Healthy Living
 

 

Healthy eating

Healthy eating is the practice of making choices about what to eat with the intent of improving or maintaining good health. Usually this involves consuming necessary nutrients by eating the appropriate amounts from all of the food groups. Since human nutrition is complex a healthy diet may vary widely subject to an individual's genetic makeup, environment, and health. For around 20% of the planet's population, lack of food and malnutrition are the main impediments to healthy eating.

Nutritional overview :

1. Sufficient calories to maintain a person's metabolic and activity needs, but not so excessive as to result in fat storage greater than roughly 12% of body mass;

2. Sufficient fat, consisting mostly of mono- and polyunsaturated fats (avoiding saturated and "trans" fats) and with a balance of omega-6 and long-chain omega-3 lipids;

3. Sufficient essential amino acids ("complete protein") to provide cellular replenishment and transport proteins;

4. Essential micronutrients such as vitamins and certain minerals;

5. Avoiding directly poisonous (e.g. heavy metals) and carcinogenic (e.g. benzene) substances;

6. Avoiding foods contaminated by human pathogens (e.g. e. coli, tapeworm eggs);

7. Avoiding chronic high doses of certain foods that are benign or beneficial in small or occasional doses, such as

Balanced eating

Achieving a healthy diet is popularly misperceived as being attainable by eating 'healthy foods'. Many people falsely believe that there are 'good' and 'bad' foods; they develop bad diets because they think that abundant eating of foods they consider 'healthy' will create a healthy diet. However, this could not be further from the truth.

The consumption of nothing but substances that are deemed healthy, such as an "all-grain diet" or a diet consisting only of pasta or other health-foods, would most likely result in deficiencies because important nutrients (like protein-based foods) would be missed. Foods such as grains, fish, corn, etc. are healthy when consumed with a balanced diet, because in combination they supply us with all of the required nutrients. The most important aspect of any diet is maintaining a healthy intake and balance of foods.

The balance of micronutrients gained from meat, vegetables, and other foods is what makes diets healthy, not only consuming 'healthy' foods. For instance, milk, cheese, and other dairy products are known to have a relatively high fat content. Removing such dairy products from a diet may lower fat ingestion, but it will also negatively affect the intake of calcium and riboflavin that such foods offer.

  • foods or substances with directly toxic properties at high chronic doses (e.g. ethyl alcohol, Vitamin A);

  • foods that may interfere at high doses with other body processes (e.g. table salt);

  • foods that may burden or exhaust normal functions (e.g. refined carbohydrates without adequate dietary fiber).

Detrimental eating habits

In specific individuals, ingesting foods containing natural allergens (e.g. peanuts, shellfood) or drug-induced allergens (e.g. tyramine for a person taking an MAO inhibitor) may be life-threatening.

Some foods have low nutritional value, and if consumed on a regular basis will contribute to the decline of human health. This has been demonstrated by various epidemiological studies that have determined that foods such as processed and fast foods are linked to diabetes and various heart problems.

When improperly cut or prepared, a small number of foods (such as fugu) can result in death.

The ingredient usually cited as being most crucial to good health, water, has even been known to result in death when consumed in extraordinary quantities.

Źródło: www.rd.com, www.wikipedia.org