The Importance of Nutrition in Our Daily Life
Whenever we take any food or nourishing liquids, our body digests and absorbs the simple but essential minerals, vitamins, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and water from these food or nourishing liquids and converts it into the bloodstream and energy that help our body to grow and keep it healthy.
The nutritional value is more important for any individual’s health. Food or liquids whenever we take them affect our body and health as well both. So we must be more aware of the foods or liquids that we take in our daily life. A large number of diseases occur only due to the wrong diet. Some certain diets may itself cause some disease or alter the course of a known disorder such as diabetes, heart, or kidney disease.
Why Nutrition is important for us?
As we know that food and water are necessary to build up our body and keep it healthy. Every good food and liquid contains some important nutrition like proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water. These all play different roles to keep our body healthy and build new cells in our body.
These are the important nutrition and their role in our body:
Protein:
Protein helps our body to build muscles and a strong immune system. Proteins are made up of long chains of amino acids. There are 22 different types of amino acids and our body needs all these amino acids to function properly. Protein is an abundant type of nutrient in our body that builds new tissues and repairs all damaged cells in our body.
It also helps in the formation of hormones and enzymes which play a variety of roles in our body such as metabolism and sexual development. Many types of protein play different types of important roles in our body. For example, collagen is a protein and it gives the strength, elasticity, and composition of our hair and skin.
Some of the good protein sources are lentils, low-fat dairy products, tofu, nuts, seeds, peas, and tempeh. Some common foods such as whole grain bread, potatoes, corn, and pasta also have protein. Soya protein is the most essential and strong protein and it is equal to any animal-origin protein.
Carbohydrates:
Carbohydrates give us energy. This is an ideal source of energy for the body because carbohydrates are converted more readily into glucose. It helps our body to supply the energy for the formation of cellular constituents. Carbohydrates are made up of three compounds Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen formed by plants. Four types of carbohydrates are important – Sugar, Starches, Fiber, and Gums.
If carbohydrates are taken regularly it doesn’t cause any weight gain, unless they like another food group. There are two types of carbohydrates – Complex and Simple. The efficiency of carbohydrates can cause the production of ketones in the body, which can result in a condition known as ketosis. Good examples of carbohydrates are bread, potatoes, pasta, soda, chips, candies/sweets, cookies/biscuits, puddings, cakes, sugar, bananas, etc.
Fats:
Fat provides us with extra energy. It is a nutrient and a particular amount of fat is necessary for our body. It doesn’t always make us fat. It plays a role to insulate our bodies by giving us protection from sudden temperature changes and also protecting our vital organs. Fats consist of a wide group of compounds that is soluble in organic solvents and insoluble in water. Fats provide 9 calories per gram. When dietary fat is digested, fatty acids are produced. It is also important for healthy skin and blood pressure regulation.
There are two types of fats Saturated (solid at room temperature) and Unsaturated (liquid at room temperature). To obtain an adequate amount of linoleic acid, one of the few fatty acids the body cannot produce on itself. Any adult needs one tablespoon of unsaturated fat daily. Saturated fats mainly occur in dairy products like butter, cream, cheese, and some chocolates. The source of unsaturated fats is soybean, sunflower, and corn oils.
Vitamins:
A vitamin is an organic compound, it regulates our body processes and plays an important role to make our body function properly. The term vitamin was derived from ‘vitamine’, a combination word from Vital and Amine. Today a chemical compound is called a vitamin. Our body needs vitamins as substances to grow and develop normally.
There are 13 vitamins necessary for our body. Some of them are A, B, C, D, E, K, vitamin B-6, and vitamin B-12. In our daily life, we get almost all these vitamins from the foods we take. Our body can also produce vitamins D and K.
Each vitamin plays a specific job. Any particular low levels of vitamins cause deficiency disease. For example, if we don’t get enough vitamin D it can cause rickets. A deficiency of vitamin ‘A’ can cause Night Blindness.
If we eat a balanced diet we get enough essential vitamins automatically from our daily food or liquid. We don’t even need to take any particular vitamin separately. Only in some cases do we need to take a daily multivitamin for optimal health.
Minerals:
Minerals regulate our body processes and also make body tissues. Minerals make our body work properly same as vitamin play a role but it doesn’t prevent weight loss. Although we get it from our daily foods, so we don’t need to take it separately. Minerals boost our immune system. Some important minerals are Chloride, Calcium, Copper, Chromium, Fluoride, Iron, and Iodine. These types of minerals can be found in our daily food or liquid supplement like salt, soy sauce, milk, vegetable oils, whole grains, cheese, nuts, etc
Water gives cells shape and acts as a medium where body processes can occur. It is the well-known yet most important nutrient our body needs. It is also the most abundant type of liquid found in our body contributing 70% of our total mass. It helps to dissolve and carry the essential nutrients to all parts of the body. It is also needed to help maintain the body temperature and aids to carry away the body’s waste products.
Water:
In the human body, there are 70% of the total mass is covered by water. Water gives cells shape and acts as a medium where body processes can occur. It is a very necessary nutrient available to all nutrients. It is also the most abundant type of liquid found in the human body. Water helps maintain the body temperature and aids to carry away the body’s waste products.
We see that nutrition plays a very important role in our lives, each food and liquid contains its nutritional value which is very necessary for our life. It could help to extend or decrease our life span as well as define our degree or livelihood. It helps in our mental and physical development as well. We must be aware of the food and liquid that we take regularly. Popper food in our daily life leads to a lifetime habit toward a healthy extended life.
