Nutrition and Food of Today in Relation to Health Problems - Assignment Example

Nutrition and Food of Today in Relation to Health Problems Thesis: The types of food that people take now – a-days and how do the food lead to health problems in terms of the imbalanced nutritional values present in them and the contamination that is reacting with the present food products. 1. Quantitative analysis of the types of food and its nutritional values in today’s world and the diseases related to food; The term nutrition plays a major role in human being’s life; it could be explained briefly as the essential parts of the food we consume or the function of any kind of food in terms of requirement for the human body. In this dissertation the main objective would be to find out and analyze the latest news regarding the food habits and food of today and whether they really have nutritional values to support the health in preventing form diseases. And what are the major diseases that are prevalent in all parts of the world in relation to food habits, and finally what are the steps taken by many food and health research organizations to reduce the level of diseases. The term nutrition has a strong link with diet, health and diseases. If we say that diseases arise out of malnutrition and starvation on one side and it should also be accepted that our food habits determines our health in many ways. The food habits and the “balanced diet” are to be maintained equally. Any food which has a nutritional value, need not be taken more than the required amount, as too much of intake will give way to initial stage of the disease. World Health Organization has to say this regarding health, “health is a complete physical, mental and social well being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” and it also says that “physical fitness, weight loss, healthy eating, stress management training are examples of steps to improve one’s health” [1946, WHO. http://en.wikiepedia.com/Health/] As health has to be maintained very carefully through out our life, the food we take daily needs lot of calculations regarding the nutritious values and the calorie level. We should select the food in such a way that it gives what is required and essential. But today’s world seems to be quite affected by the imbalanced food habits and the selection of food which has got less or non essential nutritional values. As a result food related diseases are developing in many parts of the world. This is seen particularly in youngsters. The major diseases or health problems that are related to our food are Obesity, Diabetes, Cancer and Osteoporosis resulting in over weight, increased starch content and imbalanced insulin level, cancerous cells growing rapidly in the affected organ or fluid, and calcium imbalance respectively. These diseases are found out to be the major outcomes of imbalanced diet system and uncontrolled food habits. In an executive summary, the World Health Organization has given a true statement concerning the relation that exists between diet and diseases, it says, “Medical and scientific research has established clear links between dietary factors and the risk of developing coronary heart diseases, hypertension, stroke, several cancers, osteoporosis, diabetes, and other chronic diseases. This knowledge is now sufficient strong to enable governments to assess national eating patterns, identifying risks, and then protect their populations through policies that make healthy food choices “ [World health Organization, Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases. 1990. www.mcspotlight.org/media/reports/food-health.htm/] And in addition to these cancers has been found out to be a result of food habits or dietary imbalance. During 1970s it was suggested that cancer might be a result of diet factors , but later in 1980s it has been proved that diet and changes in atmosphere plays a major role in the formation of cancerous cells in the human body. A report published by USA by the National Research Council of the National academy of Sciences identified diet or excess eating as a key reason for the cancer. It says, “The list of forces that play upon us, and are likely to change if we move from one country to another, is not impossible long. Such forces obviously include the air we breath, the water we drink, and the food we eat, as well the way we prepare the food and apportion it in to the meal”[Cannon, Geoffrey. Food and Health: The experts Agree] The elements such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen and phosphorous vitamins and minerals are required for day to day living for the human beings, these are found in a combined form in the food we take. Generally they are found in plants and animals which we cook and eat. The vitamins that are essential and required for human beings are Vitamin A, B, C, D . The fact that in what kind of food these vitamins and minerals are present is an important thing to be noticed. Milk, spinach and table salt are rich in sodium, nuts, Soya beans, and cocoa are rich in magnesium and green leafy vegetables and red meat are rich in iron. Other than this the amino acids are also required for a human body. There are