The role of food in health?

I vividly remember the moment I watched a patient take her last breath in a crowded hospital environment, when I was 24 years old. As a junior doctor in a busy department, a 60-year-old woman was rushed to hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest, likely caused by a heart attack. Although the ambulance crew began the resuscitation process, our efforts, based on rigorous training, proved ineffective. Calling it death made me feel frustrated. A far cry from the utopian vision of saving lives that attracted me to medicine.

This disillusionment prompted a reflective night where I delved into the grim statistics of heart attacks in the UK—over a hundred thousand annually, occurring at a rate of one every five minutes. Thirty thousand cardiac arrests paralleled this grim reality, presenting a challenge magnified by the poor lady's slim one-in-ten chance of survival as she entered our department. It became apparent that we were reacting to a disease left untreated, undiagnosed, and initiated long ago.

Fast forward to today, and I stand before you not just as a doctor named Rupee, but as a proponent of a different kind of medicine—one centered around food. In a world rife with preventable lifestyle-related illnesses causing millions of deaths, the question inevitably arises: What should we be eating?

Navigating the cacophony of dietary debates—from meat eaters clashing with vegans to paleo advocates at odds with diabetes associations—can be perplexing. Yet, I propose a novel perspective. How can seemingly divergent diets, such as plant-based, paleo, or low-carb, yield remarkably similar outcomes? The answer lies in shared underlying principles.

Consider the common ground when we exclude extreme diets and analyze popular ones—paleo, low-carb, Mediterranean, DASH, and whole food plant-based. An abundance of overlapping themes surfaces, revealing the principles that unite them. Fundamentally, all advocate for the elimination of excess junk food, processed items, and sugar, while emphasizing the importance of energy control.

These diets, irrespective of their apparent differences, share a core inclusion of largely plants, fiber, quality fats, and a vibrant array of colors. This seemingly simple formula holds the key to unlocking a plethora of health benefits. Largely plant-based diets, for instance, ensure a diverse range of micronutrients, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals—thousands of chemicals found in roots, leaves, and grains.

Contrary to past beliefs that attributed the benefits of plants solely to antioxidants, the intricate nature of these chemicals goes beyond mere antioxidant properties. They contribute to regenerating human cells, aiding signaling processes, and altering cellular function. The significance of fiber from whole grains, beans, and legumes lies in its ability to contain numerous fiber types, crucial for feeding our microbiota—a population of microbes essential for nutrient release, inflammation control, and sugar balance.

Moreover, quality fats derived from nuts and seeds play a vital role in brain health and serve as precursors to hormones coursing through our bloodstream. These fats, rich in diverse fatty acids and colors, become integral components of a diet promoting overall health.

As we delve into the fascinating realm of nutrigenetics, the interaction between food and our DNA takes center stage. Food has the remarkable potential to alter gene expression, influencing health outcomes. This exciting field opens a new frontier, showcasing the power of our food choices to promote health by switching genes on or off.

In conclusion, for the majority of us, a diet primarily consisting of plants and an array of colors emerges as a prescription for health. Recognizing this, many health organizations, including the World Health Organization, advocate for this approach. As we adopt these principles, we embark on a journey towards a healthier, more resilient future, reshaping our understanding of the role food plays in our lives. In the evolving landscape of medicine, the focus shifts from reacting to diseases to proactively preventing them—one plate at a time