The Importance of Food For a Healthy Diet

The word “FOOD” means the basic needs of life. Basically, food is any material ingested to provide the nutrition necessary for an organism to survive. Food is generally of animal, plant or fungi origin, and usually contains vital nutrients, including proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals or fibers.

Almost all of us are familiar with the idea that FOOD provides the nutrients we need to survive. It seems intuitively that we should be eating foods that offer the nutritional value we need to maintain our health and our lives. But the fact is that the vast majority of processed foods and the “convenience foods” on supermarket shelves don’t offer nearly the nutritional value we need to maintain good health. We’ve been taught for decades that it’s good to rely on “snacks” to give us nutrients when we can eat better foods that provide all of the nutrients we need. And if we’re going to depend on “snacks,” shouldn’t we be eating real foods?

Food And Nutrition:

The problem with this approach to dieting is that it overlooks the basic relationship between food and nutrition – the quality of the food and the nutrient content of the food matter that make up the food. We may eat foods that look great because they are full of the nutrient content that we want, but we often get little benefit from those nutrients because of poor quality production. As a result, we often get little nutrition out of the foods that look good and may have had a lot of thought put into them, but were not prepared to eat properly. The result can be overweight, poor health and an inability to properly care for ourselves.

Real foods are the best source of nutrition. They are full of nutrients and energy and are easy to digest. They contain all of the vitamins and minerals that our bodies need to maintain a healthy system and a normal metabolism. When a person eats real foods that are high in nutrients and low in calories and fat, the body quickly uses up the food and sends the message that there is no more room in the stomach. This signals a change in the blood sugar levels of the person and tells the brain to burn the stored fat for energy, which leads to weight loss.

There are certain foods that some people are simply unable to get enough of or are deficient in. Some of these are necessary for optimum health, but others are simply foods that we are genetically designed to eat. Any vitamin, mineral or nutrient deficiency is a concern for dieters, as the deficiency can lead to the breakdown and absorption of important nutrients. When this happens, the dieter may feel tired, weak and irritable. When this happens over time, the effects of that deficiency can create significant medical issues.

As a general rule, individuals who have issues with constipation should avoid foods that are high in fat, processed oils and dairy products. These products tend to hasten the release of digestive juices, making it harder for the person to get the necessary nutrients. For those with lactose intolerance, it is important to avoid dairy products, including cream milk and cheese, yogurt, butter and ice cream. For people who are lactose intolerant and wish to eat meat, fruits and vegetables, eggs are a good alternative.