The recipe for a good life
By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH

You are (it is said) what you eat and (it could be added) what you do with your feet. Maimonides, the physician and great Jewish sage who urged moderation in all things, said the same thing in different words over 800 years ago.
Good nutrition and regular exercise as a way of life can not only prevent disease but even reverse it, not only improve your quality of life but also extend your life. If you also eschew tobacco and have inherited good genes, you have a near-guarantee of a long and healthy life.
So why do so many people ignore this blessing? Why do they eat junk food and puff away? Why does their exercise consist mostly of pressing the keys of the TV remote or clicking a computer mouse?
Because it requires an effort to do the right and healthful thing, and because we become physically and psychologically addicted to what isn't good for us.
Our ancestors, even those living at the beginning of the previous century, had little choice; there was little processed food, and they had to do physical work – at least walk. Yemenite and Ethiopian Jews, for example, apparently carry genes that helped them survive famine, drought and other difficulties in a hardscrabble environment; once they move to Israel or other Western countries, these genes are unable to cope with plenty, and make it even more difficult for them to avoid obesity.
At a recent symposium for clinical dietitians, physicians, nurses and other health professionals held at The Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem, most of the speakers were tangibly (and maddeningly) fit; they obviously practice what they preach. Dr. Dorit Nitzan-Kalusky, head of the Health Ministry's Food and Nutrition Services, and Dr. Dorit Adler, chief of clinical nutrition at Hadassah University Medical Center, have girlish figures. Prof. Elliot Berry, head of The Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicinen (who is also an expert in clinical metabolism) doesn't seem to have added a gram to his body since he was a teen. Prof. Mayer Brezis, a nephrologist who lectures at the school of public health, bicycles to and from his office in Ein Kerem, 45 minutes each way.
Although the pre-opening refreshments started a bit oddly, with heaps of croissants and other French pastry alongside bottled water, the stand-only light lunch was much more appropriate to a nutrition conference: tuna or soft white cheese sandwiches on whole wheat rolls, cucumber and carrot sticks, peppers, watermelon slices, water, tea and coffee (and leftover pastry).
One could also pick up free low-fat Yoplait at a promotional stand set up outside by a dairy company, heart-friendly California walnuts from another, and greens from McDonalds representatives trying to persuade participants that they were repenting for their high-fat, high-calorie hamburgers, chips and sugary drinks and were now offering (in addition) more salads, low-calorie dressings, sweet potatoes and canola oil.
"Why did you serve the cakes, which are full of no-no trans fatty acids?" I asked at question time. Oops.
"I suppose because people like them," explained a somewhat abashed Berry, one of the hosts.
THE PUBLIC are confused about what is really good for you, and suffer from a surfeit of information, much of it not based on proven medical evidence, said Brezis. Every other day, a new declaration about what is beneficial is published, but many of these messages are dispatched by industries and their public relations agents.
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