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New concepts for prolonging life
• It is expected that
throughout this century, changes will occur in
medical attention connected with the production of
medicines and food products directed at avoiding
illnesses
BY JOAQUIN ORAMAS
WITH
the development of the industry of wellbeing in this
century, food production and pharmaceutical
industries, the two fastest growing manufacturing
sectors in the world, are striving to apply new
medical concepts within that industry of wellbeing
and healthy nutritional goods and to train personnel
specialized in wellbeing issues.
At
the same time, the population’s general knowledge of
the advantages of a proper diet and the daily
measures to prevent chronic and contagious illnesses
would experience a similar growth.
This
is not an utopia; we are talking about a near future
that is already emerging through action taken by
specialists to propose changes in the approaches to
preventing disease instead of having to treat people
once they become ill.
The
world is changing, and researchers are facing
problems such as the spread of so-called junk food,
a cause of obesity and other chronic illnesses. It
is necessary to put an end to this cycle by having
educational personnel to teach the population about
nutritional standards and how to eat properly. It is
also necessary to manufacture products capable of
providing calories and adequate nutrition in order
to replace current systems of commercial food
catering.
It is expected that the industry of wellbeing will
grow from $200 million in the year 2000 to one
billion dollars in 2010, in just one decade.
Functional foods can be defined as any food in its
natural or processed form that, in addition to its
nutritive components, contains additional elements
that favor humans’ health, physical capacity and
mental state.
The criteria for the selection of such products are
their energy value, effectiveness as a body
activator and as enhancers of biological rhythms.
Sales in 2002 revealed the following results:
The United States consumes 38% of the total of
functional foods, Europe 32%, Japan 25% (the concept
of this category was born there), and the rest of
the countries of the world only 5%. These figures
reiterate that they do improve health but do not
eliminate the inequality of consumption on the
planet.
Based on these developments, the Cuban institutions
are intensively researching the issue and one of
their results is a product called Vimang, which can
be included in this category as an aid to
alimentation and nutrition.
Vimang is an extract obtained from a cutting of the
Mangifera indica mango tree. It has arisen
from a knowledge of Cuban medicine and the more than
30 years’ experience of a nature researcher. It is a
food with powerful anti-oxidant activity given its
chemical composition, use of which raises the
quality of life. There are 273 varieties of mangos
on the island, but only 17 can be used for this
active ingredient.
Utilizing cuttings does not damage the fruit and
they can be collected every two to three years
without any problem or environmental damage.
As is logical, medical attention will remain closely
related to changes predicted in the world where, in
collective and individual cases harmful habits and
customs would have been eradicated by the
application of adequate diet, a reduction of
environmental risks factors, and by stimulating
physical, cultural and other psycho-social
activities. Then, living up to 120 years with
quality of life could become a reality for millions
of people.
For more information contact:
redact2@granmai.cip.cu
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