Introduction
Have you ever pondered why many Americans today are victims of terminal diseases? Certainly, it is hard to comprehend with such thoughts yet the truth is; many Americans today suffer from terminal illnesses that are elicited by their eating habits. An individual’s dietary habits play a critical role in determining the health status. Poor dietary habits, especially the consumption of fast foods occurs as one of the most comprehensive factor that predisposes people to chronic illnesses that are expensive to manage. Apart from dietary practices, physical activity exercises such as going to the gym at least four times in a week offers a viable platform that allows people to maintain an adequate health status. A close analysis of my family depicts the fact that everyone in the family is obese, except me. Doctors have often been amazed by this, but I attribute it to my healthy diet. I have fascinating admiration on the need to educate people on the essence of appropriate diets in the management of various health concerns.
Discussions
Nutrition occurs as one of the primary determinants of an individual’s health. Adequate nutrition enhances an individual’s nutrition status, which in turn enhances the health status of the individual. There are certain classes of diets that have and continue to jeopardize the nutrition and health status of individuals worldwide. Consumption of Genetically Modified Foods (GMO) occurs as one of such diets. It is not recommendable to consumer GMO’s because they are closely linked with a number of terminal illnesses such as cancer. In a nutshell, GMO’s are harmful to an individual’s health. Notably, GMO’s contain toxins, which results in the formation of cancerous cells; hence, causing cancer. In addition, the toxins contained in GMO’s elicit damage of various organs in the body. It is also essential to note that GMO’s have a lower nutrient value than traditional foods. This is because most of the nutrients contained in GMO’s are indigestible; hence, not available for use by the body (Turley & Thompson, 2013). Deductively, GMO’s elicit the occurrence of various illnesses that are expensive to manage.
As previously mentioned herein, fast foods are not recommended because of the health concerns they elicit. Fast foods do not provide adequate calories as often hypothesized. The calories in fast foods may be many, but they are not beneficial for the body. In fact, fast foods contain “empty calories” that are not available for use. The body often converts the empty calories in fast foods to fats, which are then stored in the adipose tissues. Therefore, continuous consumption of fast foods results in their accumulation in the adipose tissues and this eventually results in overweight and obesity. Evidently, overweight and obesity predisposes people to various chronic illnesses including diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and high blood pressure (Brown et al. 2013). Such diseases are costly to manage. This calls for the need to make people aware of the calories contained in the foods that they consume.
Apart from fast foods, foods that are high in sugar content poses immense dangers to health of individuals. Many at times, foods that are high in sugar, especially processed foods have high caloric content. This is because sugar in processed food is readily available; hence, consumption of such foods results in an instant increases in energy in the body. Excess sugars in the processed foods are often converted into fatty acids, which is a form of fat (Turley & Thompson, 2013). This predisposes individuals to overweight and obesity. This analysis shows the dangers that foods high in sugar poses; hence, there is a need to consider sugars as drugs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, adequate dietary practices aligned with consumption of healthy diets are important in enhancing the health of individuals. Therefore, there is a need to ensure consumption of healthy diets, which offer a comprehensive platform that people can remain healthy and young (El-Baz, 2004). This analysis proves the famous ad ache “knowledge is power and power is knowledge.” With this regard, there is a need to utilize information pertaining the role of nutrition in enhancing healthy lifestyle. Such knowledge is fundamental in enhancing the health status of individuals worldwide.
References
Brown, J., Isaacs, J., Krinke, B., and Lechtenberg, E. (2013). Nutrition through the Life. London: Cengage Learning.
El-Baz, M. (2004). Building a healthy lifestyle: A simple nutrition and fitness approach. New York: iUniverse.
Turley, J., & Thompson, J. (2013). Nutrition: Your life science. Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
