Nutrition Diet Plan

1. NUTRITION

The first step then is a healthy diet but that is not always straightforward. Outside factors interfer with the quality or quantity of vitamins and minerals in food, however healthy the food. For example anti-acid tablets prevent absorption of Vitamin A and B complex vitamins. Foods grown on heavily cultivated soils using artificial fertilisers and pesticides are often deficient in minerals as well as being contaminated. Then our lifestyles, such as stress can interfer with absorption of nutrients. Prescription medicines often do the same. There are plenty of examples of all these problems and we will discuss this further later.

What appears a healthy diet may not actually be good enough to provide all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals needed to feed our bodies and cells. But with a little understanding of how it all works and why and awareness of what is happening, a healthy diet can be achieved. This is what I hope will be provided in the following chapters.

I will be taking you through the various processes of the body (easily understood, I hope) - including digestion and circulation etc. All the body systems and parts need nutrients and they have to come from the food we eat. The food we eat is important and even more important is the nutrient content of that food. Our bodies need food. But if it is the wrong food or too much processed food our bodies will rebel - we become sick and/or overweight.

To avoid the problems caused by poor nutrition we need vitamins and minerals plus water. Our bodies are made up of over 60% water so water has its own part to play and is as important as food.

 We need the right vitamins and minerals and the right amounts. These vitamins and minerals, or nutrients, should come from the food we eat. So you see why our diet and the type of food we eat is important and needs a little thought put in to it. Nutrition and food go hand in hand and should be thought of together.

If our bodies, cells, organs, etc don't get the right nutrients they get sick or damaged leading to a breakdown in health and then illness and yes overweight as well. It is as simple as that; though the workings of our body processes are far from simple. 

However don't be put off, I intend to keep things simple.

It is both complicated yet simple. The processes are scientific and studied by scientists and experts to understand how it all works. But actually following a healthy diet and lifestyle can be easy.

We eat 2 or 3 meals a day, snack in between, go for a coffee (and a cake), have a drink and crisps or peanuts, buy a mars bar, a bag of chips, have takeaways. All 'normal' activities. But how often do we give any thought to what we are doing. Maybe after Christmas when we are stuffed full of food and drink or when we decide to diet - yet again. Unsuccessfully as well or why would another diet be necessary.

But we should be thinking more about our food and diet. Food is not just something we shovel into our mouths out of habit or craving. Food is necessary to provide the nutrition we need throughout our life, especially at vunerable times such as growing up, during pregnancy, during menopause and during old age. It is also necessary for health and maintaining good health and helping achieve better health and provide support during periods of poor health.

Why is food important? Our bodies are made up of millions of cells which form our whole being - tissue, bone, blood, organs, etc. They all need food and the right food. We should not be eating to please ourselves but to provide all these cells with the nutrients they need to live, work, repair and multiply. They all need nourishing and feeding.

I want to tell you of my own non scientific theory of why we overeat. Well here it is. YOUR BODY NEEDS FOOD. Our body is telling us it needs nutrients not just any old food.

That is why we get hungry. Not because you fancy a burger or some crisps, but because your body is telling you it needs nutrients. If you then respond to the hunger signals by eating pie and chips your body will still need nutrients. It will soon send out more hunger signals and if you have more pie and chips, all you get is overweight. If however you have a mixed salad and fruit or even pie and lots of vegetables your body gets a variety of nutrients and is satisfied. 

(NOTE: I said this theory was my own and I did think of it without any prompting. But since I started to write this book, the theory has been found to have a basis in fact. During research into nutrient deficiency and disease by the professor of chemistry at the University of California nutritional deficiencies were found to be a cause of obesity. Mice with micronutrient deficiencies rapidly became fat - they ate more food in search of essential nutrients that their bodies needed. So poor nutrition can affect weight and obesity.)

I am not advocating no junk food or chocolate or alcohol completely. The book is meant to be realistic and I want you to benefit from it and not think it is just for the fanatic. I am not saying never have pie and chips. 

We are all human and it can be tasty, but the pie and chips should be an occasional treat within The Nutrition Diet. If we eat the right sort of foods, providing enough nutrients, vitamins and minerals and water we shouldn't need to keep dieting. So read on and find out what The Nutrition Diet is really all about and how you can easily follow it and benefit for a lifetime of good health.

We are going to start with putting food into our mouth - the Digestive System. Perhaps the most important system in the body.