Nutrition and Health
Nutrition is an important aspect of one’s overall health and development. Better nutrition is linked to better newborn, child, and maternal health, stronger immune systems, safer pregnancy and childbirth, a lower risk of noncommunicable diseases (such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease), and longer life expectancy.
Children who are in good health learn more effectively. People who receive appropriate nourishment are more productive and can help to break the cycle of poverty and hunger over time.
Our bodies get the “information” and elements they need to function effectively from the food we eat. Our metabolic systems struggle and our health deteriorates if we do not receive the correct information.
We can become overweight, undernourished, and at risk for diseases and disorders like arthritis and diabetes if we eat too much food or food that provides our bodies the wrong instructions.
What does food do in our bodies?
The nutrients in meals allow our bodies’ cells to carry out their essential jobs. The nutrients in food are vital for our physical functioning, according to this passage from a popular textbook.
“Nutrients are nourishing compounds found in food that are required for bodily growth, development, and maintenance. Essential means that if a nutrient is missing, it affects aspects of function and, as a result, human health. The metabolic processes slow down or even cease when nutrient intake does not match the nutrient needs required by cell activity on a regular basis.”
Nutrients, in other words, provide our bodies instructions on how to function. Food can be thought of as a source of “information” for the body in this way.
This way of thinking about food gives us a perspective on nutrition that extends beyond calories and grams, good and bad meals. This perspective encourages us to concentrate on foods that we should eat rather than ones that we should avoid.
Rather of seeing food as the adversary, we see it as a tool for promoting health and preventing sickness by assisting the body’s function.