Almost everyone is aware today, of the
importance of protein in our diet.
Protein directly affects our muscles, tissues and organs. It also directly effects the development of these
organs, our brain included. What happens
if we don’t get the necessary protein or any of the other many nutrients our
body, not just our brain, needs to function correctly? It is through the use of our mind (or brain,
whichever term you prefer) that we are able to absorb the necessary facts and
figures and process it into useable pieces of information.
Nutrition refers
to the nurturing of our body, in our ability to keep it healthy and functioning
as it is supposed to do. Our ability to
provide the body with all the necessary food, vitamins, and minerals so that we
continue to thrive in our daily life processes.
How
do we determine that we are providing the essential nutritional needs? That knowledge comes by educating ourselves
about what our individual needs are, the needs of our family, and then taking
that knowledge and applying it to the foods we buy, that we prepare, and that
our families consume. Once again,
through the use of our minds, we are able to take the guidance provided by the
USDA, develop a journal and establish what our daily requirements are, so that
take care of our necessary nutritional needs.
According to the
guides published by the USDA, calorie needs vary from one age group to another,
one gender to another. So how do you
determine what your individual needs are?
You can setup a journal for recording your daily caloric intake for
about a month. Make a note of your
weight each day. If you don’t gain any
weight during the course of that month, you’re eating your recommended calorie
level in order to maintain your weight.
Now, take that calorie information, check with a nutritionist about the
recommended daily allowances of vitamins and minerals that you need. Take both pieces of information, calorie
intake and nutritional requirements, use the food pyramid and comprise a
combination of foods that will help you achieve these recommended daily
intakes, and still be enjoyable food. You now have an individualized healthy
eating plan.
Over the course
of absorbing the instructions for a healthy, well-balanced eating plan, we have
used our mind through the whole process.
Our ability to think and reason, our level of education, and the
exposure we receive to outside input on a daily basis affects our entire
environment, but especially our health.
We make choices based on the information we have previously
absorbed. Our food, exercise, and
recreation choices are no exception. It
just so happens that these choices can immediately affect our health.
Maybe now you
have a clearer picture of the opportunities we have for our brain to affect our
health. It is more than just conscious
decisions. It is a result of brain
development through childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. It is a result information we have previously
absorbed, and input we will continue to receive.
