Reading: Czechs’ Health Is Washed Away by Beer
Read this useful article about Czech diet and health and look for interesting combinations of words.
- Read the article once and try to guess the meaning of any words you don’t know. If you don’t remember how, check out the video Hoďte slovník do koše na našem blogu.
- Do the comprehension check below the text.
- Write in the comment section what you think about the typical Czech/Slovak diet.
You might also agree or disagree with other people’s opinions. So use phrases such a: 
- Absolutely!
- I totally agree with you.
- I am not so sure about that.
- I don’t think you are right.
- I must disagree.
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Timing: 20 mins.
Czechs’ Health Is Washed Away by Beer
Author: Martina Fojtů
A study by experts at the Faculty of Sports Studies at Masaryk University has brought new and important information about the influence of diet on people’s health. The researchers compared data on the most frequent types of food in 42 European countries with the data on the most frequent types of diseases. The findings show that people should be much more guarded in their consumption of cereals and potatoes, and that Czechs should seriously reconsider their love of alcohol.
Czechs have been the world leaders in beer consumption for a number of years and this statistic is published each year as something we should be proud of. However, according to Pavel Grasgruber, the main author of an extensive ecological study (i.e. a study based on whole populations rather than individuals), this is literally the pride that comes before our fall.
“It is the most destructive aspect of the Czech diet, much worse than the consumption of any individual foodstuff. At the moment, we lead Europe in pancreas slinivka and kidney cancer statistics. There can be absolutely no doubt that these are related to alcohol consumption.”
Grasgruber also highlights zdůrazňuje the high rankings hodnocení of Czechs in colon tlusté střevo , rectal, and gallbladder žlučník cancer. These could also be caused largely by a high consumption of beer and alcohol in general. “Alcohol basically destroys our inner organs and it is probably a contributing factor to the high incidence výskyt of obesity as well.”
While beer and spirits are best left out of your diet completely, other recommendations cannot be applied indiscriminately plošně, šmahem . Factors such as age and level of physical activity need to be taken into account for individual types of food. You should exclude vynechat overcooked and fat red meat from your diet. While this is bad news for those who love summer barbecues, as it puts a complete stop to grilling and frying, you will be rewarded by a significantly decreased risk of gastrointestinal cancer.
However, you should not stop eating all red meat. For example, pork, together with milk, is one of the best sources of nutrients in the human diet. “The consequences důsledky of leaving it out of one’s diet are clear from our current research in Bosnia and Hercegovina,” says Grasgruber. “The local Muslims who don’t eat pork are significantly smaller in built postavou than the Croatians who do eat pork and live in the same cantons kantony, distrikty .” He adds that lean red meat is very important for children.
Careful with the cereals and potatoes
The study findings are also very unfavourable for the consumption of cereals (i.e. mostly bread) and potatoes. White bread is not dangerous because it contains
gluten
lepek
, as many people wrongly believe. Rather, the problem with cereal products
stems
pramenit, pocházet
from the
starch
škrob
contained in the refined
wheat
pšenice
, which significantly increases one’s blood sugar level. This leads to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases, obesity, or type 2 diabetes.
Potatoes are a more complicated matter. While they contain the most aggressive carbohydrates of all foods, they are also a good source of vitamin C. Also, potato protein is the richest commonly available source of tryptophan, which is the rarest essential amino acid contained in human food.
“Nutrition science is rarely black-and-white; you need to keep a sense of proportion when choosing what to eat and avoid any extremes,” says Grasgruber. The study that he recently published with his colleagues came to the conclusion that the so-called Mediterranean diet is an example of such good sense of proportion. It contains average amounts of meat and milk products and a high proportion of olives, nuts, fruits, and vegetables, all of which are beneficial for human health.
If you want your diet to be truly perfect, you should add more milk products to this pattern – preferably in the form of gently pasteurized milk and yoghurt – and lower the amount of cereals.
Source: News from MUNI
- Czechs drink the largest amount of alcohol in the world.
