Eating, Diet and Nutrition

Category: Food & Drink

Diet and nutrition has a huge impact on general health both physically and emotionally. Food provides the main source of energy and nutrients needed in order to improve health and reduce the incidence of diseases. Healthy eating plate encourages consumers to use healthy oils and does not set a maximum on the percentage of calories people should get each day from healthy sources of fat. It encourages a balanced diet that includes proteins, vitamins, fats, carbohydrates in daily diet. Also the type of carbohydrate in the diet is more important than the amount of carbohydrate in the diet, as some carbohydrates are healthier than others. Nutrition Protein Protein supplies essential amino acids that are essential as the body’s building blocks. All organs and tissues are made up of proteins and without proteins the body cannot repair and replace any damage. Proteins perform the mechanism of repairing. Proteins are needed for activity and stage of life. Good sources of protein include animal proteins like meat, eggs, fish, dairy products and beans. Fat Fats are a much more efficient source of fuel than carbohydrate, thus much less for the same number of calories are needed. Fats are also essential to provide fatty acids. These are used to provide insulation and protection of organs from damage. Carbohydrate Carbohydrates provide a quick boost of energy to the body but can be manufactured by the body from fats or proteins as an alternative. It is better to eat complex carbohydrates, such as grains and potatoes, as energy release is gradual. For easy sugars that provide carbohydrates it might cause energy spikes and sugar rushes with faster energy release. Fibre Fibres are usually plant based and help our guts to work properly. If it is not digested it passes through almost unchanged. It is obtained from fruits and vegetables and helps in without force excretion. Vitamins and Minerals Vitamins and Minerals are substances found in almost every food. There are 13 vitamins which are essential to human life, and are used to support multiple functions of the body. Vitamins have different functions like vitamin c gives essential for production of connecting tissues while shortage of vitamins can cause many diseases. Therefore it is important to have an adequate amount of vitamins daily.