Healthy Latin American Diets
Dietary data from those parts of Latin America that enjoyed the lowest recorded rates of chronic diseases and the highest adult life expectancy show a pattern similar to the one illustrated in the list below. The healthfulness of this pattern is corroborated by epidemiological and experimental nutrition research.
The historical pattern includes the following (with several parenthetical notes adding contemporary public health perspectives):
- An abundance of food from plant sources, most notably maize and potatoes, but also including fruits and vegetables, breads and grains, rice, cornbread, tortillas, beans, nuts, and seeds.
- Daily preparation of meals in the home, with a preference for locally grown foods, (which were prepared in a way that enhanced the health promoting micronutrient and antioxidant content of these foods).
Limited availability of edible oils. Fats obtained by the consumption of fruits, nuts, and certain vegetables containing significant level of lipids, such as avocados, walnuts, cashews, peanuts and palm oil.
Daily consumption of chiles in small amounts, ubiquitous at almost every meal.
Weekly consumption of poultry, (especially turkey), and fish.
Abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables, such as potatoes and sweet potatoes, root vegetables, cassava and yucca; usually consumed during main meals.
Daily intake of chocolate, consumed as a hot beverage of mainly water and cacao beans.
Red meat eaten sparingly, only a few times a month.
Regular physical activity at a level which promotes healthy weight, fitness, and well-being.
- Moderate consumption of alcohols made from a variety of fermented fruits and vegetables, normally with meals; about one to two glasses per day for men and one glass per day for women (from a contemporary public health perspective, wine should be considered optional and avoided when consumption would put the individual or others at risk).
Page and graphic from Old Ways Preservation and Exchange Trust.
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