The Importance Of Nutrition

Nutrition People make food choices everyday and sometimes we do not know the impact that it has on our health. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the top two leading causes of death are heart disease and cancer (cdc.gov). Stroke and diabetes are among the top 10 of that list (cdc.gov). If you combine all four of these causes together, they account for more than half of all the deaths each year. All four of these causes have links to the diet, so having good nutrition will be beneficial to your overall health (Rolfes 27). In fact, the second most preventable cause of death, behind tobacco, is poor diet/inactivity, followed by alcohol consumption (Rolfes 27). These four causes of death are known as chronic diseases.

A healthy diet includes, “45 to 50 percent kcalories from carbohydrate, 20 to 35 percent kcalories from fat, [and] 10 to 35 percent kcalories from protein” (Rolfes 20). These recommendations are made on the basis of providing adequate energy and nutrients while reducing the risks of chronic diseases (Rolfes 20). Carbohydrates are composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen that are arranged as glucose. Furthermore, these glucose are used as energy to fuel the brain, tissues, and other special cells. Carbohydrates are very important in the diet because it is the brain’s preferred source of fuel (Rolfes 109). Like carbohydrates, lipids (fat) are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. However, lipids can supply more energy than carbohydrates due to the higher number of carbons and hydrogens (Rolfes 134). Protein is also composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen with the addition of nitrogen. Protein has many roles in the body including repairing and replacing tissues and regulation, but the key feature of protein is versatility (Rolfe 179). A healthy diet also includes fruits, vegetables, and dairy. All of these contain many vitamins and minerals that are essential to the body. Vitamins and minerals perform various roles in your body. For example, carrots contain beta-carotene, which is the precursor for vitamin A. Vitamin A is needed for vision and regulating growth (Rolfes

ChooseMyPlate is a government funded website that is used to promote healthy diets (ChooseMyPlate.gov). It also has a visual representation that is very helpful for everyone. Before MyPlate, the USDA’s food guide was the food pyramid. In 2011, MyPlate was developed and the pyramid was changed to a plate. The plate is divided into 4 sections to represent four of the five food groups: fruits, grains, vegetables, and protein. There is also a circle to represent dairy as the last of the five food groups (ChooseMyPlate.gov). Each section on the plate vary in sizes, which indicates the proportions of each food group that is needed for a healthy diet (Rolfes 48).