Issues with food, weight and body images are not easy to talk about. Most
people are looking for ready to eat, a magic pill, or the latest popular
diet. But the reality is that there are no magic secrets or quick tips when
it comes to managing your eating habits and maintaining a healthy weight.
Healthy eating is really a very simple concept.
WHAT AN ADEQUATE DIET PROVIDE
An adequate diet should provide:
The necessary calories to supply the required energy,
Proteins and minerals for building and repair of body cells,
Vitamins and minerals to supply the protective materials.
The body derives its energy mainly from fats and carbohydrates such as
butter, oil, ghee, cereals, pulses, sugar, cheese, its body building
materials from milk, eggs, meat, fish, and cheese supplemented by cereals,
pulses, and nuts; and its protective materials from the minerals and
vitamins of milk, cream, butter, egg, cheese, fruits, vegetables,
particularly green raw vegetables.
It is pointed out that it is unnecessary for the housewife to calculate the
number of calories, the amounts of protein, this particular vitamin, or that
particular mineral she was supplying in the daily diet of her family. We
suggest that a diet made of the following foods would provide all the
necessary nutrients:-
MILK: At least 1/2 litre daily and more for children.
CHEESE AND PULSES: At least once per day.
MEAT, FISH OR EGGS: Once in 2-3 days-for non vegetarians .This can be
supplemented by dry fruits for vegetarians.
FRUIT: At least once daily, preferably in breakfast.
VEGETABLE: Two kinds' daily and including one green vegetable. Salad should
also be taken with each meal.
FAT: butter or ghee /oil.
CEREALS: Wheat flour is the most valuable.
WATER: About 2 litre daily, half in the form of water & remaining can be in
the form of milk/tea/ coffee/juices.
Then eat any other food you like in order to satisfy your appetite. The more
varied in the diet the less likely it is to be deficient in any one
nutrient.
PLANNING FOR MEAL
The general problem is to arrange the foods in the form of meals in such a
way as not only to provide the necessary calories, proteins, minerals,
vitamins, roughage and water, but to do so in such a way as to make them
attractive, palatable, satisfying, digestible and economical.
The following rules may be helpful in planning the menu:
The whole day, or better still, the whole weak, should be regarded as the
unit rather than each individual meal. Any deficiencies in one meal can be
made up in the others.
The same food should not be served more than once in the same day without
varying the form in which they are served. This does not apply to such
staple food as milk, butter etc.
The same food should not be served twice in the same meal even in different
form.
The color, form and texture of different courses should be varied as much as
possible to avoid monotony. A soft food should be alternated with a crisp
food that needs chewing; a bland food with a high seasoned one; cooked food
with raw food and so on.
No meal should contain too great a concentration of any one type of
nutrient, i.e., no meal should be predominantly protein and fat should be
accompanied by carbohydrate at the same meal.
Serve the milk, dry fruits, cheese etc. in small quantities at each meal
rather than concentrate them in one meal. In this way the body makes better
use of their building material, particularly if accompanied by vegetable or
cereal protein, e.g., pulses and oatmeal.
Decide upon the protein ingredients of the meal first; Next consider the
protective materials such as the dairy foods, fruits and vegetables, and
finally, sypply energy food such as bread, cereals, fats and sugar to
satisfy appetite.
IMPORTANCE OF FRUITS IN DIET
Fruits are one of the oldest forms of food known to man. Fresh and dry
fruits are the natural staple food of man. They contain substantial
quantities of essential nutrients in a rational proportion. They are
excellent sources of minerals, vitamins and enzymes. They are easily
digested and exercise a cleansing effect on the blood and the digestive
tract. Persons subsisting on this natural diet will always enjoy good
health. Moreover, the ailments caused by the intake of unnatural foods can
be successfully treated by fruits.
Fresh and dry fruits are thus not only a good food but also a good
medicine.
Fruits are at their best when eaten in the raw and ripe state. In cooking,
they lose portions of the nutrients salt and carbohydrate. They are most
beneficial when taken as a seperate meal by themselves, preferably for
breakfast in the morning. A combination of fruits with meal is not
considered good. If it becomes necessary to take fruits with regular food,
they should form a larger proportion of the meals. Fruits, however, make
better combination with milk than with meals. It is also desirable to take
one kind of fruit at a time.
ECONOMY IN DIET
True economy in diet means the provision of necessary nutrients in adequate
amounts at the lowest price, without, however, making the diet monotonous
and unapetising. No matter how cheap it may be, no diet is really economical
which does not supply the necessary calories, protein, minerals and
vitamins. On the other hand the fact that a large amount of money is being
spent on food does not necessarily guarantee a sound diet.
The cheapest sources of animal proteins are cheese and milk. The cheapest
source of energy is bread and vegetables. Such a combination would also
supply calcium, phosphorous, vitamin A and, if the bread be made from
fortified flour, some iron and B vitamins. It would be lacking in vitamins C
which could be more cheaply provided by cabbage and vitamin D which could be
cheaply provided by a teaspoonful of cod liver oil.
Meat and fish are more expensive body building foods than cheese and milk
which provide valuable calcium, phosphorous and vitamin A and energy in
addition to animal proteins. Milk is relatively good & not so expensive food
but is indispensable on account of its body building and protective
materials. Dry fruits are excellent foods but the same proteins, calcium,
phosphorous, iodine, vitamin A and D can be more cheaply provided by milk. .
Eggs, in spite of their calcium, phosphorous, iron, vitamin A and D are
unfortunately, dear sources of proteins and calories.
Some new proteins are coming on to the market, most of them at the moment
are made from soyabeans, but foods from bacterial yeast and fungal sources
will soon follow. The foods offer cheap sources of protein and if
supplemented with other nutrients will become useful and economical
additions to our range of foods.
The greatest economy in diet can be made in carbohydrate energy foods since
they form the largest part of the diet and show the great variations in
price. The cereals, potatoes, pulses and dried fruits are the cheapest of
the carbohydrate foods. Sugar is a cheap energy food but supplies nothing
else.
Green vegetables and fresh fruits must be judged as sources of
vitamins C and minerals and cabbage is easily the cheapest, followed by
tomatoes and oranges. All green vegetables are dear for calories but their
vitamins and minerals make them indispensable.
To sum up, we may say that the diet may be made more economical but no less
nutritionally satisfactory by an increased use of cheese, milk, soya foods ,
cereals, potatoes, pulses and dry fruits. Milk, green vegetables and fresh
fruit are essential and it is unwise to economise in their use in spite of
their relatively high cost.
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