We explain what eating is and what eating disorders are. Also, what does the diet consist of?
What is food?
The term food refers to set of actions that enable nutrition of the living beings of a certain degree of complexity, generally of the animals, including the human being.
Diet not only includes the ingestion of food They contain the nutrients necessary for normal growth and development, but also selection and cooking, if eaten cooked.
In this way, food and nutrition are two closely related but not coincident concepts, since the second occurs at the cellular level and depends on processes involuntary physiological processes, such as digestion and intestinal absorption, while the former is a voluntary process managed by the individual himself.
It is important to note that the type of diet that a person maintains depends on various factors, such as availability of food, culture, religion, socioeconomic situation, psychological aspects, advertising, and also individual needs that may be transitory (eg, wanting to lose weight or at a certain point in life) or permanent for reasons of Health (eg: celiac, diabetic, etc.).
Foods already transformed into nutrients allow us to meet global energy demands (which vary throughout the life), regulate metabolic processes, maintain body structures and form new ones, and prevent diseases. The main nutrients belong to the following chemical groups: protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins Y minerals. The Water It is also a fundamental nutrient that we tend to forget to consume in adequate amounts.
Eating disorders
At present, the importance of food education is emphasized, that is, the awareness that the foods we choose and the way we prepare and consume them are extremely important for our health and our psychophysical well-being.
In this sense, some specific problems have been identified, known today as disorders of the conduct food (TCA). Among them, bulimia and anorexia stand out, due to their cultural and social impact:
- Bulimia. In the first, there is an urgent need to consume a large amount of food in a short space of time, and then proceed to actions aimed at eliminating it (such as self-inducing vomiting).
- Anorexy. In anorexia there is a body distortion that causes the person to perceive themselves as fatter than they really are, which generates an uncontrolled and irrational desire to lose weight, at the cost of physical deterioration due to insufficient daily caloric intake. below the vital minimum.
Diet
The diet is a traditional biological concept that tries to classify animals based on the food they consume and their location in the food chain, which in turn depends on various factors, including the degree of development of your oral apparatus, the conformation of your digestive system (if monogastric or polygastric) and issues related to their behavior and lifestyle (domestic life, wandering, life in community, etc.).
Thus, traditionally they have been distinguished between carnivorous, herbivorous, omnivorous, scavenger and saprophagic feeding animals, as main types. The location of the human being in this sense it continues to be a matter of debate.
Western medicine has historically insisted on the importance of consuming foods of animal origin (meats) to obtain an adequate supply of proteins, and, above all, of certain amino acids (the so-called essential amino acids).
Today it is known, however, that our body is able to obtain all the nutrients it requires if it is provided with a good variety of plant-based foods, including legumes, cereals, seeds, nuts, and fresh fruits and vegetables.