 Health Food
Health and food are the two sides of the same coin. To maintain a healthy diet a person has to be very careful about what he should eat to improve his health. This involves consumption of the necessary nutrients by consuming the appropriate quantity from all food groups. Human nutrition is a complex process and a healthy diet varies widely with respect to an individual's genetic makeup, environment and health. About 20% of the world population suffers from malnutrition due to lack of healthy eating.
A healthy diet includes:
1. Sufficient calories to maintain a person's metabolic needs
2. Sufficient quantity of fat
3. Avoidance of trans fat
4. Essential amino acids for providing cellular replenishment and transport proteins
5. Essential micronutrients like vitamins and minerals
6. Avoiding directly poisonous (e.g. heavy metals) and carcinogenic (e.g. benzene) substances
7. Avoiding food contaminated with human pathogens (e.g. e. coli, tapeworm eggs)
The consumption of an "all-grain diet" or a diet consisting junk food will result in deficiencies because important nutrients (like protein-based foods) are missing in it. Foods like grains, fish, corn, etc. are healthy when taken along a balanced diet.
The micronutrients obtained from meat, vegetables and other food adds essential elements to our health. Eliminating dairy products with high fat content from a diet may lower fat ingestion, but will have a negative impact on calcium and riboflavin intake.
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