Diet And Nutrition Essay

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Diet and nutrition
Diet can improve an individual's health, reduces the risk of certain diseases and conditions or ultimately damage your health. Based on the amount and type of food individuals eat, it can increase the risk of being overweight or obese and having health problems. The health benefits of a nutritious diet are numerous and can affect every stage of an individual's lifespan. In childhood, a healthy diet is essential as it promotes normal growth and development.

The nutritional value of an individual's diet depends on the balance of food that is eaten over a certain period of time as well as what the individual needs. A balanced diet includes a variety of different foods which is most likely to provide the essential nutrients in a diet.

Diet choices do not just increase an individual's health but it prevents infection, chronic diseases, helps wounds heal a lot faster and enhances the immune system. A balanced diet protects an individual against deficiency diseases and chronic diseases as it provides all the essential vitamins and nutrients. For example, fruit and vegetables provide vitamin A which prevents night blindness and vitaminC supports health. The immune system fights infection, and a balanced diet is most likely to provide the nutrients which are needed in order to have a healthy immune system. Protein is an important nutrient for the immune system and the body also needs vitamin A, vitamin C and vitamin E in order to function properly. In the past people became ill and died through lack of nutrition. Nowadays people suffer chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease due to living longer and lifestyle choices such as, eating a lot of junk food like sweets, chocolate, ice cream and crisps.

Eating...

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... which do not contain a sufficient number of calories could end up leading to malnutrition. If an individual is meeting the correct amount of calories which are needed it does not mean that there diet doesn't have any nutrient deficiencies. An unbalanced diet could lead to an individual gaining weight and obesity. Body mass index which is over 25 is considered to be overweight and over 30 is considered to be obese. Diets which include high-calorie foods and little nutritional value can cause weight gain. Diets that contain a large amount of sugar, salt, processed foods often tend to have high levels of cholesterol and saturated or trans-fats. These diets can increase the cholesterol level and an individual's blood pressure. When an individual gains weight due to the fact that their diet is unbalanced it increases the stress levels and which are placed on the heart.

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