What is healthy eating?

         


          Paradoxically, while people in some parts of the world are over-fed, there are millions in other parts that are under-fed. One group needs to watch their diet while the other has to struggle for one square meal a day. Nutrition is the business of all, whether the over-fed or the under-fed. Healthy eating ensures healthy living. And a healthy man is a happy man, and the reverse may not be true.

          Our ancestors ate what was available. Many foods available to them were obtained for short seasonal periods. Today we eat what we like, and eating has become a fashion and a hobby. We suffer from gourmet's diseases, and, generally speaking, we are aware of the consequences of unhealthy eating, i.e., eating what we like to eat and not what we need to eat. The human body may be likened to a machine made up; of many component parts working together to perform different functions. Healthy eating consists in eating food items that contain essential nutrients to ensure the proper functioning of this human machine. Over-eating can disrupt the functions while under-eating can impair them. We have heard of famine-stricken countries where people suffer because of the lack of calories. Their struggle is to have sufficient food.

          Carbohydrates are the major source of energy. Besides providing the most energy, carbohydrates are part of the body's connective tissue. They are contained in those materials that determine our genetic inheritance. They detoxify the poisons that invade us. Complex carbohydrate foods add bulk to the diet and ramrod the food through the digestive system.

          Minerals control the body's chemical balance. Minerals come to us through nature's food chain. The mineral content of our food is stored in our bone marrow and it is released to the cells when needed. Overdose of a particular mineral can be fatal. Healthy eating requires a wide variety of foods that can supply us with the right amounts of the minerals we need.

          Protein is the stuff of which all body tissue is made. They are vital. There are times when the body needs relatively more protein than it does at other times. For a growing child protein is vitally necessary. Proteins are really combinations of hundreds of molecules called amino acids and eight of them are essential. Protein foods with right proportion of these essentials have high biological value. A diet without adequate proteins cannot be considered healthy.

          It is not the quantity that makes a diet healthy; it is the quality of the food and the amount of nutriment it contains. Healthy eating provides the body with the foods that it needs to reach its full potential and maintain it in top running condition. Healthy eating keeps us healthy and happy at all stages of our life. Balance is essential: if there is a deficiency in the nutrients, the body will break down, and excess can be harmful.