The changing Goan diet and its impact on health

Rohini Diniz

The diet of Goan Catholics generally includes a lot of red meats. Red meats are rich in saturated fats and cholesterol. Increased consumption of red meats and not consuming adequate amounts of vegetables, fruits and pulses coupled with sedentary lifestyles and stress, could be one of the reasons for the rise in heart disease and cancers, particularly breast and colorectal cancers among Goans.

One striking feature of the traditional Goan Hindu diet is that most families eat pure vegetarian food at least twice or thrice a week. This practice of abstaining from animal foods ensured that a variety of plant foods were eaten, which in turn provided the body with the five vital nutrients, fibre, prebiotics, probiotics and phytochemicals that helps keep the body healthy.

Another dietary change that is seen among a number of Goans is the habit of skipping breakfast. Breakfast is the most important yet neglected meal of the day. When one skips breakfast there is a tendency to eat high calorie snacks during the midmorning hours to curb hunger or eat more than usual at lunch resulting in consumption of excess calories. Excess intake of calories coupled with rising sedentary lifestyles leads to deposition of fat in the body and consequent increase in body weight. Research studies have shown that the human body tends to accumulate more fat when a person eats fewer, larger meals than when the same number of calories was consumed in smaller, more frequent meals.

With both men and women working out of the house there has been an increase in the consumption of processed ready-to-eat foods, fast foods and soft drinks. Gone are the days when women would prepare mouth-watering snacks for their families to relish. Even till a few years ago, an occasional treat at an Udipi restaurant or a bhel puri at the beach was an outing for the family. Today with a number of restaurants and carts (gaddas) serving different ethnic cuisines mushrooming at every corner and food delivery app services delivering food at home, ordering food from out has become the norm particularly for the younger generation, who prefer these foods to the traditional home-cooked food.

This dietary change is of serious concern since many of these foods are high in calories. Studies have shown that when high fat foods are eaten the brain gets ‘hit’ by the fatty acids, which in turn induces the brain to send messages to the body cells to ignore the appetite suppressing signals from leptin and insulin, hormones that are involved in weight regulation. Since the body does not get the signals that it is satiated, it leads to overeating which in turn leads to overweight and obesity.

Fast foods are generally prepared either with palm oil which contains saturated fat or hydrogenated vegetable oils which contain trans fats. Both these fats are bad for the heart. Of particular concern is the repeated reuse of oils particularly for deep frying as the oil gets oxidised at high temperatures, forming toxic compounds which could be one of the reasons for the rise in cancer cases among Goans.

Increased intake of sugars from pastries, sweets and soft drinks have been implicated in the development of many health problems. Sucrose is the most commonly consumed form of sugar and is made up of two simpler sugars – glucose and fructose. Glucose is used to meet the energy needs of the body, but excessive amounts of glucose get converted into fat leading to weight gain. Fructose on the other hand is metabolised in the liver and excessive amounts have been found to be readily converted into fats, which raises the levels of blood triglycerides, VLDL and LDL cholesterol leading to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver. Excessive amounts of fructose also promote the build-up of fat around organs, increases blood pressure, elevates uric acid levels, makes the tissues insulin resistant and increases the production of free radicals that causes cell damage.

Soft drinks apart from containing sugar also contain acids which are thrown out of the body by the kidneys by combining with calcium. Each soft drink drains the body of some calcium. Regular consumption of soft drinks weakens the bones particularly if dietary calcium intake is low. Inadequate consumption of calcium-rich foods such as ragi and dairy products coupled with increased consumption of soft drinks is one of the causes for the rising incidences of fractures among young children and adolescents.

Processed foods also contain a lot of sodium from the addition of salt and sodium-based preservatives. High intake of sodium aggravates high blood pressure or hypertension, a condition that affects many Goans and increases the risk of developing a stroke or heart disease. Unless fortified or enriched, most processed foods are low in protective vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre and antioxidants.

Many fast foods and processed foods contain artificial food colours, flavours, sweeteners and preservatives they may have adverse effects on health, especially since fast foods are consumed in large amounts.

Thus, as we have seen from these articles, the Goan diet and overall lifestyle has drastically changed over the last 30 years which in turn has led to a steep rise in the incidence of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancers.  The need of the hour is to return to our traditional diet, limit the intake of fast and processed foods and become physically active so that we can lead long and healthy productive lives. 

(Writer is a consultant nutritionist with 22 years of experience, practicing at Panaji and can be contacted on [email protected])