Nutrition and Variety of Foods is Essential for A Balanced Diet

Nutrition is the process of taking in food and using it for growth, metabolism, and repair. Nutritional stages are ingestion, digestion, absorption, transport, assimilation, and excretion.

Nutrient is a substance or ingredient that promotes growth, provides energy, and maintains life.

Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for an organism. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism's cells to provide energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth.

A meal is an eating occasion that takes place at a certain time and includes prepared food.     The names used for specific meals vary greatly, depending on the person's culture, the time of day, or the size of the meal.

Diet  is a particular selection of  food , especially  as  designed or prescribed to improve a person's physical condition  or to prevent or treat a disease. It is food and drink considered in terms of   its qualities, composition, and its effects on health.

Metabolism: The whole range of biochemical processes that occur within a living organism. Metabolism consists of anabolism (the buildup of substances) and catabolism (the breakdown of substances).

The term metabolism is commonly used to refer specifically to the breakdown of food and its transformation into energy.

Metabolic disorders occur when normal metabolic processes become disrupted. Disorders in metabolism can be inherited, in which case they are also known as inborn errors of metabolism, or they may be acquired during your lifetime. Many metabolic disorders exist, and they are common. For, instance, diabetes is a metabolic disorder.

The Importance of Good Nutrition in Relation to Health and Disease Prevention

Most people know good nutrition and physical activity can help maintain a healthy weight. But the benefits of good nutrition go beyond weight. Good nutrition can help:

- Reduce the risk of some diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, some cancers, and osteoporosis

- Reduce high blood pressure

- Lower high cholesterol

- Improve the well-being

- Improve the ability of disease prevention.

- Improve the ability to recover from illness or injury

- Increase the energy level of the body

Balanced diet

A balanced diet is one which provides all the nutrients in required amounts and proper proportions. It can easily be achieved through a blend of the four basic food groups. The quantities of foods needed to meet the nutrient requirements vary with age, gender,

physiological status and physical activity. A balanced diet should provide around 50-60% of total calories from carbohydrates, preferably from complex carbohydrates, about 10-15% from proteins and 20-30% from both visible and invisible fat.

In addition, a balanced diet should provide other non-nutrients such as dietary fibre, antioxidants and phytochemicals which give positive health benefits. Antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, riboflavin and selenium protect the human body from free radical damage. Other phytochemicals such as polyphenols, flavones, etc., also afford protection against oxidant damage. Spices like turmeric, ginger, garlic, cumin and cloves are rich in antioxidants.

10 rules for a balanced diet

Here are some simple rules on healthy eating that absolutely anyone can follow if they put their minds to it.

10 rules for a balanced diet
- Get down to and maintain your desirable body weight

- Reduce your total fat intake, particularly your intake of saturated fats and trans fats

- Ensure adequate intake of mono- and certain poly-unsaturated fats

- Reduce your intake of foods high in cholesterol 

- Increase your fibre intake

- Use sugar and foods high in simple carbohydrates in moderation

- Use less salt

- Eat a variety of foods

-  Don’t Drink alcohol

- Drink enough water or other fluids throughout the day (let thirst be your guide - remember that drinking too much water can actually be dangerous)

A Variety of Foods is Essential for A Balanced Diet

- Nutrition is a basic prerequisite to sustain life.

 - Variety in food is not only the spice of life but also the essence of nutrition and health.

 - A diet consisting of several food groups provides all the required nutrients in proper amounts.

 - Cereals, millets and pulses are major sources of most nutrients.

 - Milk which provides good quality proteins and calcium must be an essential item of the diet, particularly for infants, children and women.

- Oils and nuts are calorie-rich foods, and are useful for increasing the energy density.

- Inclusion of eggs, flesh foods and fish enhances the quality of diet. However, vegetarians can derive almost all the nutrients on cereal/pulse/milk-based diets.

- Vegetables and fruits provide protective substances such as vitamins / minerals / phytonutrients.

- Choose a variety of foods in amounts appropriate for age, gender, physiological status and physical activity.

 - Use a combination of whole grains, grams and greens.

 - Include jaggery or sugar and cooking oils to bridge the calorie or energy gap.

 - Prefer fresh, locally available vegetables and fruits in plenty.

- Include in the diets, foods of animal origin such as milk, eggs and meat, particularly for pregnant and lactating women and children.

- Adults should choose low-fat, protein-rich foods such as lean meat, fish, pulses and low-fat milk.

- Develop healthy eating habits and exercise regularly and move as much as you can to avoid sedentary lifestyle

The Major Public Health Importance of Metabolic Disorders

During the last few years, the increased prevalence of metabolic disorders such as obesity , type 2 diabetes  and atherosclerosis has largely contributed to a rise in cardiovascular-related illness and death.

Understanding the mechanisms responsible for the onset of metabolic and cardiovascular

dysfunctions and the relationship between these disorders has become a major research endeavor today and metabolic disorders have become a major public health concern.

The constellation of metabolic abnormalities including centrally distributed obesity, decreased high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), elevated triglycerides, elevated blood pressure (BP), and hyperglycaemia is known as the metabolic syndrome.

Associated with a 3 fold and 2 fold increase in type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD), respectively, it is thought to be a driver of the modern day epidemics of diabetes and CVD and has become a major public health challenge around the world.

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