Within health centers there are many aspects that must be taken into account, although some go unnoticed. In order for there to be comprehensive care for patients, those who are hospitalized and will remain in the hospital for several days must be considered. Each one requires adequate food for their situation. In addition, the doctors and residents who work there should also be considered. To satisfy everyone, it is necessary to offer a correct menu in hospitals.
Obviously, it is not possible to give saturated fat products or offer a poorly balanced diet. There must also be a strict control in the portions so as not to cause obesity problems. One of the advice that doctors repeat the most is that you should eat well and balanced because it is the basis of health.
With the above in mind, the Institute of Security and Social Services for State Workers (Issste) joined the School of Dietetics and Nutrition (EDN). The objective is to train the heads of food service and those who are in charge of managing them in all the medical units of the country. In this way, it seeks to provide patients with a healthy and adequate diet.
The director of the EDN, Luz Elena Pale Moreno, reported that the training explains and details the food plans that each beneficiary needs, depending on the disease they suffer from, as well as the benefits of integrating vegetables and fruits; cereals and tubers, legumes and animal products. If there is a correct menu in hospitals, there will also be a faster recovery.
The specialist pointed out that the correct combination of these three groups allows nourishing the body and promoting healthy habits.
“The combination of a legume with a cereal, for example, beans with a tortilla, provides very good quality protein, similar to consuming meat, and contains the essential amino acids that the body needs.”
Pale Moreno added that legumes such as beans, alverjón, kidney beans, chickpeas, broad beans, hummus, lentils and soybeans should be consumed depending on each person’s body, but what is recommended is approximately half a cup a day:
“It will depend a lot on your eating plan, if it is to maintain your weight, it can be half a cup, but if the goal is to lose weight, a quarter cup is better.”
Within legumes, he said, there are also oilseeds, which contain a little more oil, but it is good for the body, such as peanuts or almonds. Vegetable proteins provide carbohydrates and fats. They are very balanced foods and contain the necessary nutrients.
The head of the Issste School of Dietetics and Nutrition called on the entire population to promote healthy eating habits in the daily diet; make five meals a day: breakfast, lunch, dinner and two snacks; reduce the consumption of sugars and perform physical activity.