We are what we eat. When we eat poorly, our bodies become deficient in certain nutrients. This affects the way children and young people grow. In adults, good nutrition maintains tissues in a healthy state and repairs tissues damaged while fight diseases.
Eating well also ensures good body organ functioning.
The ultimate natural protector of our bodies against disease is the immune system and its efficiency and integrity is dependent on good nutrition. A healthy body is therefore the best defence against disease.
We all need food, but some people need more food than others. There are several reasons for the above assertion. They include age, sex, activity level, environmental factors and genetics, among others.
Good nutrition depends on a balanced diet, which constitutes six classes of foods, carbohydrates (for energy), fats (energy and body building), protein (body building and energy), minerals and vitamins ( metabolic activators), water (medium for all bodily chemical processes) and dietary fibre (roughage) to cleanse the digestive tract.
One may safely balance their daily diet by including a food item from each of the above mentioned six classes of foods for the recommended three meals a day.
Moderate, regular exercise, preferably early in the morning and enough good sleep (minimum five hours, maximum eight hours) are important measures for one to attain good disease resistance and hence optimal health.
The burden of diseases will deter an individual from attaining good nutrition and proper health. In this case, the basic approach is to discover and eliminate the causes of the disease.
When treatment is necessary, use the most natural and least harmful method.
Treat and teach the patient to develop a healthy diet and lifestyle (avoid smoking, alcohol, excessive exhaustive physical activity, eat appropriate foods and get enough rest and sleep) and trust in the healing power of nature.
Keep healthy by addressing the health of the digestive system and the integrity of the overall immune system. Cleanse your body (with food supplements, fruits and vegetables), be energised and revitalised by feeding well.
That way, you will be healthy, socially active, economically productive, reduce personal poverty and contribute to national development.
This is why you should take keen interest in knowing composition of each food you eat.
The writer is a medical doctor
