Saturday, January 1, 2011

Day 1 - Why Nutrition is Important

During the month of January I will be researching and discussing the broad topic of Nutrition; starting with general information on how nutrition works and then breaking down into specific nutrients and how they work in the body.

So for today, I would like to start out with a question: Why is it important yet so difficult to study nutrition? So many sources tell us so many different things about what we should or should not be eating. Some of this information can be conflicting and confusing to all of us. But if we simply breakdown this huge idea of food/nutrition, we can hope to come to a better understanding of our bodies and the nutrients we consume.

Food is particularly important because it has so many different meanings to different people. At its most fundamental level, food is necessary for our survival. Beyond this purpose, however, we have created memories around experiences with food (holidays, family gatherings), we have dating rituals where food is a main occasion (dinner dates), politics surround the food corporation, and food has created jobs in our society. Thus, beyond simply eating, food has other important meanings as well.

Since it is important that we treat our bodies as best we can, it is important that we consume the right products. This task, however, can be very difficult because we have so many factors that affect the way we choose the products we ingest; traditions, positive and negative associations, fear, and availability. Most of all our education a on bout food decides how we view different products and their effects in our body. Therefore, it is crucial for us to educate ourselves as fully as we can on food products and the nutrients necessary for our bodies to function at their optimal level.

Throughout January, I will aim to do just that. To educate myself further on food consumption and the individual nutrients that make up nutrition: Carbohydrates, Lipids, Proteins, Vitamins, Minerals, and Water, and to learn about the balance between them all  that makes up a healthy diet.

On a side note, I also ordered subscriptions today to all of my magazines! I'm super pumped about this and can't wait for them to come in the mail!

Since it is already so late tonight and I procrastinated on getting this started today,  I'll just tell what I did for my relaxing time today. Since today was a holiday I spent my time resting. I watched football with my family and read a few chapter of my new book, some quality relaxation time if I do say so myself. Hope you all had a relaxing holiday too and are ready to get started in the gym tomorrow!

Have a great night :)

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