What Role Does Nutrition Play in Our Health?
Nutrition as it applies to our daily lives means that we take in
what we need to maintain our body's healthy state. Nutrition has
become an important word thanks to the involvement of the USDA
in our daily food requirements, and the FDA's involvement in
determining what is and is not dangerous for us to consume.
What about eating habits? What about vitamins? What role does
our daily intake play in our health? More than you have been
lead to believe or understand. The body's ability to remain well
under anything other than ideal conditions is a direct result of
the nutrition received on a daily basis. The mind's ability to
remain well is, again, a direct result of our nutritional intake.
For instance, the human brain doesn't develop well without the
necessary input of protein in our daily diet. No protein, no
intelligence. Nutrition refers to the nurturing of our body, in
our ability to keep it healthy and functioning as it is supposed
to do. Our ability to provide the body with all the necessary
food, vitamins, and minerals so that we continue to thrive in
our daily life processes. How do we determine that we are
providing the essential nutritional needs? That knowledge comes
by educating ourselves about what our individual needs are, the
needs of our family, and then taking that knowledge and applying
it to the foods we buy, that we prepare, and that our families
consume.
Health is taught as a science course, and addresses matters of
personal hygiene, diseases, and the broad spectrum of health as
it applies to the masses. No individual attention is given to
how to attain optimal health via our eating habits. It's funny
that we skip the most important, fundamental building block to
good health: our nutritional and caloric consumption in our
food.
I personally believe we should have the field of nutrition and
physical activity married into something combined to provide
every person that enters the school system with a personal
knowledge of their bodies' needs, caloric, and nutritional, so
that they complete their education with mental and physical
competencies, as well as analytical and mathematical competence.
Nutrition is a concept that should be as important to our
educational process as our ability to count. The ability to
recognize our nutritional requirements, find the foods we need
to fulfill those requirements, and differentiate between healthy
food consumption and "unhealthy" eating habits is not an option.
Not for a healthy, happy, long, and quality life What we should
absorb as we travel along life's daily path is a way to
incorporate good nutrition into our lifestyle. There is
generally just as much room for good as there is bad, it just so
happens that bad nutritional habits hold more appeal.
Bad nutrition receives more advertising dollars than healthy
nutritional options, and is often more visible. But that doesn't
mean it's any easier, more convenient, or cheaper. Habits,
generally take about two weeks to make the switch from conscious
action to unconscious thought. Two weeks is not long, it's not
long at all for decisions that will affect you for the rest of
your life. It's also not long for the potential reward that
comes from setting an example your children can follow, and you
can be proud for them to follow. You teach them daily about the
good habits you want them to develop, and then you demonstrate a
bad one in your nutrition choices. C'mon, mom and dad, let's
practice what we preach.