Unit 21 Nutrition

405 Words2 Pages
According to the free dictionary nutrients is a food or other substance that provides energy or building material for the survival and growth of a living organism. Why do we need nutrients? It is essential that we have a balanced diet in order to have good health. Having a balanced diet consist of the several different food types; carbohydrates, fats, minerals, fibre and vitamins. A good diet also helps you maintain a healthy weight, which is critical to feeling good and preventing illnesses. Ben W. Orenstein. (2015). How to eat healthy. [online] Over nutrition is where you take in too many nutrients, this affects energy balance and leads to obesity. It also affects health, for example high intakes of salt are linked to high blood pressure. Under nutrition means not getting enough nutrients and can lead to starvation. All of these conditions can lead to low self esteem, depression, anxiety and in many cases anger problems. Body Mass Index (BMI) is used as a guide to a person’s weight. It is calculated by dividing the person’s weight in kilograms by their height in metres then dividing the answer by their height in metres again. This is the system they use to determine whether someone is underweight ideal or overweight. This is a table to show how BMI is used as a guide to health: Less than 18.5| Underweight| 18.5 – 24.9| Ideal | 25 – 29.9| Overweight| 30 – 40| Obese| More than 40| Severely obese| Food labels give you all of the nutritional information about the food in question, they also tell the percentages of what things are in the food. Ingredients are another thing that are found on food labels, they sometimes tell you how much of a certain food is in the product. Food labels also contain portion sizes so you know how much a recommended portion size is so you are not over eating. It also provides your guideline daily amounts so you know how much of
Open Document