Food of the Future: a shift toward vegetarianism?

"Healthy nutrition is the basis for a healthy lifestyle. But, unfortunately, the diet of the population of our country cannot be called completely healthy",  Alla Pogozheva, Doctor of Medicine, Professor, Leading Researcher in Nutrition Demography and Epidemiology at the Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Biotechnology, began her report on the specifics of diets based on plant and animal products.

She moderated a Conference on Food of the Future held within the Prodexpo 2021 International Exhibition for Food, Beverages, Food Raw Materials at Expocentre Fairgrounds.

"We don't have enough plant foods - vegetables, fruit. There is a shortage of dairy products. We consume a surplus of sugar, confectionery and sausages. Therefore the chemical composition of our diet is shifted towards animal products. In our diet we have higher than normal levels of animal protein and animal fat", Alla Pogozheva continued. “This is why the recent recommendations on healthy eating are inclined towards increasing the content of vegetable products in the diet”.

 “The diet should be directed towards vegetarianism, says the scientist. Vegetarians have lower blood cholesterol concentrations and lower systolic blood pressure than non-vegetarians. So they have a 32 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality. In addition, numerous studies have shown that those who eat meat products have a 29% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes”, Alla Pogozheva said.

Presentations by other expert speakers focused on the use of pharmaceutical approaches in developing the food of the future, innovative fat products, the future of the food market with an emphasis on fortification, the personalisation of individual diets tailored to the individual's needs and other topics.  Various aspects of healthy nutrition and dietetics, functional nutrition, as well as the prospects for the development of innovative technologies in food production were also discussed.

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