Essential Importance Of Food

Food is a part of our daily lives. Not only is food essential for survival and well-being, but often, our daily routine revolves around food and how, when, and where we get food and how we will have our meals. Ironically, however, Because life is much faster paced than it was twenty years ago, we spend less time choosing, preparing, and eating food. We grab breakfast (if we eat it at all), hurry through lunch, and rarely take time to plan and prepare a well-balanced dinner. Everyone in the family is usually on different schedules, we often rely on prepackaged microwave dinners or take out fast food. Consequently, many of us don’t eat properly, we spend money on expensive vitamins to make up for poor nutrition, starve ourselves to lose

The body’s structure is made up of proteins, which makes it one of the three principle sources of energy. “For example, a typical 160 pound man is composed of 100 pounds water, 29 pounds protein, 25 pounds fat, 5 pounds minerals, 1 pound carbohydrates, and less than an ounce of vitamins” (Standard Medical & Health Encyclopedia). Because the muscles, heart, brain, lungs, and gastrointestinal organs are made up largely of protein, and since the protein in these organs is in constant need of replacement, its importance is obvious. Most Americans, however, eat about twice the amount they need, and while more may sound better, too much is too much. Your body uses only what it needs. Some excess proteins are excreted as urine; the rest are converted into fat. Chemically, proteins are varying mixtures of amino acids that contain various elements including nitrogen. “There are 22 different amino acids that are essential for the body’s protein needs” (USA TODAY). Nine of these must be provided in the diet and are thus called essential amino acids; the rest can be synthesized by the body itself. Meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and milk products are primary sources for protein and they contain all of the necessary amino acids. One gram of protein provides four calories of

It can occur to anyone, regardless of gender or age. Biotin, also known as vitamin H, is a water soluble B-vitamin and is involved in the synthesis of fatty acids and glucose. Rickets is caused by lack of vitamin D or of Calcium. Rickets causes muscles and bones to become soft, which can cause permanent deformities in children. Vitamin D is required for calcium to be properly absorbed into bones to strengthen them. Rickets mainly occurs in children because adult’s bones are not growing and do not need calcium. While Vitamin D is obtained in many forms of food, but its main active form is via sunlight”(Top 10 Vitamin deficiencies). The list of vitamin deficiencies goes on and on. A complete list can be found at http://listverse.com/2012/03/16/top-10-vitamin-deficiencies/ Minerals are also essential to our basic nutritional needs. Like vitamins, they are needed for normal metabolism and our diet must contain sufficient amounts for the maintenance of good health. These essential minerals are calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iodine, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, fluoride, and chromium. Fiber in the diet is important for proper elimination. It provides bulk, and its use has been linked to the prevention of many health