Health Nutrition Diet

Much has been said and discussed regarding the benefits of diet and nutrition on the human health. The necessity of food to sustain health and the benefits of nutrition in enhancing health has been repeated over and over.

Every coin has two sides to it. Is there any bad effect of consuming food? Can some diets be dangerous or deleterious to health? Can nutrition be harmful? Can there be any such thing known as excess of a beneficial item becoming harmful? Is there any disease which can be related to having nutritious food? Answers to all these queries and more have been attempted to be detailed here.

Nutrition can be of three types, malnutrition, optimal nutrition and over nutrition. Malnutrition creates a lot of diseases which are peculiar to the type of nutrient which is missing or deficient in the body. The commonest disorders are Anemia, scurvy, Rickets, Kwashiorkor, Beriberi, Tetany, Bleeding disorders, Neuropathy, Night blindness, Fatigue and lack of energy with generalized weakness or atony.

The malnutrition can be treated by effective dietary counseling and correcting the dietary habits and in severe cases, by prescribing nutritional supplements accompanying the regulated diet.

Optimal nutrition is where the diet is totally balanced and provides the daily requirement of nutrients to the body. This is the recommended type of nutrition and every individual must strive to match their diet to provide optimal nutrition.

Over nutrition is also a possibility and occurs far too often than people think it to be. Every individual has a certain requirement of calories based on their daily activities, profession, sex, age, body condition and accompaniment of any other underlying disease. When the calories consumed exceed this required amount, the extra calories tend to be stored away by the body for further use in the form of fat. The deposits of fat when continued over a long period of time lead to obesity.

Now there is a difference between obesity and over nutrition, because over intake of calories may involve over intake of some nutrients also, but over nutrition also includes excess intake of supplements and vitamins too. This is specifically termed as Hypervitaminosis.

Hypervitaminosis is quite dangerous with even grave effects like liver damage and other complications. Excessive intake of a certain kind of beneficial food can cause harm instead of benefits, like for example excessive intake of beneficial proteins can cause Kidney damage and other complications.

So balance is the key, and it is medically advised to maintain health with an optimally nutritious diet.

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