Diet and Health

摘要

Diet means the kinds of food that we habitually eat or drink or take in other way for consumption in our body to live, thrive and survive. Diet has utmost intimate relationship with our overall health and healthy life. Without a balanced diet, none can have a good health and healthy life. With inadequate or inappropriate excessive diet, one gets ill with substantial increase in morbidity and mortality. Nutrition means the portion of food required for sustenance of health and life, growth, reproduction and to combat diseases. Poor nutritions mean (1) under-eating or (2) over-eating or (3) malnutrition (not getting optimum healthy food items we need each day, or taking too many types of food and drink, which are low in fibre or high in fat, salt and/or sugar). Poor nutrition badly impairs our abilities to combat stresses, our capacity to work causing tiredness or incapacitating us, and over time, it leads to several illnesses and other health problems such as: being overweight or obese, dental caries, hypertension hyperlipemia, coronary and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus (DM), osteoporosis, malignancies (specially of breast, colon and pancreas etc.), gallbladder diseases, osteoarthritis, gout, sleep apnea, respiratory diseases, psychiatric disorders like depression etc, along with their attendant complications. 1 Surprisingly when many people of underdeveloped countries like those from Africa, Asia and migrating refugees become ill and even die of undernutrition and malnutrition, even more people from the rest of the world become ill and die from socalled aristocratic disease of obesity mostly because of overeating. The latter group of people consume diet rich in saturated fats, partially-hydrogenated oils, refined carbohydrates, and highly processed foods. This is more true for people with sedentary life styles. People whose dietary patterns include fresh, whole foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, lean meats, and fish have a lower incidence of major chronic disease and especially of dietrelated diseases.