As one of the people living in the world of increasing famine, diseases, environmental pollution and ravaging poverty, we need to pay close attention to what we eat as our health mostly depends on it. Healthy food refers to food that contains the right amount of nutrients to keep our body fit and keeps away diseases.
Eating well is fundamental to good health and well-being. Healthy eating helps us to maintain a healthy weight and reduces our risk of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and the risk of developing different types of diseases. People who tend to eat right have healthy body weight and do feel good about themselves. They also have plenty of energy to be active, have stronger muscle and bones and also enjoy physical and mental health.
However, many people do not care about the types, variety, and amounts of food they are taking on a daily basis. Nowadays, the population of people eating unhealthy food is more than that of those who are eating healthy food. So many people are willing to buy fast food—some customers prefer to pay huge amount of money on fast food on a regular basis. Many people in the busy or highly commercial cities do not care too much about the health of the food they take—they take food for mere sustenance, not putting the cumulative side effects into consideration. Fast food or junk food contains many preservative ingredients such as more salt, more sugar content, food additives and fat content.
Furthermore, unhealthy foods exist when consumers demand food that can be prepared in a short time. Like in the busy or highly commercial cities; people do not have enough time for themselves. Everything is wanted in a short time including food to enable them meet up with other daily schedules. This is why many food restaurant exist today, most especially in the cities like Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt. In Lagos, for instance, so many people do not have time to cook at home because of their work schedules, distance to cover and unending gridlocks. For this reasons they opt to eat outside instead, and therefore exposing them to poisons they call food.
Critical health issues like obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cancer and other chronic diseases are highly related to fast food or junk food. The nutrients in fast food are not enough for human moderate nutrition. It is highly advisable that people should take nutrients as important as what they need and not eating food based on just what they want.
According to scientific findings, food has been discovered to contain curative properties. Food is regarded as a potential medicine. People who eat right will build up healthy and strong bodies. When we eat well, we will live well.
Therefore, knowing the nutritional foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grain, lean meat and fish provides a balanced amount of nutrients rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber that help to make our body healthy. Eating balanced foods that contain adequate nutrients such as, carbohydrate, protein and fat will keep our blood glucose normal.
The following are a few food/fruits/vegetables and what they can do in the body:
Pawpaw: high in digestive properties, with tonic effect on the stomach.
ONION: a good blood medicine: lowers blood cholesterol, thinks blood, retards clothing in the blood regulates blood sugar and relieves bronchial congestion.
WATERMELON: rich in vitamins.
GRAPES: good blood purifier, good for catarrh.
AVOCADO: good for ulcers.
APPLE: keeps the cardiovascular system healthy, it helps control urinary infection.
PEARS: excellent bowels regulator.
WALNUT: rich in fiber and vitamins and lowers blood cholesterol and regulates blood sugar.
HONEY: is a deficient for wondering and sores, for relief of asthma, sore throat.
GARLIC: stimulates activity of the digestive organs thereby reliving problems associated with poor digestion.
Eating healthy food is the main step of living a healthy lifestyle. It is very important for everyone to eat healthy because it can improve physical health by fighting diseases. It also helps to have good mental health. Healthy food is one reason of healthy living.
