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Eating well is one of the best investments you
can make for your health, so it's worth paying it some serious
attention.
Aims of good nutrition
The old line 'you are what you eat' is actually very accurate.
The food we eat can have a huge impact on our health and
wellbeing. A balanced, healthy diet provides a supply of
all the essential nutrients in the right quantities for
health.
By eating a healthy diet and being physically active, we
can maintain a healthy body weight and reduce our risk of
developing diet-related illnesses, such as heart disease
and cancer. However, although healthy eating is pretty straight
forward, there's much confusion among the general public
about what constitutes a healthy diet, as well as a belief
by many that they are already consuming a healthy diet.
For example:
- 69.3 per cent of people think that their diets are already
healthy (Cotugna et al, 1992), and
- 71 per cent of people agree with the statement 'I do
not need to make changes to the food I eat, it is already
healthy enough.' (Kearney et al, 1997).
In order to become and remain healthy, our bodies need good
food, and the time and energy to process it and use it,
to help us feel well. Healthy eating provides all the necessary
nutrients to create and repair tissues, to sustain a healthy
immune system and to enable the body to execute daily tasks
with ease.
Links between diet and disease are better understood than
ever before, and there's a large body of evidence showing
that what you eat has an enormous impact on health. Our
lifestyles and eating habits have changed drastically over
the past couple of decades. We now rely more on convenience
food and nutritional supplements than on fresh food. Much
media attention has focused on what foods you shouldn't
eat, rather on what foods you can and should eat.
Remember, there's no such thing as a bad or good food -
moderation and balance is the key. Food should be enjoyed
- it is possible to eat delicious, tasty food that's healthy
too.
The aim of a healthy diet and lifestyle in adulthood is
to ensure you're fit, healthy and full of vitality in the
short term, with healthy teeth, immune system, skin and
hair, abundant energy and an ideal body weight. In the long
term, the aim is to minimise the risk of chronic diseases
such as coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer
and osteoporosis.
Nutritional considerations
Providing the essentials
Energy: like all machines, the
human body needs a constant supply of energy (or calories).
Without it, essential body functions would be impossible.
Energy is derived from the energy-bearing nutrients in food:
complex carbohydrate, fat, protein and simple sugar.
Protein: as well as providing
energy, protein is vital for growth and repair.
Vitamins and minerals: although
only required in minute amounts, these are the cornerstones
of good health and are essential for many body functions.
Without them, key processes at cellular level are unable
to operate.
Fibre: this is a blanket term
for all unabsorbed food that goes through the digestive
tract. It is vital to help stimulate the bowels to excrete
waste products on a regular basis, ensuring absorption of
nutrients from food occurs in a controlled and gradual fashion.
Water: this isn't a nutrient
as such, but is still an essential part of any diet. Without
fluid the body can only survive for a couple of days. Water
is needed to flush waste products from the body, to keep
the skin, hair and body organs healthy, to produce digestive
enzymes, and to enable the body to glean all the beneficial
nutrients from the foods and drinks we consume. Many people
don't drink enough water - we need on average at least eight
glasses of fluid every day.
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