Healthy Eating

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT: HEALTHY FOOD AND HEALTHY EATING

Focus Vocabulary

additives

Genetically modified foods/GMF/GM products/Genetically engineered (GE) foods/biotech foods

organic foods

to cut down on smth

to consume ~ consumption

diet: to be/go on a diet, to follow a diet, to keep to a diet

digestion: to have a good/poor digestion; ~ digestive

fat: low-fat, fat-free, high in fat content

fattening

fibre: high-fibre diet/food

hunger ~ hungry

thirst ~ thirsty: to quench one’s thirst

to slim

weight: to gain/put on/lose weight

gourmet

vegan

vegetarian

Healthy Eating

Most of us eat without realizing what our food consists of. And, like any other machine, the body functions better or worse according to the fuel we feed it. No one single food will kill us, but a combination of the wrong sorts of food can cause ill health. Perhaps we ought to stop and think for a moment.

For me healthy eating is associated with the so-called well-balanced diet. That is the diet that provides your body with protein, minerals, vitamins and fibre. These nutrients are essential for our body because they build and repair tissues, give heat and energy and regulate body processes. And they can be found in meat, milk products, fruit and vegetables.

I have never been on a diet, but in my opinion those who are a little overweigh needn’t think of a diet as punishment. It is better to follow a sensible eating plan. It means that you can eat well, enjoy your food, but without the same number of calories. To lose weight regularly, you shouldn’t eat more than 1500 calories a day. Special booklets and reliable scales will help you with that.

It should be remembered that if you eat more than you need, extra calories turn into fat; if you eat less than you need, the body burns fat to get energy and you lose weight. One way of losing weight is by eating less. Another way is to go on eating the same amount, but to increase your body’s need for energy by taking more exercise. But it is important to slim gradually. Trying to lose a lot of weight fast doesn’t usually work, and it can be very dangerous.

Some people become vegetarians because they want to lose weight. But I find it a bit half-hearted if not hypocritical. They don’t want to save animals and many of them wear leather and fur jackets or even eat fish! It really strikes me as being wrong. I suppose you should either be a complete vegan or a meat-eater. Personally, I’ve never thought of becoming a vegetarian. In my opinion a lot of vegetarians miss out on their protein, because you can’t get enough of it from fruit and vegetables. Consequently lots of them need to take vitamin tablets. And it puts me off a bit.

If you prefer healthy eating you should also be aware of such things as chemical (food) additives and GM-food.

Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or improve its taste and appearance. Some additives have been used for centuries; for example, preserving food by pickling (with vinegar), salting, as with bacon, preserving sweets or using sulfur dioxide as in some wines. With the advent of processed foods in the second half of the 20th century, many more additives have been introduced, of both natural and artificial origin.

Some artificial food additives have been linked with cancer, digestive problems, neurological conditions in addition to diseases like heart disease or obesity. Even "natural" additives may be harmful in certain quantities (table salt, for example) or because of allergic reactions in certain individuals

Genetically modified (GM) foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms. Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques.

For example, genetic engineers put duck genes into chickens to make the chickens bigger or they put hormones into cows to make them produce more milk. It doesn’t make them cheaper, healthier or tastier. It makes them easier and faster for farmers to grow.

The effects of genetic engineering on our health are unknown. For instance people can develop allergies to biotech foods. Or maybe consuming GM-foods may cause modifications of our own DNA. That’s why now Europeans are forcing American companies to segregate and label genetically engineered and organic foods.

Another problem connected with healthy eating is Fast Food. Fast food (also known as Quick Service Restaurant or QSR within the industry itself) is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a packaged form for take-away. Fast Food is not healthy, because as a rule these products are extremely high in fat content, it means they contain a lot of calories and very little nutrients. That’s why regular consumption of Fast Food leads to problems with digestion and obesity.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-29