Solving the diet dilemma in the Philippines

If the results of the periodic surveys commissioned by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute and the Department of Science and Technology are any indication, then Filipinos are headed to a not so healthy future.

According to the National Nutrition and Health Survey, one in every four Filipino adults now suffers from high blood pressure; five in every 100 Filipinos now exhibited high fasting blood sugar (a risk for developing diabetes); while one in every 10 Filipino adults now has high total cholesterol level.

“The bad news is that these numbers are getting worse considering that the survey done in 2003 and again in 2008 has shown an increasing pattern,” noted Dr. Tommy Ty-Willing, chair and president of Diabetes Philippines.

He also reported that the number of Filipinos with high blood pressure have risen—from 22.5 percent in 2003 to 25.3 percent in 2008. What is more alarming is that 11 in every 100 (or 10.8 percent) of the population are already showing signs that they are headed to this condition that can eventually lead to damage to the heart, brain, kidneys and eyes.

Even the number of those with high fasting blood sugar have also risen—from 3.4 percent in 2003 to 4.8 percent in 2008.

Another alarming trend is that one in every 10 Filipinos already have high total cholesterol levels, while 21 in every 100 are borderline high. Furthermore, 15 in every 100 already have high triglyceride level (a type of fat found in the blood that is a strong independent predictor of a person’s risk for stroke) while 16 in every 100  are borderline high.

Prevalence

When the survey done in 2003 and 2008 were compared, they showed that Filipinos with low levels of good cholesterol levels in their blood increased from 54.2 percent to 64.1 percent. In contrast, the prevalence of Filipinos’ high levels of bad cholesterol remains unchanged: from 11.7 percent in 2003 to 11.8 percent in 2008.

“Tackling one of the risk factors of metabolic syndrome is tough—taking on all of them might seem overwhelming. But aggressive lifestyle changes can improve all of the metabolic syndrome components,” Ty-Willing explained.

According to him, metabolic syndrome is a clustering of conditions—increased blood pressure, elevated insulin levels, excess body fat around the waist or abnormal cholesterol levels-that occur together, increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

“Having just one of these conditions is not diagnosed as metabolic syndrome, but it does contribute to your risk of serious disease. If more than one of these conditions occur in combination, your risk becomes even greater,” Ty Willing warned.

But the doctor assured that the condition is easily solved: commit to healthy diet; get plenty of regular, moderately strenuous physical activity; and schedule regular checkups for your blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

“Make additional lifestyle modifications if the numbers are going the wrong way as this could delay or even prevent the development of serious health problems,” Ty Willing advised.

Regular part of one’s diet

While foods high in dietary fiber, and high servings of fruits, vegetables and whole-grain bread should be a regular part of one’s diet, Ty Willing also suggested eating diets containing omega-3 fish oil as this may be beneficial for people.

He added that fish oil has been shown to reduce triglycerides.

He said that if one’s diet is poor to begin with—eating food that have lots of calories with few or no nutrients, it is even more important to commit to at least one heathy food.

“But because not all fish species are rich in omega 3 fatty acids, the challenge is choosing the right fish species, their availability in the market, as well as affordability (one great source, like salmon, is quite expensive). Another challenge is that a number of these fish species that are rich in omega 3 fatty acids contain levels of mercury dangerous enough to be considered a serious hazard. Another problem is how much fish should be eaten to get enough amounts of omega 3 fatty acids,” Ty Willing noted.

The doctor explained that the docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and the eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids, which means they are are not made by the body and must be obtained by eating them.

“Just to be sure you have the right amount, taking in fish oil supplement containing the prescribed levels of DHA and EPA is most practical as well as safe way,” Ty Willing suggested.

He added that taking in fish oil supplement like Cenovis ensures fish oil source is uncontaminated with deadly pollutants (fishes caught for Cenovis are harvested from the Peruvian waters, considered one of the few remaining unpolluted waters) and that which contains the proper amounts of DHA and EPA.

Each of the less than P10 Cenovis fish oil capsule marketed by sanofi-aventis Philippines contains the important Omega 3 triglycerides (300 mg) as well as EPA (175 mg) and DHA (70 mg), all in the prescribed amounts.