INTRODUCTION

Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a

living organism. In humans, it is the general condition of a person’s

mind and body, usually meaning to free from illness, injury or pain (as

in “good health” or “healthy”)

The world Health Organization (WHO) defined health in its

broader sense in 1946 as “ a state of complete physical, mental and

social being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

Systematic activities to prevent or cure health problems and promote

good health in humans are undertaken by health care providers.

Health and Balanced Diet

• A health diet is One that helps maintain or improve general health

• A healthy diet provides the body with essential nutrition, fluid, adequate

essential amino acids from protein, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals,

and adequate calories.

• The requirements for a healthy diet can be met from a variety of plant-based

and animal-based foods.

• A healthy diet supports energy needs and provides for human nutrition

without exposure to toxicity or excessive weight gain from consuming

excessive amounts.

• Where lack of calories is not an issue, a properly balanced diet (in addition

to exercise) is also taught to be important for lowering health risks, such as

obesity, heart disease, type 2 dibetes, hypertension and cancer.

• Various nutrition guides are published by medical and governmental

institutions to educate the public on what they should be eating to promote

health.

• Nutrition facts labels are also mandatory in some countries to allow

consumers to choose are between foods based on the components relevant to

health.

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION(WHO)

The WHO makes the following 5 recommendation with

respect to both populations and individuals.

Eat roughly the same amount of Calories that your body

is using.

A healthy weight is a balance between energy consumed

and energy that is ‘burnt off’

Increase consumption of plant foods, particularly fruits,

vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts.

Limit in take of futz, and prefer less unhealthy

unsaturated fats to saturated fats and trans fats.

Limit the intake of sugar.

A 2003 report recommends less that 10% simple sugars.

Limit salt/sodium consumption from all sources and ensure that is

iodized.

Essential micronutrients such as vitamins and certain minerals

Avoiding directly poisonous (eg.heavy metals) and carcinogenic (eg.

Benzene) substances.

•Avoiding foods contaminated by human pathogens (eg.Ecole, tapeworm

eggs)

AMERICAN HEALTH ASSOCIATION /WORLD

CANCER RESEARCH FUND/ AMERICAN INSTITUTE

FOR CANCER RESEACHThe American Health Cancer Research Fund, and American Institute for

Cancer Research recommends a diet that consists mostly of unprocessed

plant foods, with emphasis a wide range of whole grains, legumes, and non-

starchy vegetables and fruits.

• This healthy diet is replete with a wide range of various non-starchy vegetables and fruits, that provide different colures including red, green, yellow, white, purple, and orange.

• They note that tomato cooked with oil, allium vegetables like garlic, and

cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, provide some protection against

cancer.

• This healthy diet is low in energy density, which may protect against

weight gain and associated diseases.

• Finally, limiting consumption of surgery drinks, limiting, energy rich foods,

including “fast foods” and red meat, and avoiding processed meat, and

avoiding processed meats improves health and longevity.

• Overall, researchers and medical policy conclude that this healthy diet can

reduce the risk of chronic disease and cancer.

HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

• The nutrition source of Harvard school of public health makes the following recommendations for a healthy diet.

• Choose good carbon hydrates: whole grains (the less processed the better), vegetables, fruits and beans.

• Avoid white bread, white rice and the like as well as pastries, sugared sodas, and other highly processed food.

• Have attention to the protein package: good choice include fish, poultry, nuts and beans.

• Try to avoid red meat.

• Choose food containing healthy fats.

• Plant oils, nuts and fish are best chokes.

• Limit consumption of saturated fats, and avoid foods with trans fat.

Daily multivitamin and extra vitamin D intake has potential health

benefits.

Other than nutrition, the guide recommends frequent physical

activity (exercise) and maintaining a healthy body weight.FOR SPECIFIC CONDITION

In addition to dietary recommendations for the general population,

there are many specific diets that have primarily been developed to

promote better health in specific population groups, such as people

with high blood pressure (as in low sodium diets or more specific

DASH diet), or people who are overweight or obese (In weight

control diets).

However, some of them may have more or less evidence for

beneficial effects in normal people as well.

HYPERTENSION

A low sodium diets beneficial for people with high blood pressure.

A carbine review published in 2008 concluded that a long team (more

than 4 weeks) low sodium diet in Caucasians has a useful effect to reduce

blood pressure both in people with hypertension and in people with

normal blood pressure.

The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to stop Hypertension) is a

diet promoted by the National Heart, lung , and Blood Institute

(part of the NIH, a united states government organization) to

control hypertension.

A major feature of the plan is limiting intake of sodium and it

also generally encourages the consumption of nuts, whole grains,

fish, poultry, fruits and vegetables while lowering the consumption

of red meats, sweet, and sugar

It is also “rich in potassium, magnesium and calcium, as well as

protein.

Evidence show that the Mediterranean diet improves cardiovascular

outcomes.

Who recommends few standards such as an intake of less than 5 grams

per person per day so as to prevent one from cardiovascular diseases.

Unsaturated fatty acids with poly unsaturated vegetable oils on the

other hand plays as essential role in reducing coronary heart disease risk

as well as diabetes.

OBESITY

Weight control diets aim to maintain a controlled weight.

