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BALANCED DIET

Nutrition is understood as being the joint process by which the body receives, transforms and uses foodstuffs. These constitute the necessary and essential materials to sustain life. Nourishment on the other hand, is the way in which we provide our bodies with essential foods.

Man's nutritional needs vary depending on age, sex, degree of physical activity and even climate. However, food intake does not always coincide with these needs either due to a lack or an excess of one or more elements.

It is important to point out the high frequency of digestive problems in seafarers, many of which could be avoided with a more rational nourishment. It is not always due to the difficulties of preparing an adequate diet on board, but also to the bad habits that have been picked up along the way.

The most frequent problems with diet on board are:

• Eating more than necessary;
• An unbalanced diet;
• A monotonous diet
• Lack of hygiene in food preparation.

We must bear in mind that the human body needs all of these substances in differing quantities. On the other hand, foodstuffs contain variable quantities of these elements but never all of them and, according to the predominant element in a certain food, it is classified within one of the following six Groups:

1. Bread, pasta, potatoes, cereals and sugar.
2. Vegetables and garden products.
3. Fruit.
4. Milk and its derivatives.
5. Meat, fish, eggs and pulses.
6. Fats, oil and butter.

Groups 1 and 6 are mainly energy giving foods.

Groups 2 and 3 are above all regulatory foods.

Groups 4 and 5 are basically plastic foods.

Rules for attaining a balanced diet

When preparing a diet we should include foods from all Groups and in sufficient quantities (see the following table). A mixed diet provides the correct quantity of vitamins and minerals.

A great variety of them are included within each Group of foods. All contain the nutrient that characterises them, but not always in the same quantity. Therefore, the greatest possible variety of products from each Group, alternated on successive days, should be consumed.

The quantity of food should also vary according to the work done and the climatic zone in which the ship is sailing (in cold climates, the energy needs increase and in warm climates they decrease).

The diet should be taken as a whole, trying to balance all daily meals and combine main meals with lighter ones, distributing foods rich in protein and avoiding the repetition of meals rich in carbohydrates.

A high nutritional diet, low in fibre (found in vegetables, fruit…) produces constipation, which is a very common complaint in seafarers.

The increase in the need for calories caused by work is almost exclusively provided by energy giving foods, without changing the needs of other nutritional substances. This energy contribution is made by preferably increasing foods from Group 1 (carbohydrates).

The table indicates the amount of food of each Group that should be eaten each time and the number of times a week. For example: pulses, 80 grams each time and 6 times a week