Consumerism Habits and Health

Consumerism Habits and Health

A properly balanced diet ensures that an individual gets all the energy one needs to stay active all through the day, prerequisites nutrients required for progression and restoration, aiding in staying fit and secure. Besides, consuming healthy foods and balanced diets help in maintaining a healthy weight. Therefore, the omission of nutrients such as vitamins A to Z, zinc, selenium and iron deteriorates the immune system.

Personal Consumerism Habits

My diet lacks green leafy vegetables, a variety of fruits and water making me predisposed to gastrointestinal conditions like diverticulosis, constipation and haemorrhoids. The cellulose found in fruits and vegetables increases faecal weight and assuage constipation due to fibre (Donvito, 2019). Additionally, fibre keeps individuals full helping towards weight reduction and minimizes carbohydrate absorption, resulting in controlled blood sugar levels plus green leafy vegetables enrich the skin and hair. I also have a habit of snacking after dinner which is not a healthy habit as the human metabolism are more active during the day as compared to the relaxed state when we are asleep (Walton, 2012).

Even though I avoid eating sugar by using honey, I still take juice which is not homemade. Instead, I usually buy it, meaning it has preservatives. I also have a habit of missing out on some meals meaning I am not energized at all times and gets bouts of fatigue as a result. Also, substituting fruits with snacks during nighttime after-dinner shows that I have a poor diet. Since metabolism is more efficient during the day as compared to during the night, then I am at high risk of becoming obese or contracting a life long ailment as a result of all the snacks which have a lot of iodine.

How My Diet Contributes To My Health

my diet consists of carbohydrates and some proteins, little or no legumes at all, so it is not balanced. A healthy diet includes a variety of fruits, vegetables of assorted colours, whole grains, carbohydrates, lean proteins and good fats. Whole vegetables and fruits are minimal in calories than the majority of processed foods like the juice I drink, putting me at risk of gaining weight. Also, my complete omission of plant-centred foods results in hunger for snacks after dinner eliminating my chance of maintaining a healthy weight (Butler, 2018). A diet that is unhealthy might lead to obesity and might increase cancer risks. In contrast, the opposite is precise for foods rich in fruits and vegetables as these nourishments contain phytochemicals which perform as antioxidants protecting body cells from damage that causes cancer. Although studies done on humans are unsettled, selective antioxidants have shown reduced occurrences of free radical grievances related to disease on laboratory animals (Butler, 2018).

Lack of vitamin E in my diet also means I am at risk of stroke and heart attack as the vitamin thwarts blood clots and the source of vitamin E is in most nuts, almonds, sunflower seeds among others (Butler, 2018). Salt, on the other hand, is something I use a lot since I consume chips, fries and meats and limitation of salt helps in reducing blood pressure. Sea salts are more complex than table salts whose bright colour is as a result of processing to extinguish impurities, but the sea salt gets used to add a thought-provoking flavour and colour to foodstuff. Also, devotees of sea salt claim that it eliminates toxins and vie that it is better than table salt; however, these claims are not scientifically proven. Nonetheless, salt remains as salt, and too much of it results in elevated levels of blood pressure (Sakimura, 2015).

Impacts Of Diet On Health Trends

Individuals seeking health information get exposed to different online nutritive material as well as the standard of living advice nonetheless; optimum diet is significant for enhanced healthiness. Our bodies get the information we need through the food we eat; therefore, wrong information results in suffering metabolic processes after declined health (University Of Minnesota). To grow, develop, and maintain body functions, it is essential to regularly consume nutrients that meet the nutrient requirement in the body as controlled by cell activities in the body. Food offers the nutrients which give the body information on how to function, so nutrition is more than calories.

While the United States ranked ninth in life expectancy amongst nations, prolonged health complications such as depression have commanded a lot of work, absenteeism’s and 78 percent of healthcare expenses go to the management of chronic ailments. All these problems are related to food because most of our diets are wanting in the balance of nutrients (University Of Minnesota). Besides, diets impact our mental health as healthy diets regulate our mood, enables a concise thinking process and gets linked to positive brain development consistent with individuals that consume berries and vegetables.

Studies done at the University of Pennsylvania showed that positive social development got witnessed in children whose parents practised proper nutrition. However, individuals who were susceptible to anxiety got linked to caffeine and alcohol consumption which gases nervous-like symptoms (McLaughlin, 2018). Unity Point Health (2015) says that although a healthy diet protects from malnutrition, most of the menus in today’s generation consists of saturated fats, trans fats, sugars and a lot of salt. Moreover, avocadoes, tomatoes and foods rich in Vitamin C are beneficial for the skin as they produce collagen, which prevents ageing. Although our bodies need food for sustenance purposes, metabolism exerts a lot of pressure on the body resulting in short life expectancy (Unity Point Health, 2015).