essential and non essential amino acids present, where as the essential amino acids are produced in the human body from the food we take inside, the non essential amino acids are also available in food items but they are not essential for us. When we talk of the vitamins and minerals we should also extend our discussion over the calorie level. There are restrictions on the intake of the calorie level for men, women and children of different age groups. Apart from this there are agents like polyphenol antioxidants that helps in fighting with oxidative stress, Wikipedia website says a lot about this, “the polyphenol antioxidant helps in combating oxidative stress. Fruits such as apples, blackberries, cantaloupe, cranberries, grapes, plums, raspberries and strawberries and vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage, celery, onion and parsley are rich in polyphenol antioxidants”[ PolyphenolAntioxidant. online http://www.enwikiepedia.com/polyphenolantioxidants/] The calorie is nothing but the measurement of mineral or vitamin level in any food item. In some kinds of food which has a more sugar and cholesterol [fat] content the calorie level always remains high. Green vegetables, fruits and spinach do possess limited calorie and fat content and doctors would always advice these low calorie food items. Sweets, or food items made of sugar and butter, and cheese will have more calorie content in them. A human being requires all types of food, but preference should be given to low calorie food than the other type. For longevity of life calorie restriction should be strictly followed. Our lifespan could be extended from the balanced diet we follow. Today’s food culture has been facing changes continuously, for example the spread of multi-cuisine food, do have a strong impact and influence through out the world. We could find out an Italian restaurant in America, or an American restaurant in Italy. Today’s generation need changes in every walk of their life. Native Restaurants with the supply of other country foods are found out in almost all the countries. But the fact that whether those foods will best suit the body condition of the indigenous people is an important thing to be noted. The fast food culture is also widely spreading resulting in imbalanced diet maintenance in the human being’s food behavior. People have started giving more preference to taste and colors in the food that they take. The choice of tasty food is yet another cause for the health problems of today, the taste enhancers will make allow them to take the food item more than the usual amount. The food contamination is another reason behind the health problem. The choices of a particular food depends upon either from earlier food habit or experience or color attraction towards that food , the dominating chilly taste, sweet or sour taste etc. the choice varies according to the individual. Dietician Renate Frenz, Honorary Chairman of the European federation of the Association Dieticians[EFAD] has to say the following comment on the taste or choice of food by the human beings, “people are not likely to eat food that they do not enjoy” and she also adds that “Balancing individualized nutritional recommendations with health needs, lifestyle factor and taste preferences are all part of effective nutritional counseling. Finding healthy foods that taste good is fundamental for long term success in maintaining a health diet” [ Health and Lifestyle. Tasteful Recommendation. http://www.eufic.org] This food habit is the root cause of diseases and healthy living. Though many private and Government organizations are working out to eradicate these problems of contamination and additives, still the most affected are the young people. This we could understand from the repeated news on increasing obesity and diabetes all over the world. Beverages also play a major role in increasing the imbalanced diet rule of the human beings. The intake of soft drinks and beverages with more starch content are widely taken in by the youngsters in many parts of the world. This leads to increased level of calorie intake than the required. The topic of diet maintenance is a required factor that should be taught to all who are not aware of this. The preparation of food also plays a major role in today’s life and health problems. People buy food items and vegetables to cook but the choice of whether that has been brought form hygienic conditions are not though of by many. “Ill health can be caused by an imbalance of nutrients producing excess or deficiency, which in turn affects body functioning cumulatively,” This is a analyzes statement form the website Wikiepedia.com. Today’s food culture needs to be changed as there seems to be lot of imbalances every where in the world. There are only a few in the world who do realize the importance of diet maintenance. The nutritional values are comparatively low than the traditional food which the indigenous people were taking so far. In other words the point of nutritional value has become out of concern for the people of today. The fact that people expect a few do not realize or do not give much attention to the nutritional values or calorie amount that