subject: Healthy Eating [print this page] Eating is one activity that most of us take for granted. We assume that we will have sufficient food to get us through the day and rarely are we forced to eat things that we do not like for the sake of staying alive. In fact, although we have all undoubtedly experienced hunger before mealtime, few of us have ever experienced the type of hunger that continues for days and threatens our survival.
If our appetite for food is stimulated, we may want to eat something because it looks or smells good, even though we are not actually hungry. Finding the right balance between eating to maintain body functions (eating to live) and eating to satisfy our appetites(living to eat) is a problem for many of us.
Social pressures, including family traditions, social events that involve eating, and busy work schedules, can also influence our diets. Although our ancestors typically sat down to three large meals per day, they also labored heavily in the fields or at other work and burned off many of those calories. Today, eating three large meals per day combined with an inactive lifestyle is a recipe for weight gain.
Cultural factors also playa role in how we eat. People from Middle-eastern cultures tend to eat more rice, fruits, and vegetables than does the typical American. Native Japanese eat more fish. Clearly, each culture has both healthy and unhealthy eating habits.
Nutrition is the science that investigates the relationship between physiological function and the essential elements of the foods we eat. With our overabundance of food, our vast number of choices, a media that "primes" us to want the tasty morsels we see advertised and our easy access to almost every nutrient (proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water), Americans should have few nutritional problems. But nutritionists believe that our "diets of affluence" are responsible for many of our diseases and disabilities. Heart disease, certain types of cancer, hypertension(high blood pressure), cirrhosis of the liver, tooth decay, and chronic Obesity continue to be major health risks.
Hunger The feeling associated with the physiological need to eat.
Appetite The desire to eat; normally accompanies hunger, but is more psychological than physiological.
Nutrition The science that investigates the relationship between physiological function and the essential elements of foods we eat.
Nutrients The constituents of food that sustain us physiologically: proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water.
Calorie A unit of measure that indicates the amount of energy we obtain from a particular food.
What Do You Think?
Think about your own eating habits. Do you eat significant amounts of red meats and dairy products? Are you a vegetarian? Would you be happy with a veggie-laden salad and some wheat bread for your evening meal or do you crave a hot, meat-and-potatoes dining experience? Why do you think you feel the way you do? How did your family eat when you were growing up?
