Good Nutrition is better than any machine or device.Healthcare facilities use medical equipment/devices to diagnose, monitor, treat illness and disease. As wonderful as these tools are, none of them are as important as good nutrition because it’s possible for anyone, any age to improve their health and look and feel years younger, by simply changing their food. Food has been a basic part of our existence. By knowing the food composition, the nutritional content of food is known.
Intake of food ensures growth in children and youth, maintains good health throughout life, meets special needs of pregnancy and lactation, and for recovery from illness.
A large part of our food heritage is scientifically beneficial and needs to be modified in view of changes in our lifestyles.
Food is one that nourishes the body.
Food may also be defined as any substance that can be eaten or drunk which meets the needs for energy, body building, regulation, and protection of the body.
Food is the material from which our bodies are made.
Eating the right kind of food in the right amounts ensures good nutrition and health.
Nutrition is food at work in the body. It includes everything that happens from eating food to its usage in various functions of the body.
Nutrients are components of foods needed for the body in adequate amounts for proper growth, reproduction, and leading a normal life.
The science of nutrition deals with what nutrients we need, in what quantity, how to get them, and how the body utilizes them.
Functions of food:
The first function of food is to provide energy. The body needs the energy to sustain involuntary processes essential for continuing life. It is also required for various activities, like professional, household, and recreational activities, to convert foods into utilizable nutrients required for growth and warmth.
Another important function is body building. Food is given to infants from birth to adulthood. Food also helps to maintain the structure of the body and helps in the repair of worn-out tissues.
Food regulates the activities of the body including the heartbeat, maintaining body temperature, muscle contraction, water balance, blood clotting, and removal of waste products from the body.
Food helps in improving the immune system and improves the resistance power of the body.
Social functions of food:
Food has always been the central part of our existence, social-cultural, and religious life. Special foods are distributed during religious functions in homes, temples, churches, etc. Food is involved in ceremonies, birthdays, marriages, etc.
Food has been used as an expression of love, friendship, and social acceptance. Food is also used to express happiness like success in jobs, marriages, birth of a baby, meetings, or functions to bring people together.
Psychological functions of food:
In addition to physical and social needs, food must satisfy certain emotional needs. It includes a sense of security, love, and attention.
Familiar foods usually make us feel secure. Sharing of food is a token of friendship and acceptance. These sentiments are the basis of the normal attachment to a mother’s cooking or home food.
We need more good quality food, available easy and simple, guiding us to good food choices, that helps us live healthy, full of energy, and a happy long life.