Nutrition is a term with many definitions. Most people understand it to mean a good diet, a healthy lifestyle, and supplementation with vitamins and minerals. It can also mean the science of how the body utilizes foods and nutrients, or the actual food itself. Healthy food in its natural state, plenty of fresh air and water, regular exercise to build muscle and fitness, and supplements if needed will keep or restore health.
To be healthy requires more than calories. This measurement of heat or energy produced by digestion dates from the 18th century, when the value of a calorie was established. 'Empty calories' are foods that can cause weight gain but offer no true nutritional value to the body. It is now known that we need vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other nutrients to thrive.
Whole, fresh foods hold out the best hope of a diet sufficient in vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial substances. For many generations, people lived on food that they produced or gathered themselves, and this food provided what they needed to maintain health and stave off illness. Vegetables from the garden, fruit off the trees, grain from the fields, and meat from the barnyard were staples of everyday diets.
Today's store-bought food may have little natural goodness left in it. Foods are often modified to make them last longer on the shelf, to make them tasty, or to make them into snacks rather than main fare. Milk, for example, is no longer 100% pure, even though added ingredients do not need to be listed on the label. It is pasteurized, homogenized, and de-fatted, none of which is natural. White bread has lost the bran that provides needed fiber, is no longer partially digested before baking by beneficial yeasts, and may contain artificial coloring, flavoring, and preservatives.
To extend shelf-life, essential fatty acids are removed, which has caused a general lack of these vital nutrients. Fiber is not popular with those who like soft or crisp baked goods, and vegetable oils used as common ingredients have been rendered unhealthy by processing. Sugar addiction is a problem for many and causes obesity, bone degeneration, and tooth decay, as well as vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
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.
A healthy lifestyle involves more than diet. Exercise such as brisk walking, body building and weight training, or swimming is very important to increase circulation, encourage deep breathing, and tone muscles and internal organs. It helps maintain proper weight. Adequate intake of pure water, filtered if necessary, should be emphasized. At least eight hours of undisturbed sleep is considered beneficial.
Nutrition should be the basis of everyone's lifestyle. This would result in a tremendous reduction of pain, illness, expense, and loss of productivity. Feeling good, building muscle and fitness, and enjoying life are within reach of us all, if we are wise enough to implement them.
To be healthy requires more than calories. This measurement of heat or energy produced by digestion dates from the 18th century, when the value of a calorie was established. 'Empty calories' are foods that can cause weight gain but offer no true nutritional value to the body. It is now known that we need vitamins, minerals, fiber, and other nutrients to thrive.
Whole, fresh foods hold out the best hope of a diet sufficient in vitamins, minerals, and other beneficial substances. For many generations, people lived on food that they produced or gathered themselves, and this food provided what they needed to maintain health and stave off illness. Vegetables from the garden, fruit off the trees, grain from the fields, and meat from the barnyard were staples of everyday diets.
Today's store-bought food may have little natural goodness left in it. Foods are often modified to make them last longer on the shelf, to make them tasty, or to make them into snacks rather than main fare. Milk, for example, is no longer 100% pure, even though added ingredients do not need to be listed on the label. It is pasteurized, homogenized, and de-fatted, none of which is natural. White bread has lost the bran that provides needed fiber, is no longer partially digested before baking by beneficial yeasts, and may contain artificial coloring, flavoring, and preservatives.
To extend shelf-life, essential fatty acids are removed, which has caused a general lack of these vital nutrients. Fiber is not popular with those who like soft or crisp baked goods, and vegetable oils used as common ingredients have been rendered unhealthy by processing. Sugar addiction is a problem for many and causes obesity, bone degeneration, and tooth decay, as well as vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
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.
A healthy lifestyle involves more than diet. Exercise such as brisk walking, body building and weight training, or swimming is very important to increase circulation, encourage deep breathing, and tone muscles and internal organs. It helps maintain proper weight. Adequate intake of pure water, filtered if necessary, should be emphasized. At least eight hours of undisturbed sleep is considered beneficial.
Nutrition should be the basis of everyone's lifestyle. This would result in a tremendous reduction of pain, illness, expense, and loss of productivity. Feeling good, building muscle and fitness, and enjoying life are within reach of us all, if we are wise enough to implement them.
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