Human Nutrition Worksheet Essay

Use Ch. 1, 2, & 3 of Visualizing Nutrition, supplemental course materials, the University Library, the Internet, or other resources to answer the following questions. Your response to each question should be 75 to 100 words. 1. What is nutrition? Why is nutrition essential to our daily lives? Nutrition is the process in which the body takes in nutrients and distributes it through the body. These nutrients give the body energy and supplies the body with materials that help tissue growth and processes. Nutrition is also known as the science or practice of consuming and utilizing foods. Nutrition is essential in our daily lives because it can dramatically affect the way the body functions. These nutrients are the body’s day to day source of fuel. 2. What is the connection between nutrition and health? Food is the main source for the body’s health and nutrition. Our health is based off of good nutrition. Without a healthy nutritious diet, not only is your physical health at risk, but you put your mental health at risk as well. Maintaining a healthy balanced diet can help to stimulate parts of the brain that causes depression and anxiety. It even helps to boost your energy level, thus helping you excel in most daily activities. 3. What is the relationship between poor nutrition and disease? Poor nutrition can be a result of not eating enough food, or not eating the right kind of food. Not eating enough or eating all the wrong kind of food can  lead the body to face health complications in the future. One complication the body faces with poor nutrition is diabetes. Diabetes can be caused by obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Anemia is another complication that the body faces when red blood cells are unable to carry enough oxygen to your body’s cells. This is caused by an iron deficiency. Some of the foods that contain iron can include: clams, oysters, liver, beef, poultry etc. 4. What does it mean to eat a balanced diet? Why is food choice important for good nutrition? A balanced diet means that the body is receiving the required portions from each food group from the food group pyramid. Food choice is important for good nutrition because it is up to the individual whether they chose to maintain a healthy life style by starting with what they eat. . A balanced diet is what is recommended in order to keep good health and healthy eating is what keeps the body healthy and strong. With poor choice in nutrition, the body can become vulnerable to disease and health complications in the future. 5. Why is physical activity important to a person’s health? What changes, if any, should you make to ensure you get enough physical activity? Physical activity is important to one’s health because it helps to reduce chances of a disease, it helps people feel better both physically and mentally. Many changes can come from making small changes in a person’s lifestyle. Keeping fit can also lead to more energy throughout the day and can have a positive effect to a person’s social interaction. Promoting good health with good eating habits and daily physical activity will make aging a lot easier on the body; not to mention one will look great doing it! 6. What influences your food choices? Why? I believe what influences my food choices is the food marketing and advertisements made through billboards, flyers, television and even social media. Personally noticed the increase in the advertisement of fat foods like McDonald’s, Carl’s Jr. Wendy’s, Jack in the Box and many more restaurants serving greasy foods. These foods are made at an affordable price and even available through drive trough’s to make it easier on the  consumers pocket and time. For me it is a lot easier to pick something up from a drive through, than to make the time to cook something healthy at home. 7. What is the difference between digesting protein and carbohydrates? Which would make you feel fuller longer? Why? Carbohydrates break down the sugars and starches of the food we eat. Our body’s then can use them as fuel. Proteins and fats can also be used as energy sources. Consuming carbs can offer the most direct way of supplying fuel to our body’s cells, while protein digestion can serve to reduce the large protein molecules in the foods you consume down to their individual building blocks, or amino acids. 8. How does today’s society affect our nutritional habits? Today’s society has a big impact on our nutritional habits due to all the advertising done for restaurants promoting unhealthy foods. Like I stated in question six, these restaurants are offering the buyers unhealthy food at affordable prices. Now a days, you don’t really see advertisement for health eating. The only restaurant that has somewhat of a healthy choice is Subway, but even then Subway has a lot of choices full of calories. In order to pick something healthy you have to read how many calories each item has and Subway has a calorie chart to look at for help. 9. How are nutrients used to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP)? Adenosine triphosphate consists of carbohydrates and fats. Carbohydrates are the main source of ATP production. When carbs are broken down into glucose, they get stored in the muscles as glycogen. This then gets turned into ATP production. Fat is another fuel source that becomes of use when exercising. But in fat, you have the good fat and bad fat. Good fat energizes you to be less fatigued while working out, while bad fat has the opposite effects on the body. 10. Consider your personal dietary habits. What are some modifications you might make to promote good health? Considering my own dietary habits, I need to make healthier choices in order to reach a better state of health. Being pre diabetic means maintaining a healthier lifestyle along with more physical activity to burn off calories and set a goal of losing weight and staying fit. I need to start making healthier food choices rather than taking the easy way out and head for the drive through. Cooking meals a day before or taking one day to cook for the week can make time more manageable and help to make the change and keep up a healthy lifestyle.