- There are worse eating habits than drinking alcohol.
- It is not sure whether pancreas and kidney cancer is caused by alcohol consumption.
- Alcohol is also responsible for obesity.
- People should totally stop drinking alcohol.
- If you stop eating overcooked and fat red meat you are less likely to get gastrointestinal cancer.
- Pork meat consumption is dangerous and should be avoided altogether.
- White bread is harmful because it contains gluten.
- Potatoes are really healthy because they contain vitamine C and a rare amino acid.
- It is not really easy to decide what to eat and what not.
- People from Southern Europe eat quite a well-balanced diet.
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I am afraid about problems with the colon. My father doesn’t have the colon, because he had desease of colon and the doctors had to operate all colon. And we have inherited the desease of colon in our family. I try to avoid fat and fried meals. I eat huge amout of vegetables and fruits, milk products and I want to reduce the amout of wheat, but I am a human which makes mistakes:) And I agree with the opinion where we must lead our children to healthy diet, because when I look around I see a lot of obesity children and it is very sad…
I am sorry but the topic of overweight and obesity is very sensitive for me.
Therefore I would rather comment on a related topic that came to my mind after reading a book written by former Danish model Maria Hirse.
It was translated into Czech under the title “Vím, jak chutná vzduch.”
Maria had a very difficult time because she suffered from anorexia (nervosa). It started by convincing herself that she needed to lose weight. She weighed 54 kg and gradually lost to an incredible 33.8 kg. She knew it wasn’t right but she didn’t want to admit she was sick. She refused help from doctors, family or friends. It ended one evening when she went to bed. Her body temperature was about 34 degrees Celsius. She was frightened by the feeling that she was not alone in the room. At that moment she realized she was really dying. She was awake all night with her mother. From that moment on she gradually began to heal.
I think diseases like bulimia or anorexia (nervosa) are a big threat, just like overweight or obesity.
That’s so true Lenka, thank you for sharing that story. It’s good to remember that there is a lot more to think about when we talk about health other than obesity.
Well written, Lenka, thank you for pointing that out.
To my opinion typical Czech diet is not so unhealthy like we think. Really important is to eat predominantly homemade meals which are made from quality local ingredients. Problem of Czech meals is a large amount of sugar and fat. But we can cook delicious Czech meals and desserts in a healthy way. And when we add more fresh vegetables the Czech diet will be perfect.
Bigger problem is children’s nutrition. We have more and more obesity children. Children eat unhealthy and they have less physical exercise. Roots of this problem are in a family. The parents have to be an ideal for children in a healthy lifestyle.
This is a great way to look at it Ivana, we should teach children how to live a healthy lifestyle from a young age.
P.S. “The problem”, so you can say ‘The problem with Czech meals’ and ‘The root of this problem’.
Weight and all things connected with this “problem” is touching me a lot. I have been doing lots of sports all my life. But I have also been surrounding with unhealthy food, with people, who cooked a lot and very tasty. I try to cook and live healthy, but my overweight is still present in my life. I fight, I workout but my metabolism shows me, this is not easy, you have to think about it. If I was thin and slim, I would have to eat only cucumber and lettuce.
So, I love food, my life, working out…I will probably be an overweight girl, but I feel good 🙂
What Do I think about Czech diet? I must confess I love it. I love roasted pork, dumplings, very tasty Czech cakes and others. I often ate at my grannies and they cooked only heavy and little old fashioned food. Of course, I realize, it is not the right way to eat like that. So I try to eat healthier and also cook lighter meals with less fat.
From my point of view the obesity is a problem in the Czech republic. A lot of people are overwight and some of them obese. They don’t exercise much and they eat really unhealthy. I guess it is because of today’s fast lifestyle and processed and fat food. And it causes healthy problems.
I am not so sure if these people realize the danger which is conected with the obese. It happens they start to try change it when it is too late.
Is there a lot of fast food available where you live? There are a lot of dangers connected with being obese and it would be great if people were more aware of this.