“Nobody Gives You Healthy Food Unless You Demand It ”

“Nobody Gives You Healthy Food Unless You Demand It ”

The December guest of NUN Meetings was Dr. Ümit Aktaş, who was known for his studies on healthy nutrition.

Umit Aktas made a presentation on the relationship between nutrition and health and said that the intestines are the organ that carries the most nerve cells after the brain. He pointed out that 80 percent of our cells in the immune system are found in the intestines, and probiotic bacteria are the most common in the intestines. Aktaş continued his presentation by mentioning the benefits of probiotics and said that the intestines provide the removal of harmful substances from the body. He underlined that this feature of our intestines ensures the survival of our lives.

Aktaş said, “Nutrition is not only about eating. Nutrition is associated with diseases. Probiotics affect even our genetic structure. Foods with GMOs and hybrid seeds also affect our health negatively.” and gave some advices to our students about nutrition. Stating that there are 145 foreign genes in the human genome, he said that we should pay attention to proper nutrition according to geography. Aktaş stated that, “In recent years, the industry has intervened in nutrition, causing major problems. Fifty years ago, people used to buy 5 units of omega3 and one unit of omega6 on a standard diet now have 5 units of omega6 and 1 unit of omega3.” Aktaş also emphasized that we should eat vegetables in their seasons or else illnesses are inevitable.

He drew attention to genetically modified agricultural products and pointed out that this move to increase production caused huge problems in human health. Aktaş said, “Both obesity and diabetes have quadrupled in the last 20 years. We are the country in which diabetes is growing the fastest in the world.” He underlined that 68% of Turkey is obese and we should stop this. Stating that we should stay away from ready-made foods, he advised, “We should definitely eat home-cooked meals.”

Stating that we should demand the right food for ourselves, Aktaş said,“ Nobody gives you healthy food unless you demand it” and added “Don't eat the butter that the ant doesn't eat, you can learn it with a little experiment at home.” He warned our students to be conscious consumers. In the program, which ended with the question-answer part, our students were informed about healthy eating.