The food we eat gives our bodies the “information” and materials they need to function properly. If we don’t get the right information, our metabolic processes suffer and our health declines.
We are now in the midst of a revolution in the way we understand nutrition and health as we should and could due to numerous articles available in our left and right to become one.
We all believe that nutrition began as a study of what we need in order to survive in the most basic sense. Early research in nutrition focused on determining the minimum amount of a nutrient necessary in the diet to prevent the manifestation of an outwardly visible malfunction or obvious disease which is the most, making our body free from any disorder and diseases.
But, take a look on these questions: Why do we eat food? How does food impact health? What does food do in our bodies? Research has shown thatthe nutrients you take in through your food can have a major influence on the health of your cells’ membranes. In particular, the fats you eat have a direct effect on your cells because they become your cell membranes. Unsaturated fats, like the omega-3 fatty acids found in fish and nuts, are needed for your cell membranes to have the correct shape and ability to communicate. When you eat saturated fats, or trans-fatty acids, these fats also become part of your cell membranes, but they are more rigid and don’t function like unsaturated fats. Research studies of cells in a culture dish, in which they can be seen under a microscope, show that saturated and trans-fats in the cell membrane make the cells less able to communicate and respond to signals; it’s like the cell membranes become brittle.
As the nutrients in food enable the cells in our bodies to perform their necessary functions. This quote from a popular textbook describes how the nutrients in food are essential for our physical functioning.
“Nutrients are the nourishing substances in food that are essential for the growth, development and maintenance of body functions. Essential meaning that if a nutrient is not present, aspects of function and therefore human health decline.
When nutrient intake does not regularly meet the nutrient needs dictated by the cell activity, the metabolic processes slow down or even stop.”( Perspectives in Nutrition, Wardlow and Insel, 2004)
Therefore, prevent the onset of these diseases, we need to know how multiple nutrients in a diet interact and affect the human body’s functions.
References:
The World’s Healthiest Food: Carolyn Denton;Expert Contributor, LN; Karen Lawson, MD; Linda Armstrong, RD, LD, MBA
Taking Charge of Health Well Being published by University of Minnesota 2014.
By: EMELYN L. SIASAT | TEACHER || | SAMAL NHS – MAIN | SAMAL, BATAAN
