Food Choices

Food Choices

 your life is filled with choices! Every day you make thousands of choices, many related to food. Some seem insignificant. Others are important. A few may even set the course of your life. But as insignificant as a single choice may seem, made over and over, it can have a major impact on your health and your life.Eating for health is one of the wisest decisions you'll ever make!

What does being fit mean to you? Perhaps being free of disease and other health problems? Or having plenty of energy, a trim or muscular body, or the ability to finish a 10 K run or fitness walk? Actually, "fitness" is far broader and more personal. It refers to your own optimal health and overall well-being. Fitness, or wellness, is your good health at its very best.

Being fit defines every aspect of your health not only your physical health but also your emotional and mental well-being. In fact, they're interconnected. Smart eating and active living are fundamental to all three. When you're fit, you have

:Energy to do what's important to you and to be more productive

  Stamina and a positive outlook to handle the mental challenges and emotional ups and downs of everyday life, and to deal with stress

Reduced risk for many health problems, includ ing serious, often life changing diseases, such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and osteoporosis .The chance to look and feel your best

Physical strength and endurance to protect your self in case of an emergency

A better chance for a higher quality of life, and perhaps a longer one, too

Fitness at every age and stage in life depends on healthy eating and active living. The sooner you make them your priorities, the better your health.

Good nutrition and regular physical activity are two lifestyle habits that promote fitness. But they are certainly not the only ones. To stay fit, make other lifestyle choices for good health, too: get adequate sleep, avoid smoking, manage stress, drink alcoholic beverages only in moderation (if you drink),  observe good hygiene, get regular medical checkups, obtain adequate health care to name a fit .

What does it take to be and to stay fit? You don't need special or costly foods, or fancy exercise equipment or a health club membership. You don't need to give up your favorite foods, or set up a monotonous system of eating rules or calorie counting. And you don't need to hit a specific weight on the bathroom scale.

You've heard the term "nutrition" all your life. The food-fitness connection is what it's all about. In short, nutrition is how food nourishes your body. And being well nourished depends on getting enough of the nutrients your body needs but not too much and on keeping your weight within a healthy range. At every stage in life, healthful eating fuels fitness. Well-nourished infants, children, and teens grow, develop, and learn better. Good nutrition helps ensure a healthy pregnancy and successful breast-feeding. Healthful eating and active living help people at any age feel their best, work productively, lower their risks for some diseases and may even slow aging!

Today we know that healthful eating along with active living are key to your healthy weight. They're essentials for dramatically lowering the risk for the main causes of disability and death: heart disease, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and osteoporosis. Good nutrition and regular physical activity also can lower risks for obesity, blood pressure, and high blood cholesterol-all risk factors for serious disease.

 So unlike the ancients, you have a valid basis for choosing food for health. It's up to you to apply nutri tion principles and advice for your own well-being.For Your Health's Sake

Healthful eating is about more than what you eat; it's also about how you keep food safe from harmful bacteria and viruses (the biggest food safety problem), chemicals, and other contaminants. Food borne illness strikes millions of people each year, causing mild to severe, even life-threatening symptoms. The effects may last a few hours or days, or for weeks, months, or years. Young children, pregnant women, older adults, and those with weakened immune systems or some chronic diseases are especially vulnerable.

Keeping food safe is up to you, not just the responsibility of farmers, food manufacturers, retailers, and restaurant workers. Many cases of food borne illness could be avoided if consumers handled food carefully: keep food clean; cook it to safe internal temperatures; separate raw, cooked, and ready-to-eat foods; chill perishable foods promptly; and defrost properly.While you enjoy the sensual qualities of food-the mouth-watering appearance, aroma, texture, and flavor-your body relies on the life sustaining functions that nutrients in food perform. Other food substances, including phyto nutrients (or plant sub stances), appear to offer even more heath benefits beyond nourishment.

 Besides the nutrition benefits, food is a source of pleasure, adventure, and great taste! It's no surprise that people entertain and celebrate with food, or look forward to a special dish.

Your own food choices reflect you and what's important to you: your culture, your surroundings, the people around you, your view of yourself, the foods View available to you, your emotions, and certainly what you know about food and nutrition. To eat for health, you age you don't need to give up your food favorites. Simply learn how to fit them in. Good nutrition adds pleasure to eating-especially as you eat a greater variety of vegetables, fruits, whole-grain foods, and other nutrient-rich food.

Factors that Drive Food Choices

Along with these influences, a number of other factors affect the dietary choices individuals make, including:

• Taste, texture, and appearance. Individuals have a wide range of tastes which influence their food choices, leading some to dislike milk and others to hate raw vegetables. Some foods that are very healthy, such as tofu, may be unappealing at first to many people. However, creative cooks can adapt healthy foods to meet most peoples' taste.

• Economics. Access to fresh fruits and vegetables may be scant, particularly for those who live in economically disadvantaged or remote areas, where cheaper food options are limited to convenience stores and fast food.

Early food experiences. People who were not exposed to different foods as children, or who were forced to swallow every last bite of overcooked vegetables, may make limited food choices as adults.

 • Habits. It's common to establish eating routines, which can work both for and against optimal health. Habitually grabbing a fast food sandwich for breakfast can seem convenient, but might not offer substantial nutrition. Yet getting in the habit of drinking an ample amount of water each day can yield multiple benefits.

• Culture. The culture in which one grows up affects how one sees food in daily life and on special occasions.

 • Geography. Where a person lives influences food choices. 

Advertising. The media greatly influences food choice by persuading consumers to eat certain foods.

• Social factors. Any school lunchroom observer can testify to the impact of peer pressure on eating habits, and this influence lasts through adulthood. People make food choices based on how they see others and want others to see them. For example, individuals can purchase cheap and fast pizzas or opt for high-end versions at fancy restaurants.

• Health concerns. Some people have significant food allergies, to lactose or peanuts for example, and need to avoid those foods. Others may have developed health issues, which require them to follow a low salt diet. In addition, people who have never worried about their weight have a very different approach to eating than those who have long struggled with excess pounds.

• Emotions. There is a wide range in how emotional issues affect eating habits. When faced with a great deal of stress, some people tend to overeat, while others find it hard to eat at all.

• Green food/Sustainability choices. Based on a growing understanding of diet as a public and personal issue, more and more people are starting to make food choices based on their environmental impact.