It most cases dieting is used in combination with physical exercise

to lose weight in those who are overweight or obese.

Diet to promote weight loser divided in to force categories. Low fat,

low-carbohydrate, low-caloric, and very low calorie.

A meta-analysis of six randomized controlled derails found no

difference blow the main diet types (low calorie, low carbohydrate,

and (low fat), with a 2-4 kilogram weight loss in all studies.

At two year, all calorie- reduced diet types cause equal weight loss

irrespective of the macro nutrients emphasized.

REDUCED DISEASE RISK

There may be a relationship between lifestyle including food

consumption and potentially lowering the risk of cancer other

chronic diseases.

A diet high in fruits and vegetables appears to decrease the risk

There may be a relationship between life style including food

consumption and potentially lowering the risk of cancer other chronic

diseases.

A diet high in fruits and vegetables appears to decrease the risk of

cardiovascular disease and death but not cancer.

A healthy diet may consist mostly of whole plant foods, with limited

consumption of energy dense foods red meat, alcoholic drinks and salt

white reducing consumption of sugary drinks, and processed meat.

A healthy diet may contain non starchy vegetables and fruits, including

those with red, green, yellow, white, purple or orange pigments.

Tomato cooked with oil, allium vegetables like garlic and cruciferous

vegetables like cauliflower “probably” contain compounds which are

under research for their possible anti cancer activity.

A healthy diet is low in energy density, lowering caloric content,

thereby possibly inhibiting weight gain and lowering risk against chronic

disease.

Chronic western diseases are associated with pathologically increased 1GF

-1 levels.

Findings in molecular biology and epidemiologic data suggested that milk

consumption is a promoter of chronic diseases of western captions, including

atherosclerosis, carcinogenesis, and neuron degenerative diseases.

UNHEALTHY DIETS

An unhealthy diet is a major risk factor for a number of chronic diseases

including: high blood pressure, diabetes, abnormal blood lipid, over

weight/obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.

The WHO estimates that 2.7 million deaths are attributable to a diet low in

fruits and vegetables every year,

Globally it is estimated to cause about 19% of gastrointestinal cancer, 31%

of ischemic heart disease, and 11% of strokes, thus masking it one of the

leading.

PREVENTABLE CAUSES OF DEATH

WORLD WIDEFAD DIETS

Fad diet usually refers to idiosyncratic diets and eating patterns.

Thy are diets that claim to promote weight loss or treat obesity by

various mechanisms, provide little to scientific reasoning behind their

purported health benefits, and have little or no proof to support them.

PUBLIC HEALTH

Fears of high cholesterol were frequently voiced up until the mid-

1990s.

However, more recent research has shown that the distinction high and

low- density lip protein (‘good’ and ‘ bad’ cholesterol, respectively) must

be addressed when speaking of the potential ills effects of cholesterol.

Different types of dietary fat have different effects on blood levels of

cholesterol. For example, polyunsaturated fats tend to decrease both

types of cholesterol; mono saturated fats tend to lower LDL and raise

HDL, satiated pats tend to either raise HDL or raised both HDL and

LDL; and trans fat tend to raise LDL and lower HDL.

Dietary cholesterol itself is only found in animal products such as

meat, eggs, and dairy, but studies have shown that even large

amounts of dietary cholesterol only have negligible effects on blood

cholesterol.

Vending machines in particular have come under fire as being a

venues of energy in to schools for junk food promotes.

However, there is title in the way of regulation and it is difficult for

most people to properly analyze the real merits of a company

referring to itself as “ healthy”

Recently, the united kingdom removed the right for MC Donald’s to

advertise its products, as the majority of the foods that were seen have

low nutrient values and high fat counts were aimed at children under

the guise of the “Happy meal

CULTURAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL

FUTURE

From psychological and cultural perspective, a healthier diet may be

difficult to achieve for people with poor eating habits.

This may be due to tests acquired in childhood and preferences for

surgery, salty and/or fatty foods.

PUBLIC HEALTH

Fears of high cholesterol were frequently voiced up until the mid-

1990s.

However, more recent research has shown that the distinction high and

low- density lip protean (‘good’ and ‘ bad’ cholesterol, respectively) must

be addressed when speaking of the potential ills effects of cholesterol.

CONCLUSION

A balanced diet is one that given your body the nutrition if needs to

function properly. In order to get truly balanced nutrition, you should

obtain the majority of your daily calories from fresh fruits and vegetables

whole grains and learn protein.

A balanced diet is important because your body’s organs and tissues

need proper nutrition to work effectively. Without good nutrition, your

body is more prone to disease, infection, fatigue, and poor performance.

Children with a poor diet run the risk of growth and development

problems. Bad eating habits can continue for the rest of their lives.

World Health organization. Retrieved 21 February 2011

Walker C, Ream B V ( April 2009) “ Diets for Cardiovascular disease

prevention, what is the evidence?”

http:/www.who.int/gho

Strachan I (January 2006). “Diet in the management of weight less”.

Mel ilk B (April-2009) “Milk Consumption aggravating fact of “WHO

diet and physical activity a public health priority”.

Katz DL (2003), Pandemic obesity and contagion of nutritional

nonsense”.

REFERENCE