they should maintain daily. On the contrary many of us feel later like many youngsters suffer from obesity. This problem has become an often focused one in news and other media. This is due to imbalanced food habits on one side and intake of less nutritional food items on the other. The solution would be to ban those food items which have more chances of producing diseases. And Government should take more steps than the usual to avoid selling of those food items. Out Line for the dissertation: I. Brief Analysis of Nutrition: a. Definition of Nutrition b. Link between Nutrition and Dieting c. Basic Nutrition required for daily life d. Nutrition and malnutrition e. Impact of nutrition in a human body II Food and its relation to nutritional values: III. The health problems in relation to food: a. The frequently occurring health problems in relation to food b. The major health problems that are frequently and mostly found out in people all over the world are diabetes, obesity, and osteoporosis. These diseases occur due to diet imbalances and over eating. The human body requires a limited amount of calories and if taken more than what is required it leads to the above mentioned diseases. [1] Reasons of Diabetes in relation to food [2] Reasons of Obesity in relation to food [3] Reasons of osteoporosis in relation to food IV. Collection of data : a. Details of surveys conducted from hospitals regarding the percentage of patients suffering from diabetes, obesity and oesteoporoasis b. Details of Dieticians’ statements regarding the food related diseases c. Details of articles presenting the survey report on food related diseases And health related topics such as Details Of Data that has to be collected : http://www.efad.org/ European Federation of Associations of dieticians. http://www.foodstandards.gov.uk/safereating/ Consumer attitude to Food , Nutrition and Health And this website gives more details on standards of food that are approved by the Government of UK http://www.eufic.org and http://www.ecfic.org/site_child_nutrition/capitalo/6.html This website is from European Food and Information Council , a guide to food safety and quality, health nutrition for a balanced diet and healthy life style Topics covered by this website are Nutrition, Food and Health, Diet Related Diseases, Health and Life Style etc. and Consumer’s views on food are also given. It is best for taking journal based survey. This will be very sufficient to the dissertation. http://www.newscientist/article/ This website focuses on a lot of articles on the scientific analysis of vegetables and food items that are good and bed for health. For example the article by Andy Loghlan on Tomatoes is very interesting and useful. He says, “The proteins manufactured by the Tomato plants, acts like oral vaccine and when eaten create antibodies in the human body and fights against HIV and Hepatitis B virus” [Loghlan, Andy. Killer Tomatoes attack human diseases .29 January.2006] d. Food contamination and its effects in the present word e. Water contamination and the diseases related to it in connection with cooking f. Questionnaires and interviews with people suffering from food related diseases. g. Interviews with shop owners in relation with the most preferred food items by the people h. Statistical report on the number of people affected by food related diseases and their frequently taken food. V. Conclusion: a. Analysis of the collected data b. conclusion statement stating elaborately that the food related diseases are not only due to contamination but a major reason depends on their food habits. And c. Recommendations: [i]. The stress on eating a balanced diet should be manifested right from the schools [ii]. The food habits of small children could be controlled from their childhood, so that in future they will not go beyond the limited eating style. [iii]. More counseling should be given by service providers to those people who suffer from obesity, since obesity will result in other diseases also. [iv]. The awareness on p[pollution and its bad impact that results in the contamination of the food and water are very essential things that should be noted and given serious attention to avoid diseases related to food and food habits. [v].Government should take steps to supervise the quality of the food provided in restaurants and severe punishments should be given to those involved in food contamination. Nutritional values should be displayed in every food product along with other sale details. BIBLIOGRAPHY Cannon, Geoffrey. Food and Health: The experts Agree. An analysis of one hundred authoritative Scientific Reports on Food, nutrition and public health published throughout the world in thirty years, between 1961 and 1991. published by Consumer’s Association, 2 Mary Lebon, London NW 14 DF] Loghlan, Andy. Killer Tomatoes attack human diseases .29 January.2006 . online http://www.newscientist/article/ http://www.eufic.org and http://www.ecfic.org/site_child_nutrition/capitalo/6.html Health and Lifestyle. Tasteful Recommendation. http://www.eufic.org Pplyphenol Antioxidant. online http://www.enwikiepedia.com/polyphenolantioxidants/ [1946, WHO. http://en.wikiepedia.com/Health/ Read More