Food, Health and Hygiene
Introduction
Health is wealth. A healthy man can do better in his life. A healthy man keeps his mind and body fit. A good health depends on proper food, hygiene, rest, exercise and correct posture, etc.
We eat different types of food. Do you know where does our food come from? We get our food from plants and animals.
Foods we get from plants:
We get grains, pluses, vegetables, fruits, oils, and medicine etc. from plants.
Food we get from animals:
We get milk, ghee, paneer, eggs, mutton, chicken and fish etc. from animals.
Nutrients
These all variety of food contains five main components. These are carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. These components of food are collectively known as nutrients.
Carbohydrate
Carbohydrate is one of the most important food item of our everyday food. It provides energy to the body. Rice, bread, wheat, fruits, sugar, honey, potato and corn are some natural sources of carbohydrates.
Candies and soft drinks too contain carbohydrates. But these are very bad for health. Fruits and whole grains are good for health.
Protein
Our body needs proteins for growth. Proteins help in muscle — building and in repairing of worn—out tissues. Chicken, fish, eggs, milk, cheese, pulses, and soyabean are some foods that are rich in proteins.
Fats
Fats also provide energy to the body. Excess carbohydrates are converted into fat and stored in the body for future use. Ghee, vegetables oil, meat, milk, butter, cheese, cream, and dry fruits are some sources of fats.
Fats are essential for body. Eating too much fat can be harmful. Excess intake of foods contains more fats can cause obesity, which may cause heart disease, diabetes and many other diseases.
Vitamins
Vitamins are called protective food. Vitamins protect us from diseases. Vitamins are needed in small amount compare to that of fats. Fruits, green vegetables, eggs, fish, mutton, chicken are some rich sources of vitamins. There are 13 vitamins needed by our body.
Minerals
Minerals keep our bones strong and maintain a normal heartbeat. Minerals keep our body healthy. Lack of vitamins and minerals in our body can cause disease many diseases, such as weak bones, falling teeth, etc.
Iron, calcium, iodine, and phosphorous are some important minerals required by our body. Lac of calcium make our teeth and bones weak.
Water and roughage
Our body needs water and roughage along with five main components of food (Carbonhydrate, Fats, Proteins, Vitamins and Minerals).
Roughage:
Fibre present in the food items is called ROUGHAGE. Green leaves, cabbage and maize, etc. are some of the main sources of roughage. Enough quantity of roughage in our food item makes us easy to get rid of waste foods from our body in the form of feces.
Water
Most of the life processes takes place in our body in liquid form. So, we should drink plenty of water. Water helps in the process of digestion.
Do you know?
Our body contains about 60% of water of total body weight.
Balance diet
A diet that contains adequate amount of all components of food is called a balance diet. A balance diet is necessary for the healthy functioning of our body. So we always take balance diet. If we do not take balance diet we may fell ill.