Food and Health: Importance of Nutrition and Effects of Poor Diet

FOOD AND HEALTH
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1
ANALYTICAL DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................... 1
Food and its importance ........................................................................................................................... 1
Effect of Poor Diet on Health ................................................................................................................... 2
Consequences of poor diet ...................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................. 5
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................. 6
BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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INTRODUCTION
Every living being either human or animal needs food for survival. It is very essential for
all to have proper diet, as it helps in growth of an individual. Thus, food can be defined as any
substance, may be plant origin or animal origin that is consumed by all to satisfy the nutritional
needs of the body. There are many types of food, which are a good source of different essential
nutrients such as fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, proteins, minerals, etc. It is consumed by all to
gain energy so that they can grow and maintain the life. Further, it also helps in repairing the
wounds of the body. Energy and nutrition contents of the food depend on the kind of food one
consumes, thus, efficiency of the body depends on the type of food consumed by a living being.
This present research study will focus on the importance of food in one’s life. It will assess why
it is must for a living being to intake different kind of food items. Moreover, it will also highlight
how mal-nutritious diet can affect the health and will draw light on the consequences of poor
diet. The last section of the report will conclude the topic (Blackman, 2005).
ANALYTICAL DISCUSSION
Food and its importance
Since, the inception of human life, people required food to support their body. Earlier to
satisfy their bodily needs they used to hunt, but with the passage of time human being started
practicing agriculture. This gave them an opportunity to consume different kind of nutrition.
Human body is a complex system, and to keep it working properly it is very important to
consume correct proportions of different nutrition. As one particular food is not rich in all kind
of nutritive values, so it is essential that human beings intake different kind of foods so as to
maintain balance of all kind of nutrients (Bussell, 2002).
Food can be defined as a mixture of various different chemical substances such as,
macronutrients, which are required in huge amount like fiber, proteins, carbohydrates, etc. and
micronutrients that are required in small quantity such as vitamins. In addition to this, water is
also an essential part of human diet. Further, there are many other components present in it.
Apart from the chemicals, there are many other ingredients also presented in the food. Moreover,
physical attributes of food play a significant role and many a times decides its contents. For
example, nutritious value of the food depends on its particle size. Like, consuming a full apple
will give different nutritious value as compared to drinking apple juice. Similarly, it is easy to

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Effect of Poor Diet on Health
Poor diet or nutrition can result in number of health problems both minor issues as well
as life endangering illnesses. When a person does not follow a proper diet, his health gets
affected as the necessary nutrients do not reach his body. In such a case, the body switches to
survival mode, which implies that it will use up all the food eaten for recharging the cells and

keep them functioning. Poor diet involves both over-eating and under-eating. Due to a dietary
pattern of over sweetened drinks, junk food and refined sugars, obesity is on a rise in people of
all ages and especially in children. However, overeating is not alone in playing havoc for health.
People who attempt at shedding pounds or kilos by cutting down calories are also unhealthy
though they have a slender frame. They are unfit because the necessary nutrients i.e. proteins,
essential fats etc. do not reach their body, if they follow a crash diet (Appanah, Pratap and
Ruggoo, 2009).
One of the initial symptoms of the poor diet in many people is fatigue and tiredness.
Fatigue normally occurs in people at the end of a grueling day’s work. It is mainly diagnosed in
individuals who suffer from nutritional deficiencies like anemia. When the intake of an iron rich
diet in a person decreases, his energy starts fading out very early. Malnutrition is another ill
effect of unhealthy eating practices. This disorder mainly occurs because the body does not get
enough nutrients required by it to function properly. As stated above, important minerals,
vitamins, carbohydrates, fats and proteins are required by our body. In absence of these nutrients,
there is unhealthy loss of weight and muscles become weaker. It also causes hair loss, dry and
pale skin (Colquhoun, Lyon and Alexander, 2001).
An improper diet plus inadequate exercise are the main reasons for constipation. People
not having fiber rich diet and enough water intakes suffer from chronic constipation. This
problem then turns into ailment. Certain commercial diets are to be blamed for some grave health
issues. There is a raging trend among youngsters to have low-carb meals. This meal, which is
low in carbohydrates leads to nausea, shortness of breath and a life threatening ailment named
ketoacidosis. This disease occurs due to the development of ketones in the blood. People in their
urge to lose weight give up food rich in carbs. However, they do not realize the negative effects
of such weight management (Hamilton and et. al., 2000).
Bad food selection, many a times results in diabetes. Earlier, this disease attacked only in
the later years of life. However, poor diet has increased its prevalence in all age groups. The risk
of contracting diabetes is more in obese people. Starch and refined sugar is converted into plaque
by the destructive bacteria present in our teeth. This spoils the tooth enamel. If this is not treated
timely, then it paves the way for gum problems. The gums become more vulnerable to infection,
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if the diet does not have essential nutrients. A diet which is high in cholesterol and fat results in
memory loss. Such a dietary pattern results in inflammation of brain and dents the structural
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Survey by Canadean Consumer on health and nutrition in the public sector shows that presently
around 22.6% of the UK children aged between 4 - 5 are obese or over weight. In the last decade,
the obesity rate of less than 11 years is raised by over 40% and it is expected that every year
there will be addition of 220000 additional children. Further, according to the data, around 61%
of the UK adults are suffering from this disease. It has been estimated that by 2050, half of the
UK’s population will suffer from obesity (Cost of Obesity and Malnutrition in the UK, 2012).
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Because of this, NHS has to spend around £ 10 billion every year for their treatment and around
£ 50 billion in business and for the society. The report also shows that presently around 3 million
people are malnourished and because of this NHS has to spend £13 billion every year for them.
The number of holidays in UK also results in obesity and indirectly it will cost the government
around £2.4 billion every year. Another £9.5 million is paid as compensation to those persons
who are too obese to work. Moreover, the cost of keen replacement was around £ 803 million in
2009, but due to obesity, it is expected to reach to £ 1.5 billion by 2015. These are the
consequences to the government and the NHS because of poor food intake by the people (Health
and nutrition in the public sector, 2012).
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CONCLUSION
Thus, it can be concluded that for both; humans and animals it is very necessary to intake
food for their survival. Moreover, just consuming any kind of food will not serve the purpose, to
live a healthy life, it is essential that diet is rich in all the nutrients. Healthy diet will give more
energy and individuals will be able to perform their activities well. Moreover, it is very
important for the government of UK to make sure proper diet is served to all its citizens as it will
reduce the obesity rate and will bring down the cost associated in treatment.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Appanah, T.P.B.O., Pratap, and Ruggoo, A., 2009. Awareness and consumption of iron among
Mauritian female factory workers. Nutrition & Food Science. 39(2). pp.168-175.
Blackman, C., 2005. A healthy future for Europe's food and drink sector. Foresight. 7(6). pp.8-
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23.
Bowyer, S. and et. al., 2009. Shopping for food: lessons from a London borough. British Food
Journal. 111(5). pp.452-474.
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