realizing it. High salt consumption is considered one of
the primary causes of high blood pressure, from which 50% of
the population over the age of 65 suffers.
