Nutrition Guidelines

Healthy foods have been associated with healthy lifestyles. Several diets have been implicated for various disorders in humans while others have been identified as remedies to some health conditions which may arise after infections or mistakes in metabolic pathways in the body. Nutritionists have argued that the closer the food is to its natural state, the higher the benefits to human health. For instance, when an individual seriously craves for sweets, he or she can take berries and other fresh fruits to neutralize the craving.

Healthy eating has widely been accepted by doctors and nutritionist as a channel to longevity and prosperous health. Eating is therefore an important event in everyday life and it is part of the human culture. It is the food the humans eat that provides them with the energy to perform tasks. From the foods, humans can fight infections and maintain good health and vigor. Although humans are born with a strong desire to eat and grow up with great eating traditions, they have not mastered which foods may harm them or which ones may affect them. Perhaps the confusion has come from health experts who may advise on a little alcohol to fight heart disease and also warn of alcohol in cancer causes.

It is recommended to take whole vegetables for they have plenty of vitamins as well as mineral salts. This implies that individuals are likely to stay healthy when taking more fresh and green vegetables as well as fruits. It has also been observed that food eaten by individuals can sometimes cause conflicts. This is the reason why most parents are cautious about what their children are eating they may even bribe the children to eat healthy foods. Nutritional experts have identified healthy foods as well as those foods that can be dangerous to human health.

Healthy foods have been said to fight against free radicals which might cause a lot of harm to the body. Free radicals are chemicals containing oxygen and an impaired or free electron. The free electron makes the free radicals to be highly reactive to the human DNA, cell membranes and some other cell machineries. This as a result causes immense oxidative damages such as protein dysfunction, DNA mutations and organelles and membrane distortions. The mistakes in DNA replication and regulation can result to dangerous effects which can range from reduced functionality to a complete shut down in function. Citrus fruits and a range of vitamin C containing fruits and vegetables can help silence the oxidative effect of the radicals.

It is the lack of eating healthy that people age quickly. Healthy eating protects individuals from factors that promote aging. The foods can prevent age-related disorders such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and collapse of the immune system, cataracts and brain dysfunction. Some of the dangers that may contribute to aging are oxidative free radicals such as hydroxyl radicals, hydrogen peroxide, singlet oxygen, lipid hydroperoxides, lipid epoxides, lipid alkoyl, oxides and hydroxyl radicals. Fortunately, the food available to man can counter all these harmful compounds either produces in normal metabolic processes or obtained from the foods eaten.

An example of diseases that is related to the foods eaten by humans is coronary heart disease. The disease is characterized by the blockade of the coronary arteries which ultimately result into a reduced blood flow to the muscles of the heart. This immensely deprives the heart of the critically needed oxygen. The clogging of the coronary arteries, also known as arteriosclerosis, is a condition which begins with the streaking in of fats in the layers that line the arterial walls. These streaks are slowly transformed into plaque-fatty tissue with a scar which bulges into the opening of the artery.

An increasing debate has been witnessed in the area of cholesterol and the foods that are rich in cholesterol. Perhaps to narrow down, bad cholesterol which doctors refer to low density lipoproteins (LDL) is the foremost enemy of human health (Harvard School of Public Health, 2010). This compound can be found in eggs and other fatty foods with trans fats. The explanation makes it clear that it is not the amount of fats one consumes that causes diseases but the type of fats.

The trans fats or the saturated fats have been found to increase the propensity of some poor health conditions while polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids or good cholesterol or high density lipoproteins (HDL) have been found to reduce risks of disease attacks. Therefore avoiding trans fats is recommendable for good health. However, as much as cholesterol may be perceived as an enemy to human health, it is essential in membrane stabilization and cell-to-cell communications. People can readily obtain the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids from fish and nuts and these food sources can greatly lower the existing levels of LDL.

Nutrition has also been identified to be an important factor in the boosting of the brain power. Scientists have been able to study the ability of humans to remember and linked this capacity to some biomolecules specifically in the biomembranes. The lipopolysaccharides and neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and dopamine have been found to cause attentiveness or alertness in individuals which can increase the concentration level which is important in learning process. In general, the brain power in humans is characterized by the alertness, concentration and how energetic the brain response to specific tasks is. Serotonin, another neurotransmitter calms the brain and makes the brain fuzzy and drowsy.

Important foods that contain isoflavonones can protect the human body against cancer effects. Soy beans provide a good source of isoflavones although the content of the compound varies with the time of harvest as well as the geographic location. The isoflavones which are important anticancer belong to a general class of flavonoids which almost resemble the female hormone estrogen in structure. Doctors have drawn an important hypothesis that isoflavonoids such as daizein and genistein act by blocking estrogen from binding to its targets. The binding of estrogen to the receptors is an important step in the cause of breast cancers which are hormone-dependent.

In general, foods can provide good health to humans and at the same time cause disorders. It all depends on how man will be able to differentiate between the good foods and the bad foods. Junk foods can be sweet but they can cause detrimental problems in humans. Individuals eating too much junk end up growing obese and increases chances of heart attack. Basically, it is recommended that people eat lots of roughages and take plenty of fluids which can help in the digestion. Fruits play important roles in fighting infections as they contain a number of vitamins. Proteins which are also important classes of foods and found in beef, milk and eggs are important sources of building biomolecules that act as enzymes, hormones and important macromolecules.

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