Alternative nutrition - our optional foods

Many people deviate from the plant- and meat-based, moderate nutritional system, either periodically or planned for a longer period of time. They and the addicts of fad diets are the alternative food choices. Alternative nutrition is a symptom of the times. Never before have so many "world-saving" weight loss recipes been available, but does it seem that in the meantime the health of the population as a whole is not better, but even worse? Data prove how common the deterioration of health due to improper nutrition is, above all obesity and overweight. The author presents and comments on a long list of fad diets, and of course also dedicates a chapter to the food choices of those suffering from diet-related and nutritional diseases. Before all this, however, he also introduces the real background of personal decisions related to alternative nutrition, as well as the family and community risks. In the first chapters, he deals with the concepts of food and nutrition, healthy, fresh, clean, safe foods, as well as the topics of food production and consumption. Of particular importance is the easy development of excess weight due to abundance, and its various forms, with the diseases that follow, as he writes: According to several previous studies, the fat tissue that accumulates around the waist and hips can significantly reduce our life expectancy, as it predisposes us to cardiovascular diseases. This fat tissue produces more harmful substances, and is also located close to our vital organs. The first 1,000 days after conception are surprisingly important. "Increased calorie intake stimulates the proliferation of fat cells. Parents lay the foundations for morbid obesity in infancy and childhood. The diet "followed" in the first 1,000 days of our lives greatly influences the health of our body later on." This loss of health cannot, or can only be recovered with difficulty, later. On one side, there is an abundance of food, on the other side, hunger, and we are indeed shocked, "a Hungarian schoolchild consumes the daily ration of 15 (!) starving children alone!? In Africa alone, 50 thousand people die every day (!) as a result of malnutrition." The author, Dr. Sándor Balogh, has been active in the field of food education and scientific research for almost 50 years, and he knows the discipline well. He also provides a historical outlook on Hungarian conditions with the following lines: "Between 1961-1978, Hungary was surpassed in the world only by the Netherlands in the growth of the gross production value of agriculture. And Hungary was in first place in the agricultural production value per capita." "The value of production nearly doubled between 1960-1962 and 1983-1985, and in terms of per capita grain production, Hungary was on par with the USA, only surpassed by Canada and Denmark. In terms of per capita meat production, Hungary ranked second in the world after the Netherlands." The book contains separate chapters on the sustainability of food production and consumption, vegetarianism, religious (and esoteric, spiritual) food choices, various free from and fortified foods, functional and "novel" foods, but it also wants to dispel misconceptions about the currently fashionable topics of dieting, alkalizing, and detoxification, and for the sake of clarity, it also lists the hallmarks of pseudoscience.