You are what you eat (part 1)

TST Apr 16, 2009
Poon Chian Hui

Foods that age you
Think twice before you reach for that can of fizzy drink. It is not just about your waistline. Think about the lines on your face too. That is because carbonated drinks can age you, nutritionists say.
Other well-loved foods like pastries, potato chips, sausages, coffee, red meat, white rice and bread can also cause premature ageing. The reason? Most of these foods are high in fat or sugar, which are not healthy for the body, said Ms Magdalin Cheong, chief dietitian and senior manager of Dietetic and Food Services at Changi General Hospital.
Foods that age us include:

• Carbonated drinks
  which are high in sugar and have no nutrients. They have "empty calories", said Ms Teo Kiok Seng, a nutritionist at Nutrition Network Services.
  "The sugar in these drinks can lead to obesity, which increases your risk of hypertension, disbetes, heart disease and stroke," she said.
  A nutritional study by the Harvard School of Public Health found that a can of carbonated drink a day can cause one to pile on 7 kg in a year.
• Sausages
  can increase the risk of colorectal cancer, a recent European study found, Ms Teo added.
  The culprits are the carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds, which are formed when nitrite preservaties are added to processed meats, she said.
  Ms Jaclyn Reutens, a dietitian at Aptima Nutrition & Sports Consultants, added that sausages are made with fatty meats. Chemical and additives are also added so person's liver has to do more work to detoxify them. "As we age, our organs do no work as efficiently so some people may get intro trouble," said Ms Reutens.
• Coffee
  has caffeine. What most people may not know is that caffeine makes stress hormones shoot up and stay an abnormally high level for hours after consumption. "One of the biggest contributors to premature ageing is the powerful stress hormones called cortisol," said Ms Teo. "High levels of cortisol wear down the muscles, leading to muscle wasting." Excessive caffeine is also dehydrating, said Ms Reutens.
• Potato chips and fries
  are deep fried at high temperatures, giving rise to the formation of trans-fat. Diet high in trans-fat are linked to an increased risk of ornary heart disease, said Ms Teo. "However, if palm oil is used, no trans-fat will be produced.
• Sugary pastries
  contains a lot of sugar, which can lead obesity. What is worse is that pastries are often made with hydrogenenated oils, which contain trans-fat. Hydrogenated oils are made by adding hydrogen to liquid oils to turn them into solids for easier storage. However, this chemical process produces trans-fat. An example will be margarine.
  Trans-fat increases the risk of heart diseases more than saturated fat does, said Ms Teo, as it lowers good cholesterol and incrase bad cholesterol in the bloodstream.
  In addition, the combination of sugar and trans-fat is bad news for our liver and pancreas, said Ms Reutens. "It's dangerous to overwork our organs as it means we are more exposed to free radicals."
  Free radicals are unstable particles caused by chemical reactions in the body. Antioxidents are needed to fight them, she added. "If our intake of anti-ageing foods is insufficient to combat free radicals, we age faster and have a higher risk of diseases."
• Red meat
  has protein, which is essential for tissue repair, but too much animal protein may cause calcium loss from bones. This increases the risk of osteoporosis, said Ms Teo.
  Studies have shown that a high protein intake in middle-aged adults is linked to inflammatory polyarthritis, where inflammation occurs in more than one joint.
• White rice and white bread
  have very little fibre, making them "high glycemic index' foods. "Such foods are digested and absorbed into the bloodstream very quickly, causing a sudden spike in blood sugar level," said Ms Teo. This can lead to cell changes that accelerate ageing and increase the risk of chronic diseases, she added. These include Type 2 diabetes, gall bladder and heart diseases, Alzheimer's disease and certain types of cancers.
  Other high glycemic index foods include mashed potatoes, processed grains and sugary cereals.