Nutrition and Healthy Eating
Nutrition as it applies to our daily lives means that
we take in what we need to maintain our body’s
healthy state. Nutrition has become an important word
thanks to the involvement of the USDA in our daily food
requirements, and the FDA’s involvement in determining
what is and is not dangerous for us to consume.
 What about eating habits? What about vitamins? What
role does our daily intake play in our health? More
than you have been lead to believe or understand. The
body’s ability to remain well under anything other
than ideal conditions is a direct result of the nutrition
received on a daily basis. The mind’s ability
to remain well is, again, a direct result of our nutritional
intake. For instance, the human brain doesn’t
develop well without the necessary input of protein
in our daily diet. No protein, no intelligence.
Nutrition refers to the nurturing of our body, in our
ability to keep it healthy and functioning as it is
supposed to do. Our ability to provide the body with
all the necessary food, vitamins, and minerals so that
we continue to thrive in our daily life processes.
How do we determine that we are providing the essential
nutritional needs? That knowledge comes by educating
ourselves about what our individual needs are, the needs
of our family, and then taking that knowledge and applying
it to the foods we buy, that we prepare, and that our
families consume.
Health is taught as a science course, and addresses
matters of personal hygiene, diseases, and the broad
spectrum of health as it applies to the masses. No individual
attention is given to how to attain optimal health via
our eating habits. It’s funny that we skip the
most important, fundamental building block to good health:
our nutritional and caloric consumption in our food.
I personally believe we should have the field of nutrition
and physical activity married into something combined
to provide every person that enters the school system
with a personal knowledge of their bodies’ needs,
caloric, and nutritional, so that they complete their
education with mental and physical competencies, as
well as analytical and mathematical competence.
 Nutrition is a concept that should be as important to
our educational process as our ability to count. The
ability to recognize our nutritional requirements, find
the foods we need to fulfill those requirements, and
differentiate between healthy food consumption and “unhealthy”
eating habits is not an option. Not for a healthy, happy,
long, and quality life.
What we should absorb as we travel along life’s
daily path is a way to incorporate good nutrition into
our lifestyle. There is generally just as much room
for good as there is bad, it just so happens that bad
nutritional habits hold more appeal.
Bad nutrition receives more advertising dollars than
healthy nutritional options, and is often more visible.
But that doesn’t mean it’s any easier, more
convenient, or cheaper. Habits, generally take about
two weeks to make the switch from conscious action to
unconscious thought. Two weeks is not long, it’s
not long at all for decisions that will affect you for
the rest of your life. It’s also not long for
the potential reward that comes from setting an example
your children can follow, and you can be proud for them
to follow. Teach them daily about the good habits you
want them to develop.
|
