What is healthy eating?
Paradoxically, while people in some parts of the world are over-fed, there are millions in other parts that are under-fed. One group needs to watch their diet while the other has to struggle for one square meal a day. Nutrition is the business of all, whether the over-fed or the under-fed. Healthy eating ensures healthy living. And a healthy man is a happy man, and the reverse may not be true.
Our ancestors ate what was available. Many foods available to them were obtained for short seasonal periods. Today we eat what we like, and eating has become a fashion and a hobby. We suffer from gourmet’s diseases, and, generally speaking, we are aware of the consequences of unhealthy eating, i.e., eating what we like to eat and not what we need to eat. The human body may be likened to a machine made up; of many component parts working together to perform different functions. Healthy eating consists in eating food items that contain essential nutrients to ensure the proper functioning of this human machine. Over-eating can disrupt the functions while under-eating can impair them. We have heard of famine-stricken countries where people suffer because of the lack of calories. Their struggle is to have sufficient food.
In affluent countries the problem is one of imbalance – too much in the way of calories and the lack of specific vitamins and minerals. Healthy eating ensures a balanced diet. What the human body requires for its proper functioning are essential nutrients that include protein, fats carbohydrates, water, vitamins and minerals. The shortage of one of these leads to malfunctioning; extreme deficiency of nutrients can result in death. Vitamin C deficiency leads to easy bruising and bleeding from the gums and vitamin D is required for healthy teeth and bones. Vitamin B complex deficiency can impair the production of energy and the break- down or formation of proteins, carbohydrates and fats in the body, often causing anaemia. It is said that without vitamins to add to our mineral framework we would all be like exhibits in museums.
Fats are a source of our energy. Polyunsaturated fats not only provide calories but also help the biochemical reactions in the body. Essential fatty acids are vital for healthy living. Saturated fats with which cholesterol is associated are often the cause of heart disease. Apart from their energy-related roles, fats help in the building of body tissues. The internally stored fat provides extra energy. Subcutaneous layers of fat, those under the skin, insulate the body. Moderate deposits of fats cushion internal organs like the liver and kidneys. But food high in fats can be harmful and high fat diets are linked not only to obesity but also to heart disease. To eat healthily one must control the fat intake, particularly if the life-style is inactive.
Carbohydrates are the major source of energy. Besides providing the most energy, carbohydrates are part of the body’s connective tissue. They are contained in those materials that determine our genetic inheritance. They detoxify the poisons that invade us. Complex carbohydrate foods add bulk to the diet and ramrod the food through the digestive system.
Minerals control the body’s chemical balance. Minerals come to us through nature’s food chain. The mineral content of our food is stored in our bone marrow and it is released to the cells when needed. Overdose of a particular mineral can be fatal. Healthy eating requires a wide variety of foods that can supply us with the right amounts of the minerals we need.
Protein is the stuff of which all body tissue is made. They are vital. There are times when the body needs relatively more protein than it does at other times. For a growing child protein is vitally necessary. Proteins are really combinations of hundreds of molecules called amino acids and eight of them are essential. Protein foods with right proportion of these essentials have high biological value. A diet without adequate proteins cannot be considered healthy.
It is not the quantity that makes a diet healthy; it is the quality of the food and the amount of nutriment it contains. Healthy eating provides the body with the foods that it needs to reach its full potential and maintain it in top running condition. Healthy eating keeps us healthy and happy at all stages of our life. Balance is essential: if there is a deficiency in the nutrients, the body will break down, and excess can be harmful.
