THE CONCEPT OF NUTRITION
Nutrition has always played a significant role in your life. Every day, several times a day, you select foods that influence your body’s health.
Each day’s food choices may benefit or harm health only a little, but over time, the consequences of these choices become major.
That being the case, paying close attention to good eating habits now supports health benefits later. Conversely, carelessness about food choices can contribute to chronic diseases. Of course, some people will become ill or die young no matter what choices they make, and others will live long lives despite making poor choices.
For most of us, however, the food choices we make will benefit or impair our health in proportion to the wisdom of those choices.
Although most people realize food habits affect health, they often choose foods for other reasons. After all, foods bring pleasures, traditions, and associations as well as nourishment. The challenge, then, is to combine favorite foods and fun times with a nutritionally balanced diet.
Take a moment to review the definition and note that diet does not mean a restrictive food plan designed for weight loss. It simply refers to the foods and beverages a person consumes. Whether it’s a vegetarian diet, a weight-loss diet, or any other kind of diet depends on the types of foods and beverages a person chooses.
People decide what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, and even whether to eat in highly personal ways based on a complex interaction of genetic, behavioral, or social factors rather than on an awareness of nutrition’s importance to health.1
A variety of food choices can support good health, and an understanding of human nutrition helps you make sensible selections more often.
Preferences As you might expect, the number one reason most people choose certain foods is taste—they like the flavor. Two widely shared preferences are for the sweetness of sugar and the savoriness of salt.2
High-fat foods also appear to be a universally common preference. Other preferences might be for the hot peppers common in Mexican cooking or the curry spices of Indian cuisine.
Research suggests that genetics may influence taste perceptions and therefore food likes and dislikes.3
Similarly, the hormones of pregnancy seem to influence food cravings and aversions. Habit People sometimes select foods out of habit. They eat cereal every morning, for example, simply because they have always eaten cereal for breakfast.
Eating a familiar food and not having to make any decisions can be comforting. Ethnic Heritage and regional Cuisines Among the strongest influences on food.
REFERENCES
1. E. R. Grimm and N. I. Steinle, Genetics of eating behavior: Established and emerging concepts, Nutrition Reviews 69 (2011): 52–60.
2. A. Drewnowski and coauthors, Sweetness and food preference, Journal of Nutrition 142 (2012): 1142S–1148S; J. E. Hayes, B. S. Sullivan, and V. B. Duffy, Explaining variability in sodium intake through oral sensory phenotype, salt sensation and liking, Physiology and Behavior 100 (2010): 369–380.
3. J. E. Hayes and R. S. Keast, Two decades of supertasting: Where do we stand? Physiology and Behavior 104 (2011): 1072–1074.
Nutrition has always played a significant role in your life. Every day, several times a day, you select foods that influence your body’s health.
Each day’s food choices may benefit or harm health only a little, but over time, the consequences of these choices become major.
That being the case, paying close attention to good eating habits now supports health benefits later. Conversely, carelessness about food choices can contribute to chronic diseases. Of course, some people will become ill or die young no matter what choices they make, and others will live long lives despite making poor choices.
For most of us, however, the food choices we make will benefit or impair our health in proportion to the wisdom of those choices.
Although most people realize food habits affect health, they often choose foods for other reasons. After all, foods bring pleasures, traditions, and associations as well as nourishment. The challenge, then, is to combine favorite foods and fun times with a nutritionally balanced diet.
Take a moment to review the definition and note that diet does not mean a restrictive food plan designed for weight loss. It simply refers to the foods and beverages a person consumes. Whether it’s a vegetarian diet, a weight-loss diet, or any other kind of diet depends on the types of foods and beverages a person chooses.
People decide what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, and even whether to eat in highly personal ways based on a complex interaction of genetic, behavioral, or social factors rather than on an awareness of nutrition’s importance to health.1
A variety of food choices can support good health, and an understanding of human nutrition helps you make sensible selections more often.
Preferences As you might expect, the number one reason most people choose certain foods is taste—they like the flavor. Two widely shared preferences are for the sweetness of sugar and the savoriness of salt.2
High-fat foods also appear to be a universally common preference. Other preferences might be for the hot peppers common in Mexican cooking or the curry spices of Indian cuisine.
Research suggests that genetics may influence taste perceptions and therefore food likes and dislikes.3
Similarly, the hormones of pregnancy seem to influence food cravings and aversions. Habit People sometimes select foods out of habit. They eat cereal every morning, for example, simply because they have always eaten cereal for breakfast.
REFERENCES
1. E. R. Grimm and N. I. Steinle, Genetics of eating behavior: Established and emerging concepts, Nutrition Reviews 69 (2011): 52–60.
2. A. Drewnowski and coauthors, Sweetness and food preference, Journal of Nutrition 142 (2012): 1142S–1148S; J. E. Hayes, B. S. Sullivan, and V. B. Duffy, Explaining variability in sodium intake through oral sensory phenotype, salt sensation and liking, Physiology and Behavior 100 (2010): 369–380.
3. J. E. Hayes and R. S. Keast, Two decades of supertasting: Where do we stand? Physiology and Behavior 104 (2011): 1072–1074.
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