Good Health and Nutrition - Essay Example

? Nutrition Nutrition Nutrition entails the provision on food to organisms and cells of the body. In human medicine, it is the practice or process of food consumption and utilization. The necessary materials, known as nutrients, are extracted from the food through a process known as metabolism to provide energy and support life (Bolin, Caplan & Holyday, 2010). An organism’s diet is made up of what it feeds on and is greatly determined by the food’s perceived palatability. A good nutrition is chosen with the awareness of the benefits it offers the body and must be inclusive of all the food groups. In this sense, nutrients occur in six key classes: vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, fats and water. On the other hand, a poor one has the potential of injuring health and leading to deficiency diseases such as kwashiorkor and scurvy and also threatening conditions like osteoporosis, obesity and diabetes. This paper will research on nutrition and the implications of both poor and proper diets. Gardner and Halweil (2000) opine that a good health goes beyond the absence of disease and reflects a positive quality of physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual and social well being. Only an optimum nutrition that provides all the essential amount and type of nutrients can achieve good health. The food people consume and their constituent nutrients are the most significant, long-term environmental factors that influence their health, development, growth and functional abilities (Zoellner, Bounds & Yadrick, 2009). Nutritional knowledge, especially including education for health professionals and the general public, is critical if the rate of premature mortality and morbidity must be reduced significantly from the primary killer diseases. The way people structure their lives with proper health habits, nutrition and regular exercise will cut down on chronic diseases and medical expenditure. Depending on the quantities required by the body, the six classes of nutrients may further be categorized into either micronutrients or macronutrients (Bolin, Caplan, & Holyday, 2010). The body requires macronutrients in large amounts and they include proteins, carbohydrates, water and fats. The body uses lipids to build cell membranes, and amino acids are essential for the formation of proteins while carbohydrates and fats are made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen molecules. Vitamins and minerals fall under micronutrients. Apart from water and the fibrous content of food, all macronutrients provide the body with structural material and energy (Bolin, Caplan, & Holyday, 2010). This is the energy used to carry out all the activities of the body and the essential support of life. Additionally, proteins are used in the repair and formation of tissue as well as various hormones and chemicals. Water is essential in eliminating the waste products of metabolism. Every food consumed has a direct impact on a person’s health. Certain levels of variation in quantities will lead to nutritional disease, which can be defined as disease or condition related to nutrition. The variations may include both excesses and deficiencies in one’s diet. Poor or unbalanced diets, and hence bad nutrition, cause developmental abnormalities and worsen chronic diseases. For instance, research has shown that diets high in sugar, sodium and saturated fat adversely affect health and well being (Bolin, Caplan, & Holyday, 2010). Such a diet places the consumer at a high risk of developing diseases such as cancers, diabetes, heart diseases and hypertension. On the other hand, nutritionists recommend diets high in fiber, calcium, whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Such diets have the potential to reduce chances of most diseases by up to 80 percent. The research confirms that unhealthy eating habits are the leading causes of disease and disability as well as loss of independence. More significantly, the use (or abuse) of alcohol and tobacco should strictly be avoided, especially for persons with pre-existing conditions (O’Connell, 2011). Malnutrition, or malnourishment, is a condition resulting from a diet lacking certain nutrients, having others in excess or constituted in incorrect proportions. Depending on the type of nutrients that are either insufficient or in overabundance in a diet, various nutrition disorders may occur. However, the most common form of malnutrition appears as under-nutrition, in which the diet lacks sufficient amounts of protein and calories, the food is not enough or is of poor quality. Chronic malnutrition will lead to starvation, and among the effects and symptoms is inanition. A recent publication analysis showed that over 800 million people were plagued by malnutrition between 1997 and 2008 (Zoellner, Bounds & Yadrick, 2009). Chronic malnutrition manifests itself mainly as protein-energy malnutrition, also known as protein-calorie malnutrition, which is the world’s commonest form. It is a continuum and mostly concerns children, women and the elderly (especially the poor and those with inadequate access to education) who under consume protein and energy. Breastfeeding and pregnancies increase nutritional requirements for women, while children are exposed to malnutrition risks largely due to their mothers’ diets (Gardner & Halweil, 2000). The elderly are at risk of malnutrition largely due to complications like appetite changes and energy levels. With reference to the continuum, one end is kwashiorkor, while marasmus is on the other. Severe deficiency of protein characterizes kwashiorkor, while marasmus is characterized by total deprivation of food with abhorrently poor amounts of both protein and energy. According to Zoellner, Bounds and Yadrick (2009), key characteristic of malnourished people is the inability to consume adequate nutrients for growth and maintenance of the body. Due chronic illnesses like diarrhea, they loss the little nutrients they may have taken in, or even through increased use of energy, known as secondary malnutrition. Their body cells are characterized by an impaired intake of protein, iron, calcium and vitamins. This adversely affects various organ systems, either directly or indirectly, including the central nervous system and ends up in nervous disorders. Children are the most affected in terms of nervous disorders associated with malnutrition. For example, a deficiency of vitamin B6 will lead to a disorder known as polyneuropathy, while zinc deficiency will cause delays in motor development and depression in children. It is necessary for countries around the world to have clinically proven trials of health benefits and include mandatory folic acid fortification in their foods. Therefore, they must have creative approaches to public health. According to O’Connell (2011), diabetics are not well educated on the need of a proper nutrition in managing the condition. Instead, they are placed on continuous medication that may turn out toxic. Although most nutritionists and doctors are conversant with treatment of diabetes through diet, they are reluctant because of the politics associated with it, mostly because of the American Diabetes Association (ADA). The way out of the problem is to make informed choices about the food consumed as well as more education for patients, doctors, associations and caregivers (O’Connell, 2011). In the past few decades, Americans have been increasingly conscious of their requirements in terms of dietary fat, cholesterol and calories in their food. The awareness prompted them to demand a wider range of no-fat or low-fat food choices from producers and retailers. There is an overabundance of food choices and calories in the United States to feed everyone. However, the downside of this aspect is that business people and other interested parties take every possible action to persuade citizens to consume their products regardless of the health implications. According to O’Connell (2011), food politics in America underlies other politics as corporate organizations control the food system in the nation, directly affecting what is consumed by the nation. The most significant thing to remember is that everyone’s health is determined by what they eat. Therefore, to walk in the line of health, it is critical to choose what we eat. Nutritionists, dieticians and policy makers should take the fore front in making sure the nation consumes healthy diets. References Bolin, T., Caplan, G., & Holyday, M. (2010). Malabsorption may contribute to malnutrition in the elderly. Nutrition, 26(7), 852–853. Gardner, G., & Halweil, B. (2000). Escaping hunger, escaping excess. World Watch, 13(4), 5-9. O’Connell, J. (2011). Sugar nation: The hidden truth behind America's deadliest habit and the simple way to beat it. New York: Hyperion Books. Zoellner, J., Bounds, W., & Yadrick, K. (2009). Nutrition literacy status and preferred nutrition communications channels among adults in the lower Mississippi delta. Preventing Chronic Disease, 6(4), 128-141. Read More