The Importance of Nutrition and Dietetics for a Healthy Lifestyle

21 Apr, 2021

We all know the importance of food for us. It delivers nutrients and energy to our bodies. All living beings on earth require food and water, which help us function, be active, and remain healthy. Besides, our body needs several nutrients, including proteins, vitamins, fats, carbohydrates, and minerals that we typically obtain from plants and animals.

It is essential to acknowledge that what we eat significantly impacts our health. Thus, making diet changes or, precisely, following a healthy, nutritious diet plan can help control and prevent various health problems such as diabetes, obesity, and other risk factors that can lead to heart diseases and cancer.

What is Nutrition?

Nutrition can be best described as the process of obtaining or providing food vital for our overall health and growth.

Dietetics is another prime subject that incorporates:

• The study or science that applies the principles of nutrition
• The study or science of food and nutrition and how it affects our health

Nutrition – Explained

It is a science field that deals with the ‘DAM of food.’ DAM – Digestion, Absorption, and Metabolism. DAM will lead to the synthesis of nutrients that are essential for health maintenance, physical growth, and reproduction.

In fewer words, nutrition is about food intake, energy liberation, and waste elimination. Some of the essential nutrients obtained from food include proteins, vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates, water, etc.

More about DAM

Digestion: The process of mixing and breaking down the food, making it easy to be absorbed and assimilated.

Absorption: Once the food gets broken down inside the stomach, blood (using the inner lining) absorbs vital nutrients.

Metabolism: This process involves Catabolism and Anabolism.

When complex molecules are broken down into simpler molecules, releasing energy is called catabolism—for example, breaking starch molecules into glucose units.

When more complex substances are synthesized from simpler substances, it is called anabolism—for instance, tissues' production.

The Importance of Good Nutrition

Like most people, you might also be aware that physical activity and good nutrition can help maintain healthy body weight. However, the benefits of good nutrition are not limited to body weight; it can help in multiple ways, including;

• Reducing high blood pressure
• Reducing the risk of various diseases
• Lowering high cholesterol
• Improving immune system
• Increasing health recovery potentials
• Improving energy levels 

Dietetics and Its Connection with Nutrition

Dietetics deals with the study of diets, more commonly used in disease conditions, health maintenance, and disease prevention. It is also a branch of nutrition.

Let’s take an example to understand the relation between dietetics and nutrition.

Say a person has diabetes; here, a medical practitioner will deal with dietetics studies and recommend a diet plan that would be helpful in controlling diabetes. Given that, the diabetes patient will be advised to:

• Avoid sugars (to avoid rapid increment of glucose level in blood)
• Reduce cholesterol intake (to prevent other disorders) 

Dietetics, also called diet therapy, deals with recommendations and diet formulations for all patients. For most patients, nutritionists and dieticians prepare a diet close to the diet of a healthy person. This helps the patient feel that they are eating what other people around them are eating, and they don’t have a severe condition, from which they will recover with ease.

However, in some cases, patients are fed using pipes inserted either through the nasal or gastrointestinal way. In this method, the diet provided to the patient is different than a regular diet. For instance, if the patient is unable to eat chewable food, a liquid diet is supplied through the nasal pathway.

When the patient feels any type of discomfort having food through the nasal pathway, the other feeding method is performed, called intravenous feeding, providing food through veins.

Healthcare specialists have suggested that by having a healthy, balanced diet, an individual can improve overall health and prevent diseases.

What Does a Balanced Diet Include?

There are several healthy food groups that fall under a balanced diet; here are a few of them.

Fruits

Whole fruits, fresh, or frozen fruits (excluding canned fruits that are generally dipped in syrup)

Vegetables

Leafy greens, red and orange vegetables, legumes (beans and peas), starchy vegetables, etc

Grains

Whole grains and refined grains (quinoa, brown rice, buckwheat, barley, and oats)

Protein

Chicken, fish, lean beef, pork, etc

Dairy Products

Low-fat milk, cottage cheese, soy milk, and yogurt

How to Adopt a Healthy Lifestyle?

Having a balanced diet is not enough to live a healthy life; you need to improve and adopt healthy eating practices and habits.

Divide Your Meals into Smaller Portions

Do not eat all at once; make it a habit of satisfying your hunger with small portions of food. Later, when you feel hungry, take small portions of food again.

Eat Slow

Take a good amount of time to finish your food; do not rush and nourish your meals so that your brain gets to know that you have eaten enough to function.

Avoid Junk Food

Start avoiding unhealthy snacks from the very today and switch to healthy, low-fat snacks. This will help you consume total nutritious value from your meals and prevent health risks.

Do Not Overeat

Overeating is harmful and may make you extremely unwell. It may also lead to excessive weight gain, increasing the risk of other health risks.

Do you follow a healthy lifestyle? Are you facing health issues due to your unhealthy diet? Are you seeking help? If you or any of your friends or family members need medical advice about nutrition or diet, visit CVMedPro – a platform for you to find hundreds of medical practitioners across many specialties.

You may also talk to our customer service representatives at (877) 216-4215/local: 559.450.6334. To schedule your consultation with a primary care provider, call us now!