The Benefits of Proper Nutrients for General Health

Food and nutrition have a vital role in health and growth. Proper health is directly related to the development of an individual: the healthier the children, the more chance to show progression in the learning process. People with appropriate diets and nutrition have more strength to break the cycle of hunger and poverty (WHO). Proper nutrition is linked to the following:

•  Healthy infant and childhood
• Strong immunity
• Safe and healthy pregnancy
• Low chance of developing non-communicable diseases (diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and growth retardation)
• Longevity.

To ensure proper growth, the following are mandatory nutrients that can make the body strong enough to fight against disease and help to perform daily physical activities.

1.  Carbohydrate: Major calorie provider component. 45 to 65 percent of energy in your body comes from carbohydrates. The daily requirement is about 225 to 325 grams of the nutrient daily.

2.  Fats: 20 to 35 percent of your daily calories come from fats. It is necessary to maintain body temperature and save from trauma.

3.  Proteins: 46 grams of protein daily is required to ensure an individual's immunity.

4.  Vitamins

5.  Minerals

6.  Water (1).

 

Nutritional demand in athletes

Proper diet and nutrition are compulsory to get maximum athletic performance. Since a good diet consists of multiple contents, protein, carbohydrate, and fat, when there is an imbalance of these contents in your diet, you start to feel sluggish and tired even without performing tasks. According to work demand, the requirement for nutrients also increased. For instance, athletes need to focus on vitamins (Vit D) and minerals (iron and zinc). Therefore, nutrition demand varies from person to person (2).

 

Proper diet and physical activity for quality life

The concept of a distinct population that benefits from proper diet and nutrition are separate from physical activity. However, shreds of evidence proved that if physical health and nutrition are considered seriously simultaneously, it will significantly improve the quality of life (3).

How to Promote Healthy Diets

There are many plans needed to promote a healthy diet among the population. Coherence of national policies with investment plans is the primary step that the government should implement through the following.

Coherence in agriculture and trade policies

• Increasing incentives for retailers and producers so that they will grow and sell fresh vegetables and fruits
• Mitigate incentives for processed food industries so that they will increase production of low saturated fats, sugar-free, and low salt level products
• Marketing of non-alcoholic beverages should be according to WHO recommendations.
• Creating standards for healthy foods
• Ensure the availability of affordable, healthy, and safe food in all educational institutes and workplaces
•  Nutrition labeling policies and marketing regulations
• Taxation and subsidies should be encouraged to promote a healthy diet.
• Food services at both local and international levels should be encouraged to improve food quality.
• Ensure availability and affordability of healthy choices.

  

 

 

 

  Encouraging consumers to make healthy food choices

• Awareness among the population about the benefits of a healthy diet through programs to educate school-going children to maintain a healthy diet
• Nutrition labeling will provide detailed ingredient information
• Infant and young child feeding practices
• International code of marketing of breast milk substitute implementation
• Promote and educate health policies of working mothers
• Encourage breastfeeding through education and baby-friendly hospital initiative (3).

 

The relationship of foods with your performance

Food is directly associated with individuals' productivity levels in any workplace. The research conducted at Brigham Young University explained the relationship between a healthy diet and employment work productivity. According to this research, in unhealthy diets, more than 50% (approximately 66%) reported productivity loss when compared with healthy diet eaters.

 

Nutritional needs according to age

Nutritional needs differ according to physical needs and age. As you age, an individual faces different physical changes, like bone and muscle loss. These physical changes make individuals prone to nutrient deficiencies. Therefore, additional nutrients should be added to the diet to compensate body's needs in the form of supplements.

Furthermore, calorie requirement also changes according to age because as age increases, body metabolism becomes slow. Hence, less physically active individuals consume comparatively fewer calories.

 

Undernutrition or malnutrition

Undernutrition is a broad term that describes a health condition caused by not getting a proper diet. Malnutrition may cause growth retardation (4). The world faces a significant issue of malnutrition, particularly among women, due to biological needs. Even though it is a preventable issue, still 3.1 million children are still claimed to be malnourished every year, according to the report of WHO (Target 2.2 END HUNGER).

According to target 2.2 to end all malnutrition by 2030, all international organizations agree to target the nutritional requirements of adult girls, pregnant and lactating women, and the older generation.

 

Covid -19 and nutritional requirements

Covid-19 is a leading global health challenge that could only be under control if the population acquires proper immunity. Immunity nutritious diet has a significant role so that an individual can fight against COVID. However, no evidence has proven that supplements can combat the virus except vitamin C, the best nutrient to boost immunity to fight against the virus (5). It was challenging for most countries to fight the COVID-19 pandemic; because they were already struggling to cope with their population’s food requirements.

By: Tayyeba idrees Butt M.D.