Why Should I Bother Eating Healthy Foods?

We all know that health is wealth but if anyone has any doubt about the veracity of this universally accepted fact; it would only take one bedridden day to dispel all such doubts in that person’s mind. Without health, life becomes a burden too immense to bear. There are plenty of debilitating medical conditions in which the patients would more than happily prefer to embrace death than to deal with the tremendous suffering day after day with no hope of recovery. One only needs to glance at the terrible plight of such patients to truly understand the value of their own health.

It is the fear of being reduced to a decrepit wreck that motivates the wise among us to take steps to safeguard their health. Our forefathers discovered through centuries of experience that prevention is indeed better than any cure. It saves us from the grueling experience of helplessly feeling our bodies being ravaged by maladies. Most of this prevention revolves around maintaining a well-balanced and healthy plan of nutrition. A cursory study of any reputable book on nutrition will reveal that most, if not all, dysfunctional states of the human body arise from improper eating habits.

Food nourishes our bodies, helps them grow and provides the energy to carry out the myriad of essential tasks we need to perform on a daily basis for our continued survival. Decades of research show that a healthy diet must include various necessary nutrients without which the human body cannot function at its peak capacity. These nutrients are broadly classified into the following categories: Carbohydrates, Fats, Proteins, Vitamins and Minerals.

While the body can compensate for the lack of enough carbohydrates, fats or proteins in the diet, it has no way of doing without vitamins and minerals. If the amount of these vitamins and minerals falls below the recommended levels, the various tissues and organs of the body face difficulty in completing their duties required to ensure the well being of the human organism. Continued deficiency of these vital components of the diet can lead to serious health consequences. While there are vitamin and mineral supplements available on prescription from a doctor, it is much better to fulfill the need of these important classes of nutrients from their natural sources: fresh fruits and vegetables.

Of course, there are plenty of people out there who never bother about eating sensibly. Most of these people simply shrug away any health concerns by arguing that life is too short to worry about such matters. We have all witnessed such people amongst us. They are characterized by bulging bellies and bulky body frames. Their condition is medically termed as obesity. While some people might be genetically predisposed to this condition, most people acquire it through unhealthy eating habits. 

A healthy diet must not exceed certain calories. A calorie is a unit for the amount of energy the body can obtain from a certain type of food. The recommended daily calorie intake for an adult woman is from 1500 to 2000 calories while an adult man needs 2000 to 3000 calories on a daily basis to remain healthy. Obesity takes shape when individuals adhere to an unbalanced diet that consistently exceeds in the amount of the daily-recommended calories. The excess food gets stored in different parts of the body as fat, which leads to various health complications. For example, excess fat in the belly has been linked to an increased risk of diabetes and liver disorder. Obese individuals also run the risk of suffering from high blood pressure and heart disease due to high levels of cholesterol in their arteries. In order to avoid such unfortunate complications, it is imperative that we follow a healthy diet plan to enjoy longer and relatively carefree lives.

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