 and welcome to her focus, a production of the Ministry of Health and Wellness. I am Fenia Neptune. Today, we have with us the chief nutritionist, Elisa Hunt, who will speak with us on the role of nutrition as it relates to non-commitable diseases and NCDs. Welcome to the program. Thank you for having me. Wonderful. Before we go in the discussion on nutrition and NCDs, we would first like to touch on NCDs. We know NCDs have to do with different diseases such as cancer, it can be high blood pressure, it can be diabetes, and of course the way people eat is very important when it comes to NCDs. Can you tell us how does nutrition impact NCDs? Nutrition plays an integral role in the prevention and management of NCDs. The way that a person eats, the foods that they eat, the quantity, the quality of the food can have a direct impact on whether they become ill or not. Persons who already have chronic diseases, eating healthy will help them to also manage their health condition as well. So nutrition plays a very important role. Nutrition coupled with physical activity can have a great impact on whether somebody becomes ill or not. Okay, so you mentioned in terms of different things that can be done. Nutrition in terms of the way you eat and also exercising, but we know that it's very good in terms of prevention and also the management of it, but we also know that it has to happen at an early stage where in terms of the way people eat from a very young age. Can you speak on that? Yes, for example, children now are becoming, having noncommunicable diseases that we used to see in adults and so it is important that children start to eat healthy from a very early age because what research has shown is most of the chronic diseases is that they start to manifest very early in the child, especially heart disease and so what the children consume is extremely important and that is where we are advocating for children to eat healthy and to ensure that we have healthy schools. Okay, so you spoke in terms of children eating healthy and eating healthy on a whole, but before we go in depth on a general level of eating, what is an NCD diet? Because for people living with a non-communicable disease, what diet is recommended for them and what role does this diet play in eradicating NCDs? There's no one particular diet for NCDs, but the focus is to eat healthy. What do I mean by eating healthy? Reduction of sugar and foods that are high in sugar. Salt, reducing foods that are high in salt, processed foods, foods that are highly refined foods. You want to focus on whole grain, whole foods, fruits, vegetables because they are high in phytochemicals that helps to prevent or fight against diseases. You want to ensure that persons drink adequate water, water helps to remove toxins from the body, water helps to deliver the nutrients to our system. You want to think of plant-based foods. When persons take too much of red meat, there is research that has shown that there is a direct link to diseases. Focus more on plant-based foods that are free of additives, preservatives. You want to focus on our basics, the foods that we grow. You had the slogan, eat what we grow and grow what we eat. This is very important because foods that are imported, foods that are highly processed, they have so many chemicals in them that have adverse effects on health. This is what it is. Eating healthy is not one particular diet that's going to prevent you from from getting chronic diseases but ensuring that you eat a nutritious balanced diet that is full of natural foods, foods without chemicals. What role does the foods that we are asking people to eat, the nutritious foods, what role do they play in actually eradicating the NCDs? Okay, so why do we eat? We eat because foods have nutrients. Nutrients and what you call phytochemicals and they also have what you call functional foods. So these nutrients that science continue to explore every day that they play a role in disease prevention. We eat because we want to get the nutrients from our food which are carbohydrates, proteins, healthy fats because there are fats that are bad for us. For example, trans fats, you want to stay away from trans fats and saturated fats. So you want to ensure that with good carbs, complex carbohydrates that is high in fiber, fiber also plays a role in removing excess fats and toxins in our body and helping our digestion. So we want to focus on those foods. So getting our nutrients from the foods that we consume help to fight against the diseases. While we are due for a break, we'll be back in a moment. During this COVID-19 pandemic, we have been asked to mask up as it is a highly effective barrier. The mask should be worn over the nose, mouth and chin. Some persons complain that they cannot breathe properly and place the mask over their mouth only. While others, even with the mask fitted properly, become mouth breathers. Prolonged breathing through the mouth can cause a condition called dry mouth characterized by dryness, less humidity and saliva in the mouth, plaque buildup, inflammation of the gums, gingivitis and bad breath. These symptoms can lead to tooth decay, affect person to person communication and self-confidence. Mouth breathers, take charge of your oral health by drinking water more frequently throughout the day to moisturize your mouth. Eat well-balanced and nutritious meals low in sugar, carbohydrates and acidic content. Brush and floss your teeth at least twice daily after meals. Brinsing and chewing sugar-free gum for short periods after meals stimulates saliva flow and neutralizes plaque acids which can help to moisturize the mouth. Be proud of your mouth and remember visit your dentist regularly. Welcome back. We will continue our discussion with Lisa Hunt on the role of nutrition as it relates to NCDs. Before we took the break, we talked about the