DIET AND HEALTH
These days, it is very essential for the human beings to stay healthy. What is health? According to World Health Organization, health is defined as, "the state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely by the absence of disease or infirmity".
For attaining physical health ; diet plays a vital role all time. Eating a healthy diet is not a meaning for making thin body and loosening of weight.
A balanced diet is a group of food categories with right quantity on time. By making some changes in our diet planning we can prevent several health diseases like cardiovascular diseases, lifestyle modification diseases such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertension etc.
The food categories are carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals. Vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, milk and poultry are the major source of all these nutrients.
A nutritious diet provides energy, boosts activities, normal growth and functioning of body organs, reduces risk factors of several health problems, helps in maintaining normal weight etc.
For persons who are focusing on thin body should include exercises with dietary changes.
Fundamentals of balanced diet:
Carbohydrates, fats,proteins are macronutrients which are required in large amounts while vitamins and minerals are micronutrients and are required in smaller amounts. These nutrients are necessary for the physiological and biochemical mechanisms for the humans to maintain health and activity.
Carbohydrates:
These are the major source of energy in all diets. For humanbeings it provides energy of4 kcal/g. These are of two types; simple and complex. The simple carbohydrates, sucrose and fructose are found in fruits, vegetables and honey, sucrose in sugar and lactose in milk. And the complex carbohydrates are starches in cereals, pulses, millets, root vegetables and glycogen in animal food products.
Dietary fiber reduces the absorption of carbohydrates and fats and maintain satiety level. Diets rich in complex carbohydrates are healthier than low fiber diet.
Protein:
These are complex molecules of different amino acids. These are the primary structural and functional components of all cells. The major half of proteins helps in forming muscle, bones, cartilage and skin. The protein requirements are different with physical status, mental stress and age. Growing infants and children, pregnant women, and individuals those who are suffering from infections and illnesses or stress. It also provides energy to human body.
Animal food like meat, egg, fish ,milk and plant foods such as pulses and legumes are the major source of proteins.
Fats:
These are the concentrated source of energy and are providing energy of 9 kcal/g. These are made up of fatty acids in different proportions. Fats are derived from two sources; invisible fats are present in plants and animal food and the visible fats are cooking oils.
The type and amount of fat in daily diet influences the cholesterol and triglycerides levels in blood. A high dietary fat leads to obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer.
Vitamins and minerals:
Vitamins are essential for the maintenance of skin, eye, bone, nerves, brain, blood and mucous membranes and are required in smaller amounts. These are of two types, fatsoluble and watersoluble. Fatsoluble vitamins are vitamins A, D, E and K and vitamin C and B complex are water soluble. Vitamin B complex consists of thiamin(b1), riboflavin (b2), niacin(b3), pantothenic acid(b5), pyridoxine(b6), biotin( b7), folate(b9), cobalamine(b12).
Fatsoluble vitamins are stored in body while watersoluble are excreted through urine.
Minerals are inorganic compounds found in body fluids and tissues. Macrominerals are sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium and sulpher and the microminerals are zinc, copper, serenium, iodine, and fluoride. These are essential for the maintenance and integrity of skin, hair, nails, blood and soft tissue. These helps in nerve cell transmission, acid- base and fluid balance, clotting process as well as hormonal and enzyme activity.
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