Nutrition is variously described as a bodily process of utilizing food, as the actual supply of nutrients from foods eaten, and as the science of metabolism as it pertains to nutrients taken in, digested, and delivered for use by the body. For those of us who are not scientists, it means healthy food, supplements, and other necessary things that build health and improve the quality of life.
Most of us know that there are high and low calorie foods. Calories are used to measure how much heat is produced in metabolism. Calories are not all bad; the ones that are combined with valuable nutrients provide energy. However, 'empty calories' in foods devoid of nutrients are detrimental to health. They can even be negatives, if their digestion drains stored vitamins and minerals from the body.
Whole foods have lots of nutritive value, but processed foods may have lost their goodness. Once people lived mainly on what they could grow themselves, but today grocery stores are the source of foods for most of us. This is a relatively new situation, and studies are just beginning to show how damaging this has been.
Foods are modified for commercial reasons. Fresh fruits are both expensive and perishable. It's easier to stock up on canned fruits and vegetables, frozen fruit juices, or frozen vegetables. Milk, once drunk raw (unpasteurized) and fresh from the cow or goat, is now pasteurized and homogenized. Unfortunately, much of the goodness of the natural food was lost along the way.
Today essential fatty acids are removed to prolong shelf life, fiber is lost when baked goods are valued for their soft texture, and sugar addiction cause people to seek satisfaction in empty calorie foods. Vegetables and fruits may be sold as fresh but transported from far away. Vitamins are fragile things, and their presence begins to decline as soon as the food is harvested.
To maintain or to restore health, foods must be gotten as fresh as possible, cooked carefully to preserve their wholesomeness or eaten raw, and consumed in the whole state, rather than after processing. Artificial ingredients should be avoided by both adults and children. Essential fatty acids should be supplemented, unless good quality fish can be obtained, and chemical-free produce used whenever possible.
Not all of a nutritional program concerns food. Exercise to tone muscle and promote fitness is very important. Walking, weight training, and body building tone muscles and strengthens the digestive tract and other internal organs. An adequate supply of pure water every day is vital. Deep sleep, which escapes many, is also necessary. Breathing from the diaphragm, as happens during exercise, is another health booster.
Anyone interested in a good quality of life, with freedom from pain and illness and enough energy to enjoy both work and play, must understand nutrition and assess their own diet. Much suffering and expense can thus be avoided.
Most of us know that there are high and low calorie foods. Calories are used to measure how much heat is produced in metabolism. Calories are not all bad; the ones that are combined with valuable nutrients provide energy. However, 'empty calories' in foods devoid of nutrients are detrimental to health. They can even be negatives, if their digestion drains stored vitamins and minerals from the body.
Whole foods have lots of nutritive value, but processed foods may have lost their goodness. Once people lived mainly on what they could grow themselves, but today grocery stores are the source of foods for most of us. This is a relatively new situation, and studies are just beginning to show how damaging this has been.
Foods are modified for commercial reasons. Fresh fruits are both expensive and perishable. It's easier to stock up on canned fruits and vegetables, frozen fruit juices, or frozen vegetables. Milk, once drunk raw (unpasteurized) and fresh from the cow or goat, is now pasteurized and homogenized. Unfortunately, much of the goodness of the natural food was lost along the way.
Today essential fatty acids are removed to prolong shelf life, fiber is lost when baked goods are valued for their soft texture, and sugar addiction cause people to seek satisfaction in empty calorie foods. Vegetables and fruits may be sold as fresh but transported from far away. Vitamins are fragile things, and their presence begins to decline as soon as the food is harvested.
To maintain or to restore health, foods must be gotten as fresh as possible, cooked carefully to preserve their wholesomeness or eaten raw, and consumed in the whole state, rather than after processing. Artificial ingredients should be avoided by both adults and children. Essential fatty acids should be supplemented, unless good quality fish can be obtained, and chemical-free produce used whenever possible.
Not all of a nutritional program concerns food. Exercise to tone muscle and promote fitness is very important. Walking, weight training, and body building tone muscles and strengthens the digestive tract and other internal organs. An adequate supply of pure water every day is vital. Deep sleep, which escapes many, is also necessary. Breathing from the diaphragm, as happens during exercise, is another health booster.
Anyone interested in a good quality of life, with freedom from pain and illness and enough energy to enjoy both work and play, must understand nutrition and assess their own diet. Much suffering and expense can thus be avoided.
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