A healthy diet

A healthy diet is a combination of food intakes that help maintain or improve one’s overall health (DeBruyne, Pinna & Whitney, 2016). A nutritious diet is well-balanced, ensuring that the organism gets all of the nutrients it requires. It is critical to improving good nutrition throughout one’s life to achieve overall good health. Over time, it has become clear that a healthy diet can help settle, manage, or eliminate various health problems. For example, simply eating a healthy diet lowers the risk of multiple diseases such as stroke, diabetes, coronary heart disease, and high blood pressure. Several factors determine a person’s dietary preferences. Environmental, cultural, and behavioral factors are among them.
Reflecting on my food journal, there are some areas in my diet in which my status can be considered to have been “okay,” “over” or “under.” On most days, approximately four, all meals were balanced with all important nutrients being well represented. Different food substances with equal nutritional value supplemented each other over these four days to ensure the meals were balanced. On the first day, there was an over consumption of protein. Although other nutrients were present, all the meals comprised of too much red and white meat. Lunch consisted of three-quarter kg of steak accompanied with a little fries while fish and salad was on the menu for dinner. On the second last day, there was an under consumption of vitamins as there was no intake of any vitamin providing nourishments taken on the regular such as fruits and fresh juices.
It is of paramount importance that changes be made to improve areas that are deemed nutritionally insufficient or overemphasized in order to prevent any malnutrition (Roth & Wehrle, 2017). We owe it to vitamins for the development and growth of our bodies. They initiate various body metabolisms and their deprivation results in diseases such as anemia. The absence of fruits and juices could have been substituted by alternatives like vegetables, liver, and milk as opposed to ignoring them completely. On the other hand, it is necessary to regulate the amount of protein intake, especially animal protein, over time. This is because its excessive intake results in the occurrence of harmful diseases such as kidney stones, certain cancers, osteoporosis, and so on so forth.
Through intensified study of nutrition, one is eventually exposed to certain aspects of their diet they did not initially comprehend. Personally, I learnt that one’s protein intake is directly proportional to how active they are. Statistically, one’s recommended protein intake can be calculated by multiplying their weight in kilograms by 0.8 to 1 (Carroll, 2014). Hence, roughly a gram of protein per kilo of body weight is exhorted if one is not super active. Also, combining iron and vitamin C leads to more of it being absorbed in the body than if it was ingested alone. This has been scientifically proven with recommendations such as blueberries and oats as accompaniments to the food with iron. Finally, I learnt that smoothies are better sources of nutrients than juices. Juices contain approximately twice the water contained in smoothies meaning that the pulpiness of smoothies carries more nutrients.
There is a need for a greater understanding of the determinants that affect food choice given the priority for population dietary change. As food choice is not a simple process, many factors influence it. One does not only prefer a certain kind of food because they like it. In addition to things like the food’s appearance, smell, and taste, there are other reasons consuming a particular food. My personal dietary decisions were mainly influenced by physiological factors. My level of physical activity is high as working out is part of my daily routine. This requires the inclusion of both carbohydrates and proteins in high content in all meals.
Another determinant is social factors. The prominence of our family to always eat healthy automatically subjects me to dietary patterns of fine fettle (Veitch, 2012). This is a reluctance to engage junk food with us being exposed to them at most once a week, mostly on weekends. The attainment of proper awareness, through education, on the needs to maintain healthy diets is also a regulating factor. Many malnutrition diseases come along with poor dietary plans. Some are easily curable, while others require many investments to curb in terms of funds, time, and energy. If not properly and quickly addressed, they result in deterioration of the body ultimately leading to death. The exposure to this knowledge has enabled me to watch what I eat on most occasions, avoiding anything that could cause a risk of developing any sort of complication.
In conclusion, it is without a doubt that it feels less natural to indulge in unhealthy eating when we regularly eat healthy. It is then simply a conscious recognition rather than a matter of depriving one’s self. This is the recognition of, in the long term, respecting what feels the best for our body. One mentally has more energy to do the things that matter and physically feels good due to eating healthy. So many consequences arise from our decision to practice healthy eating habits. Not only do we contribute positively to our personal lives, but also to the welfare of the whole society when we are both personally healthy and globally conscious of our eating choices (Chatham, 2012). Thus, maintaining this lifestyle choice is the most important action step that one can take.
 
References
Carroll, K. (2014). Diet, Nutrition, and Health. McGill-Queen’s UP.
Chatham, J. (2012). The Dash Diet Health Plan: Low-sodium, Low-Fat Recipes to Promote
DeBruyne, L.K., Pinna, K., & Whitney, E.N. (2016). Nutrition & diet therapy.
Roth, R., & Wehrle, K. (2017). Nutrition & Diet Therapy.
Weight Loss, Lower Blood Pressure, and Help Prevent Diabetes. Rockridge UP, Callisto Media.
Veitch, C. (2012). A balanced diet. London: Raintree.
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