I believe that the importance of nutrition is nothing new but good nutrition is more important than ever. I remember reading in a magazine "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food." Eating right is the key to a healthy life. In class I learned that while eating right can be healthy, eating wrong could be deadly. Heart disease, cancer, stroke and diabetes are directly related to the way we eat. I also learned that a good nutrition should be part of an overall healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise, not smoking and drinking alcohol excessively because food alone is not the key to a longer and healthier life. .
Genes play an important part in the risk for certain health problems but how and what you eat can influence those problems. For example, the gradual bone thinning that results in osteoporosis may be slowed if enough calcium is consumed, if adequate Vitamin D levels are maintain and the person participates in weight-bearing exercise. A person might be genetically predisposed to diabetes, but if the body weight is kept within a healthy range through diet and exercise, the disease may never attack the individual.
Analyzing my three-day food journal, I realize that my diet is deficient in several nutrients. I need to eat more fiber, fruit and vegetables, and I need to limit my carbohydrates intake. During the vitamins and minerals presentation we had in class, I learned that fiber can help reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, help maintain a healthy body weight, help prevent constipation, and most importantly, it helps fight cancer. In my family, there is the risk of cancer and that is why it is important for me to eat a balance meal so I can get all the vitamins and nutrients my body needs to fight the disease but also to help me keep the weight off. I need to include in my meal plan high-fiber cereals with berries, apples or dried fruit, whole-grain pasta or brown rice, lentils, oranges, almonds among other foods.