role of a diet when it comes to managing NCDs. But what will happen to a person if that person does not hear to eat in the foods that they are supposed to eat if they have a non-communicable disease? Because we know that there are foods they are supposed to eat and we know the benefits of it. But we also know that there are people who might not eat the right foods. What will happen to this person? Yes, that's a good question because for example, you know, if you have hypertension and you are eating foods that are high in salt and so you find your blood pressure will be, you know, getting higher out of control. Now you may think that the medication alone will take care of that, but it won't because diet plays a very big role in getting your hypertension or your high blood pressure under control. So you find that this person will probably have to be on higher meds. But the seriousness of this is that the complications that comes after if persons do not manage the diseases, you find that they may have renal failure and certain things like heart attack and heart diseases. So it is extremely important that persons who have chronic diseases, whether it is hypertension or diabetes, another example, if for example you are eating any amount of food, any types of food, your blood sugar will be out of control. What can happen when you have diabetes? You can go blind, you can have other complications like where persons can lead to amputation, of course renal failure and etc. So it is extremely important, you know, there are so much studies that have shown evidence that when persons take care of what they eat, they eat healthy foods, foods that are whole, that they can control their chronic diseases. And some persons have, when they are early diagnosed, they can actually reverse the trend through what they eat. So there is power in food. Some people say, let your food be your medicine and there is power in that. So I want persons who are empowered, they can improve the quality of life, the longevity of their life as well by what they eat. So it is extremely important. Okay, you spoke on the power of food when it comes to eradicating and also preventing and reversing NCDs, but we also know that healthy lifestyles play a very big part in it as well. If you can elaborate on it, because we know healthy lifestyles also include exercise and different things, can you elaborate on this please? Yes, so healthy lifestyle includes physical activity, eating healthy, also reduction of stress, because you may be eating well, you may be exercising, but if you are stressed, you may still have an issue with having those risk factors as high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, etc. So other factors, which is avoiding alcohol, alcohol plays a pivotal role in increasing or exacerbating diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and all the chronic diseases. Even cancers, we know that you can get cancers from drinking too much of alcohol. So all these things has to be, has to complete the picture. So not only healthy eating, but as well you need to be physically active. Wonderful. Okay, but for people going out there, they might be diabetic or they might have high blood pressure. What food items, would you say that they went purchasing items and food items, what should they look out for? Okay, if you have high blood pressure, you want to ensure that you are having foods that are high in fiber, your peas, your beans, what we call our, your legumes, nuts, make sure they are not salty, having complex carbohydrates like your provisions, they are good, but make sure that the portion control, not too much of it, avoid processed foods like delis, hot dogs, things that are highly processed and high in salt, sorry. They must ensure that they have, you know, healthy fats, your coconut oil. Try to avoid having too much of fried foods, foods that are, you know, laden in salt, like packaged foods, foods that are high in trans fat. So you want to ensure that you are having more plant-based foods. And what final message would you like to leave with St. Lucien's as it relates to nutrition and also when it comes to preventing NCDs, because we have persons who do not have a non-communicable disease and we have persons who live in a fit. What message would you like to live with them? Okay, for persons who are living with a health condition, they can still live a healthy and good quality of life by the choices that they make. Ensuring that they have, they live a healthy lifestyle, they exercise or be physically active. There are many ways that you can be physically active and make sure that you make healthy choices when you are going to the supermarket. Try to choose foods that are healthy, avoid foods that are high in salt, sugar, refined foods. Try to choose foods that are whole, foods that you can recognize that are not being so processed that you don't know what is in there. When you are reading your labels, if you see that there are too many ingredients, see it as a way not to, that's a bad option. Look at the salt quantity, look at the sugar content in that package and if it's too high, then try to stay away from it. Try to drink adequate water every day. Throughout the day, try to drink water. If you are drinking alcohol, do so in moderation or if you can't avoid drinking alcohol because of the adverse effects it has on health. So I want to send notions to know that the power is in your hands. Whether the foods are being imported or not, you can make your choice as to what you decide to put in your body. Thank you very much. Well, we have come to the end of the program for today, so I want to thank you so much for being here with us and providing us with such valuable information. Thank you so much. Thank you. On behalf of the entire production team, I am Fenel Neptune. Thanks for watching. Until next time.