Healthy Eating – Daily Nutrition Intake Guide for Adults

“Nutrition is not just about eating, its about learning to live”- By Patricia Comptton

Nutrition defines the process by which all the food you eat are taken in and the needed nutrients are absorbed by the body from it. The time you reach adulthood, the focus of nutrition shifts in maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle. Therefore, by maintaining the intake of proper amount of nutrition the risk of chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes gets reduced.

Vitamins and minerals are an important part of nutrition. Vitamins are required by the body to regulate metabolism and to maintain normal growth and functionality whereas minerals plays a vital role as they our building blocks that construct our muscles, tissues and bones.

The key of positive outlook and emotional balance is eating well. However eating healthy food doesn’t mean eating bad and tasteless food. You can create great recipes in your kitchen by adding fresh ingredients, green veggies, lots of protein from egg, fish and pulses etc..

Here are some important minerals and vitamins that should be present in your diet:

Calcium

For maintaining a healthy bone, calcium is the most essential component. As we all know that bones are the support system of our body and it should be maintained properly to live a healthy life, but eventually by age our bone tissues start weakening and causes osteoporosis. Therefore, to reduce the risk of osteoporosis we should try to keep our bones healthy by obtaining calcium from milk, yogurt, cheese, leafy green veggies etc.

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Fat

Elderly adults who are above the age of 75 may find that fat restriction is not very much beneficial, especially if a person is frail or below a healthy weight. So, in this type of situation extra fat is required to maintain a normal calorie level and perfect weight as per the height and age. People who are above the age of 30 should maintain their calorie intake level as in this age getting over weight could increase the risk of some chronic diseases. Always keep in mind that before changing your diet, you should consult a health care provider or a qualified nutritionist.

Fluid

Our body’s ability to conserve water gradually decreases as we start getting older and the feel of getting thirsty becomes less sensitive. So, it’s better for your health to increase the intake of fluid because dehydrating can result to drowsiness and other side effects as well. Therefore, keeping hydrating your body throughout the day, even if you are not feeling thirsty. Fluid intake doesn’t mean only water, you can drink tea and coffee, fruit juice or squash.

Fiber

Including a good amount of fiber in your diet will ensure a healthy digestive system which leads to a healthy and wealthy body and reduces the risk of digestion-related diseases. Good source of fiber is whole grain cereal, porridge, wholegrain bread, brown pasta and rice, fresh fruit and vegetables and pulses.

Iron

Iron is very important for the body as it helps in making hemoglobin, which stores and carry oxygen in red blood cells from lungs to rest of the body. Organs and tissues receive less oxygen if your blood has less iron or no iron, which would lead to lethargy and tiredness. So, try to include meat, some veggies and dried fruit in your diet which are high in iron.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C helps in the formation of collagen, which helps in healing wounds, repairing bones and teeth. It is also needed to make your skin, ligaments, blood vessels and its anti-oxidant properties, so that your body can prevent you from heart diseases and cancer.

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Vitamin D

For absorbing calcium and slowing down the rate of calcium loss from your body, Vitamin D plays a vital role. The main source of vitamin D if sunlight but there are many other sources which you can add in your diet to increase Vitamin D such as: oily fish, eggs, cereals and spreads.

Zinc

To maintain a healthy immune system, you require zinc in your diet and source of zinc are meat, shellfish, whole wheat bread and pulses.

These are some important nutritional requirements for adults and you should keep in mind all these nutrients to live a long healthy life. Stay healthy and fit.