Healthy Eating Handbook

Author: Yu Kang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: Nutrition—the Foundation of Life and Health
Nutrition, also referred to by ancient people as "nourishing sustenance," means absorbing external nutrients to replenish the body's needs. In modern scientific academic terms, nutrition refers to the continuous process by which the human body takes in food from the outside, digests, absorbs, and metabolizes it to meet its physiological needs, maintain physical growth and development, and support various physiological functions. In essence, all nutrients essential for human survival rely on this process. The quality of nutrition directly affects health levels and the length of life. To some extent, we can even call nutrition the foundation of life and health.
The people rely on food for sustenance
As the saying goes, "The people rely on food for sustenance." Nutrition primarily comes from daily dietary intake—without food, there is no nutrition. As the material carrier of nutrition, food plays a pivotal role in maintaining life and health. First, food is an "energy source." It supplies the energy needed to sustain physical activity, just as cars need gasoline and air conditioners need electricity. The human body, like a machine, requires the energy provided by food to function. Second, food is a "material warehouse." The growth and development of the body's tissues and organs, such as bones, muscles, teeth, and blood, as well as the continuous renewal and repair of various tissues, require sufficient "building materials" from food. Additionally, food acts as a "stabilizer and regulator." It participates in maintaining normal physiological and biochemical activities, such as osmotic pressure and acid-base balance in the human body. Food plays a vital role as a stabilizer and regulator in keeping the body functioning properly.
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