Nutrition and Wellness Questions

Nutrition and Wellness Questions

SCI/163

Nutrition and Wellness Questions

How do you define good nutrition?

The dictionary defines nutrition as the act or process of nourishing or being nourished; the process by which organisms take in and utilize food material, or simply as food, nutriment (Dictionary.com, 2010). The question at its heart asks, how do I define good nutrition and for me that is simply the daily intake of food. Our bodies are akin to the machines that we have developed, they need certain foods to function correctly. Our bodies can run on nutritionally deficient foods, much like a vehicle can run on lower grades of fuel. More often than not, a human body performs better on foods that have higher nutritional values, again much like a vehicle performing better on higher grades of fuel. The conclusion would be that choose your daily intake wisely, and make the best choices for your best health.

What does it mean to eat a balanced diet?

A well balanced diet can be defined as eating a healthy variety of different foods that your body needs on a daily basis. As children we were taught to eat fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, whole grains and the like. While these things still hold true as a firm foundation to good nutrition, I also believe that we have come to realize that this is not a “one-size fits all” type of guideline that we can use any longer (United Stated Department of Agriculture, 2010). Another key factor to keep in mind is that when reading a nutritional label, it’s the serving size that is what is being considered and not the portion size. For my family, we try and eat as many fruits, vegetables, and unprocessed food as much as possible. However, many people have different diet restrictions, and they would need to customize their intake to meet their own dietary needs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a good diet should include the basic four food groups, as well as information you should know about...