How Diet Contributes To Biological Variations In Humans

All major lifestyle ailments such as cardiovascular diseases, dementia, type-2 diabetes and some cancers are linked to genes that cause inflammation as a result of carbohydrate consumption. Studies show that an average Norwegian meal consists of 65% carbohydrates, resulting in some of the DNA segments to work strenuously (Morad, 2017). In addition, during winter in 1944, studies were done between mother and child, during a famine in the Netherlands where expectant mothers and other populaces were to survive on 400-800 calories given daily and as a result, children that were conceived, and delivered during this time experienced high rates of obesity and cardiovascular disease in maturity. Through activity that results to tenderness inside the body, examiners say that a healthy diet should consist of only up to 40 percent calories as they have known the connection between foods, metabolism and their influence on health and immunity (NTNU, 2011).

Biological variations can affect food tolerance, and stimulate nutritional necessities so recognizing our daily food selections affect our health, how we feel every day and combine with exercise, to promote general health and reduces the risk of sicknesses. According to Layne (2016), 70 percent to 80 percent of the immune system can be found in the intestines so, antibodies produced by the human body rely on the intestinal flora to uphold the sturdiness of the immunity system. Even though an average human body has an approximate 100 trillion bacteria, poor gut health could lead to arthritis, osteoporosis and Alzheimer’s disease thus, to have a better chance at staying healthier it is better to adjust the diet.

Culture And Its Role On Food Habits

Since modern meals are conceded down from one age group to the other, food functions as a manifestation of cultural identity and settlers bring the customs of their food in all places they go. Carnal reaction to food fluctuates from one person to the other as for some individuals’ food is more cultural than nutritional. Encompassed around values, outlooks, behaviours and customs, eating habits cannot easily be changed as culture is not intentionally taught but is methodically adopted. However, if an individual were to alter another person’s diet by force, it could lead to a sequence of unforeseen and unsolicited reactions.

Additionally, food habits serve as an emphasis on significant relations such as weddings, as a conduit of love, and also have figurative orientations. Moreover, food and food habits have communal or ritualistic roles where some food is set aside for essential holidays and sacred gatherings (Reddy and Anitha, 2015). Some cultural impacts result in restrictions of some products creating a difference in the way people prepare and consume food. However, being part of a culture does not imply that an individual has to eat unhealthily; on the contrary, planning on a healthy eating plan that includes one’s culture is essential.

Misconceptions about what is nutritionally right, exist. Still, there are folks who live healthy lives in numerous portions of the world while what they eat is nutritionally unfit according to western criteria. Likewise, according to the experts in South East Asia on nutrition, individuals ate adequate diets as they consumed the most nourishing sections of plants and meats, whereas; other regions threw away the same as waste. Additionally, food eaten is determined by its availability and the socio-economic prominence of kinfolk or also based on pious beliefs. In an example, Mexican Indians religiously view corn so, it isn’t very easy to convince them to cultivate other yields even if different returns might do better in terms of harvest. As a result of stout devout sentiment in contrast to slaughtering or ingesting beef meat, these Mexican Indians would pretty much choose to have a poor grain of corn, other than eat anything else besides corn (Reddy and Anitha, 2015).

On the other hand, our Moslem and Jew brethren do consume meat, but will not eat pork whatsoever, and this meat has to have been slaughtered in a specific technique overseen by holy regulations. Also, culture affects storage of food like in parts of the Middle East where cooling and conservations are not enabled toughening the process of procuring the first class of proteins. On the other hand, parts of Africa can access the meat but can only be unspoiled through drying and fruits and vegetables are not preserved in parts Europe meaning they can only be consumed seasonally( Reddy and Anitha, 2015). Health benefactors have to, therefore, identify the preeminent customary approaches to propagate and store foods without interfering with the nutritional significance of food.

Conclusion

Implementing variability in an individual’s daily diet that consists of whole grains, proteins, fruits, vegetables, dairy products and healthy fats ensure that a person gets a variety of all the crucial nutrients. Moreover, due to the reason that genes affect our chances of contracting common ailments such as heart diseases, asthma and diabetes, watching what we eat becomes an critical detail.