🪖 Was the WW2 diet healthier than the average diet today?

An interesting short video from the BBC recalled what food rations were like during the WW2.

As shipment of food from Europe and other countries plunged, the UK had to rely on local produce for survival.

The weekly rations were: 1 eggs, a handful of sugar, 450g of animal proteins, 113g of butter and oil, 170g of apples, 113 g of cheese, 1/4 of milk pint a day.

Bread and local vegetables (e.g. turnips) were not restricted. Bread was fortified with calcium to prevent deficiency in adults and children.

Overall, the intake from the rations was 1/3 of the average intake before the war.

However, small experiments in male soldiers found that the rationing was enough for survival and overall health and fitness.

The UK still received some shipments of food from the US, but it largely relied on its own food supply.

The reliance on local produce and single ingredients looks to be a better diet overall than today’s diet.

Modern convenience has seen a shift towards reliance on complex ingredients and foods, leading to excessive intakes of sugars and unhealthy fats, while physical activity continues to decline.

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The WW2 diet and today’s diet represent opposite extremes. The UK’s reliance on local produce and single ingredients during WW2 supported survival, while today’s diet with its large portion sizes and heavily processed foods supports the other extreme - excess.

🧬 What are symbiotics? And how can they help with fatty liver?

We all have heard about probiotics and prebiotics.

Prebiotics are fermentable fibres that is food for the gut bacteria, while probiotics are live microorganisms that can provide health benefits when consumed (e.g. improving or restoring the gut bacteria make up).

Symbiotics is the combination of probiotics and prebiotics.

A review of multiple studies confirmed that supplementation with symbiotics provided meaningful health improvements for patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

In details, patients taking symbiotic for at least 15 weeks had lower:

• Inflammatory markers and liver enzymes (a proxy for liver stress)

• Fats in the blood, like cholesterol

• Weight and waist circumference

• Blood pressure

However, no changes in the liver structure and composition were observed. It’s likely that higher dosages or longer supplementation periods are needed for this.

Despite the limitations, increasing your intake of both prebiotics and probiotics is likely to benefit your health in general.

Especially when from food sources (e.g. plant based foods for prebiotics, fermented foods for probiotics) rather than supplements.

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These findings shows that symbiotics could be a powerful intervention to reduce inflammation, enhance metabolic health, and improve liver function.

💺 How does sitting harm your health?

Most people spend 9+ hours a day sitting, whether it is driving, working or watching TV.

We also sit a lot more than our previous generations.

However, many of us aren't even aware that prolonged sitting can have serious consequences for our health.

Although the recommended 30 minutes of exercise per day is a great start, it’s not enough to counter the harmful effects of prolonged sitting.

When we sit for prolonged periods of time:

• The leg muscles go dormant and blood flow to lower limbs is reduced

• Lung capacity is reduced

• High amounts of stress on your spine, especially in the lower back and neck

• Calorie burning drops to 1 per minute

• Insulin effectiveness decreases and fat breakdown enzymes plummet by 90%.

• HDL ‘good’ cholesterol decreases by 20% after 2 hours of sitting

The drastic change from manual labour to office based jobs is affecting our overall health.

However, it has to be said, manual labour contributed to other health problems (e.g. exposure to chemicals).

The best we can do if having a desk-based job is to break prolonged periods of time as much as possible by moving (e.g. walking, going up and down the stairs).

On top of exercising across the week.

These small actions add up over time and can help you reduce the health effects of sitting for many hours.

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Prolonged sitting can significantly affect your health risks. Your health is your most valuable asset. Don’t trade it for hours of sitting.