Nutrition and Health - Essay Example

Luana Calo

Nutrition and health

Introduction

I have observed how various people around me live and how they take their nutritional values. Few people pay much attention to what goes into their bodies (Taylor 33). This is a very critical state since it shows how much people are welcoming various diseases into their lives. I would like to teach people how to develop a accustomed nutrient profile and evaluate their genetic test that will lead to the detection of various nutrients that are not needed in the body or these that cause diseases. Being a Nutritionist Biologist will give me an avenue to teach other healthcare providers the benefits of practicing nutritional behaviors, especially when it comes to healthy living (Taylor 33).

Claim

Proper nutrition plays a significant role when it comes to the prevention and cure of diseases. Many diseases that we are suffering from in today’s world are as a result of what we put in our plates (Lambert 67). Diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart diseases, and other chronic diseases are mainly caused by people’s nutritional behaviors (Maday 32). Nutrition, therefore, remains to be the most essential medicine as far as our health complications are concerned (Maday 32).

Supporting claim

What is Nutrition

Nutrition is the study of the nutrients in food, how nutrients are used by the body as well as the relationship between health, diet, and diseases (Munekata 288). Nutrition also involves the study of how people use various nutrients to reduce the risks of getting diseases, what may happen to the body when it has more or fewer nutrients, and how allergies actually work. Nutritionist Biologists use the knowledge obtained from molecular biology or genetics so that they can understand how different nutrients affect the human body (Singh 950). The human body needs nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, fiber, vitamins, minerals, fats, and water. Each mineral mentioned above has a vital role that it plays in the human body.

Since 2002, nutrition has gained momentum in the field of medicine, especially after the research of drug treatment against Type 2 diabetes (Wyatt 119). The research compared people who were assigned a low diet in saturated fats, salt, and sugar, including lean protein and fresh fruits and vegetables, with those who were assigned to take metformin that was meant to lower blood sugar levels (Paszat 17). The outcome showed that those subjected to dietary prescriptions reduced their chances to contain the disease by 58% (Singh 949). This proved that food could actually be used to treat diseases. In 2010, research also showed that heart disease could be treated by subjecting the patients to a low-fat diet and regular exercise (Singh 949).

Nutrition and Nutritionists

Nutritionist goes through a lot of discrimination in society because of how they handle various health conditions. This is because many people think that it is none of the nutritionist business to prescribe any nutritional diet to them when they are sick (Azza Abd El-Shaheed 1487). This is wrong; Nutritionists have studied how the human body functions and know various body conditions. Moreover, they also know that the best way to solve many health malfunctions is through proper nutrition. Nutritionists always come up with nutritional innovations that can help in preventing many diseases, and hence their opinion should not be overlooked (Munekata 288). Innovations such as producing mineral supplements such as iron and zinc supplements are always in place to help in boosting the immunity of people, thereby increasing the chances of the body to fight diseases.

Many diseases have emerged recently, and some even the causes are not known. Some of the diseases that have emerged do not even have a cure and can only be prevented. This calls for the intervention of Biologist Nutritionist to come up with some innovative ways on how to use nutrition to strengthen the body's immunity (Paszat 17). One such disease is Corona Virus. There is no clear information pertaining to the COVID 19 origin, causes, or even prevention, and so innovative ways are required to deal with the disease. Research shows that Corona Virus mainly kills aged people. These are people who also have a deficiency of Zinc in their immune system, and so they have a weak immune system. One of the innovative ways to fight the disease is through the provision of foods rich in Zinc like meat, eggs, legumes, nuts, shellfish, and vegetables. It is also possible to use zinc supplements so that body immunity can be raised to fight the disease or to reduce the chances of contracting the virus (Taylor 33).

Good nutrition helps in nourishing the body and hence reducing the chances of getting the Corona Virus. As a result, people are urged to watch their diet and eat healthy foods so that they can improve their immunity. The weak and vulnerable in society like the old people, pregnant women, children, and those with pre-existing conditions in the society should be looked into carefully. Nutritionists should ensure that a nutritious diet is chosen for such people (Lambert 73). Focus on the nutritional well-being of such individuals will give an opportunity for the establishment of synergies between public health and equity and hence the creation of sustainable healthy and nutritious community during and after COVID 19 pandemic.

Evaluating claim

Nutritionists have a great role to play in our lives. A person may be eating a balanced diet with reduced sugar and fat levels while he/she needs to increase his/her sugar level. Seeking the help of Nutritionists is very vital because they know how to evaluate body functioning and immunity (Azza Abd El-Shaheed 1485). This will help them identify what our bodies lack so that we can include it in our daily diet. It is ethical for a nutritionist to recommend a nutritional diet for the patient, especially when it comes to chronic diseases. However, most people do not actually believe in nutritional prescriptions (Maday 32). They may think that the physician does not know what he/she is doing. It is absolutely correct when the medicine is replaced by a nutritional diet because diet has a great impact on our lives more than the drugs.

A nutritional prescription has been underestimated for a very long time. This has created a barrier for any nutritional values in the field of medicine. However, some physicians have come to terms with the fact that nutrition plays a key role in human health more than medicine that they provide in various hospitals. For a start, an individual needs to improve the diet by taking more of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and drinking plenty of water (Lambert).

Nutritionists have also recognized the fact that if people eat healthily, they live longer, and there is the minimization of the expensive frequent visits to hospitals. The United States recently recorded many premature deaths, and after a thorough analysis was done, the most crucial cause was found to be related to dietary factors (Lambert 68). It has been noticed that most healthcare providers do not have more information concerning nutrition. This is undermining the nutritional benefits of disease treatments, especially chronic diseases.

COVID 19 pandemic has exposed the whole world to the world of nutrition crisis because it has reduced the supply of foods in the society, especially to the vulnerable. With the social distancing thing, many people are apart and hence the low supply of food. To beat the coronavirus pandemic, we need to ensure that there is enough supply of nutritious foods that can be distributed to people to compensate for the basic nutritional food they were receiving before the disease maintaining hygiene is also part of nutrition and should not be ignored either (Azza Abd El-Shaheed 1488).

Conclusion

Some diseases like cancer take long to develop, and the leading cause is as a result of nutrition. A well-balanced diet, good exercise, and enough sleep forms part of a nutritional diet and should be very important in our lives. After a thorough research, I found out that nutrition is related to diet and illnesses like type 2 diabetes, stroke, and other kinds of chronic diseases. Such diseases are prone to bodies or people with weak immunity system and so eating healthy and doing a lot of exercise helps the body a lot. Nutritionists can also prescribe some nutritious supplements that helps the body in developing its immunity. Strong immunity is very important in fighting chronic diseases such such diseases are caused mostly by our diet. I also found out that Covid-19 was related to nutrition. Most people are currently being urged to eat a healthy meal to boost their immunity. This will help in fighting the virus.