Have you ever heard the saying you are what you eat? In some sense, this
is true, because if you eat unhealthy foods you are prone to be an
unhealthy person. The foods we ingest are extremely important to our
ability to grow, maintain function, and prevent illness. Therefore, if
you value your health, you should learn as much about healthy eating as
possible.
Healthy eating is important from the day we are born. As a child, we
grow quite rapidly and this is due in part to the foods we eat. Foods
all contain nutrients that provide us not only with fuel to live our
daily lives, but also with the very substances that build our bones,
muscles, and organ tissues. Not getting enough of one nutrient or
another can cause a variety of problems, including stunting our growth.
For mothers who are nursing, nutrition is important because breast milk
contains the nutrients a child needs to grow and develop properly. As we
grow so does our need for more substantial solid foods, however our
bodies need for proper nutrition never changes. Cells continuous break
down and rebuild, so healthy eating for growth continues to be important
right up until the day we die.
Maintaining bodily functions is also important but without healthy
eating in our daily lives, the energy we use to think, walk, talk,
breathe, and perform any other action will suffer. The energy it takes
our body to do these things comes from two places: fat reserves in the
body from our daily food intake. If you don't eat healthy foods, you
will find that you are storing more fat that necessary or that you
aren't getting enough and you feel sluggish or weak. Along with
energy-providing nutrients, like fats and carbohydrates, we also need
the right nutrients to allow our organs to do their jobs. Hormones and
other substances in the body make sure that everything is working
properly. If you don't eat the right nutrients, your body cannot produce
these hormones and, as a result, cannot function properly.
Lastly, healthy eating is important in order to prevent illness.
