While in school, I was a great fan of fast foods and snacks. I would love munching on chocolate cookies during lunch time and that’s what I grew up on. It was not until I came to know about the real definition of nutrients and why each one of them was important for healthy human survival, I really believed in the importance of eating a variety of foods, and that too eating them in the correct proportion.
Food contains nutrients i.e., in simplified terms, constituents that are of value to human health. It is rather interesting to note that the culinary world of this planet has created countless number of dishes, but there are only seven types of nutrients, namely carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, water and dietary fiber, in them. You may be a staunch vegetarian or a lover of non-vegetarian food, from the Land of the Rising Sun or from anywhere the sun sets, one who enjoys the sky as the roof or one who lives under the best concrete roof, ….your dietary habits may be dictated by your culinary culture and traditions, but the food of humans and most other species is made up of one or more of these seven types of nutrients only and nothing else. This is another amazing example of unity in diversity of nature, isn’t it?
Since life on this planet seems to be revolving around only seven precious nutrients, is it not worth to spare a moment on discussing them?
What Do You Need To Live?
Firstly, to appreciate the role of the seven basic nutrients in supporting life, let us try to understand our requirements in order to live and lead a healthy long life.
The very first thing that you require to even breathe right from the time you are conceived in your mom’s womb is energy. Yes, energy is required not only for you to work or play, but also to sustain life by providing energy to your body to perform its vital activities such as respiration, digestion, blood circulation, pumping of the heart and most importantly functioning of the brain.
Secondly, your mind and body need something to make them grow and attain maturity.
Thirdly, your body should have a strong army to combat threats to your health from the external environment.
Fourthly, just like the earth a healthy body maintains its own clock, which functions with remarkable precision as long you are alive, which may be a ninety or hundred years! Again, something provides the body the driving force for amazingly maintaining the precision of certain bodily processes.
Lastly, your body needs a super transporter of substances from one part of the body to another.
The Driving Force of Sustenance - Nutrients!
Your body cannot perform any of the above mentioned functions without food. It is interesting to note that all the 7 nutrients work together in your body to fulfill your requirements. An absence or deficit or an excess of any of these nutrients creates an imbalance in your system leading to diseases and even, in some cases, death.
Carbs Make Your Brain Think and Your Body Run
Energy is derived from carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Earlier, when not enlightened by knowledge of nutrition sciences, like the blissfully ignorant, I was happy that I was getting my quota of energy from the cookies, chocolates and cakes that I had. Sure, these foods were high in simple carbohydrates such as sugar and fats such as butter. However, what I was not aware of was that by skipping my rice and chapatti, I was denying my body of healthy carbs and stuffing it with such carbohydrates that would only add empty calories without really improving my health.
Proteins Make You Grow From a Fetus to an Adult
Proteins are required in a good amount for good growth and development of the different parts of the body, including skin and hair. Being a vegetarian, I could not opt for egg, fish or meat. Milk (which I hated so much), and curds are good sources of protein for vegetarians. Many of my friends also skipped curd. However, by skipping curd, you know you are missing out on a dish with awesome nutritional worth. Of course, for the lactose intolerants soymilk and other soy products are always an interesting option. Pulses, nuts and cereals are good sources of protein. I remember how I used to simply pick peanuts or cashew nuts from my plate of upma and throw them out to the squirrels, thereby simply washing away all my mother’s attempts of feeding me a nutritious meal go in vain. Now, I crib m my hair loss. Had I eaten good protein, this would not have happened. Proteins are also required for our enzymes to work well and also for the efficient performance of the regulatory functions of the body.
Fats are Not about Obesity, they are Essential for Survival!
Little was I aware that nuts, vegetable oils, ghee and butter are sources of healthy fats for our bodies. In modern times, fats are demonized not because they really cause any obesity but because we consume and utilize them in such a way that it leads to obesity and a number of other lifestyle disorders. Rather, fats are very important for us. There are an entire class of vitamins, namely vitamin A,D, E and K, which are available to our body only because of fats. Subcutaneous fats provide protection to our inner organs. Last, but not the least, fats provide double the energy that vitamins do. If you consume the right fats in accordance to your activity levels, you are surely going to remain slim and healthy, and supply your body with some essential nutrients.
Vitamins and Minerals Are Your Body’s Army against Diseases
Like many children, vegetables and fruits were my least liked foods, except for a few dishes such as deep fried potato fries and the mango. However, it was only in high school that I began to appreciate the importance of these foods, i.e. being endowed with loads of vitamins and minerals, they were the strongest army of our bodies against a number of diseases. As a result, I find myself a tad more susceptible to petty infections and sport a poorer eyesight and dental health in comparison to my elder sister who used to have loads of greens and yellows. But it’s never too late… now, cooking out of passion, I have realized that any vegetable can be made absolutely lip-smacking, provided it is cooked in a tasty way. So it’s not the vegetable, but our methods of cooking these that is the culprit and children would love any vegetable when cooked in a palatable way.
Raisins, peanuts, almonds, cashew nuts, walnuts, pistachios and many other nuts and dry fruits are nutrient-loaded super foods. Spices, interestingly, are found to be not only tastemakers, but also disease doctors and health enhancers. Many of us avoid nuts and dry fruits fearing that they will make us fat. Spices are considered to be stomach irritants by some and, therefore, avoided. However, these foods are beneficial to your body provided they are consumed moderately.
Water is the most important Nutrient for Survival
Finally, coming to the most vital nutrient that is often ignored is water. Its importance is next only to air in human survival and it tops the list of nutrients that we consume, as no other nutrient can be really effective if your body lacks water or has an excess of it. Usually, the former case occurs as nobody really finds water attractive and, therefore, ignores it. Water is a major constituent of cells, the basic functional units of life. If you do not drink water adequately transportation of nutrients and their absorption will not take place efficiently resulting in bodily conditions which may be serious (for example, one may faint due to dehydration).
A variety of food was always around me in my growing years, but I was quite fastidious with my food choices. Had I been nutritionally literate in my growing years, I would not have had to visit my doctor very often for mundane ailments like poor eyesight, frequent colds and fevers, teeth cavities, and tiresomeness. My daily menu would have included all the nutrients, as each one is important and should be consumed in the correct proportion.
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