Mustafa YAĞMURLU Editor

Dear readers, We are together with you again with our 35th issue.

Unhealthy diets and a sedentary lifestyle together result in a lot of diseases. Obesity is the leading one among them. The increase in obesity is taking place so rapidly that the number of overweight or obese in the world has increased from 857 million to 2.1 billion in the last 30 years. This rate corresponds to 30 percent of the world’s population which has exceeded 7 billion. Obesity rates are increasing not only in developed countries but also in low-income countries where hunger reigns.

Here, in the face of obesity that can not be prevented; bread, pasta and other bakery products are thrown to the society as a scapegoat. Bread in diet programs is often shown as a cause of obesity. People are being prevented from consuming carbon hydrate without considering future consequences. However, a scientific study conducted in the UK showed that bread consumption and the increase in obesity did not cause one another. The research, of which graph you will find in our special story, reveals the situation in the UK. The study compares the bread consumption data and obesity figures obtained from the UK Health Survey. Bread consumption has declined steadily since the 1990s, while obesity rates are rising rapidly. When you look at the graph, it turns out that it is really unfair to blame bread.

Referring to the research examining 25 thousand people for 10 years, Dr. Muzaffer Değertekin, Head of Cardiology Department at Yeditepe University Hospitals, says low-carbohydrate consumption for long years increases the risk of cardiac diseases.

Besides, Prof. Dr. Nevin Sanlier, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at Ankara Medipol University, points out that people procure 50-60% of their daily energy from carbohydrates and adds that keeping away from bread or pasta with the intent of losing weight is misguided.

Hope to meet you in our next issue…