Our Nutritional Needs!

A Balanced & a nutrtional diet is a must for a healthy body and for a healthy lifestyle. It is the nutritional composition of a diet which speaks whether it will suit you or not. While talking about a healthy lifestyle it is necessary to focus on it from the scratch. But here the major question which arises in everyone’s mind is, should children and adults have the same diet?

Let’s delve in deeper and find out the answer. Throughout our lives, there are some minor or major changes undergoing in our body and hence the diet required by children and adults is ought to be different.

Different essential nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, iron, calcium, minerals, etc contribute to a balanced nutritional diet. If we study these nutrients one by one, we will see that nutritional requirement are different for different age groups.

Let’s take look at their importance:

1. Carbohydrates are the major source of energy for our body. Since children are more active as compared to adults, they require a higher carbohydrate to body weight ratio as compared to adults.

2. Proteins are the building blocks of our body. They are essential for tissue formation, they help in muscle growth, hair growth, and other major body functions. Parents should focus on providing the required amount of protein to their children as their body needs more protein to form new tissues and muscles continuously. For an adult protein requirement arises as they need to form stiffer and strong muscles which involve the process of breaking down of tissues which are recovered by protein. Hence, protein should be a major constituent of our diet.

3. When it comes to Vitamins and Minerals, they are equally important for both children and adults as vitamins and minerals helps in developing a good immune system, good eyesight and it also helps in keeping the body active.

4. The fat requirement is higher in children than in adults. Studies have shown that children burn more fat than adults even when both are equally active. An important thing one should keep in mind is that our fat should come from Unsaturated sources like Olive Oils.

The final word for Adult – For an adult to remain healthy throughout the life, a balanced nutritional diet is a must.

The final word for Kids – Being a parent, it should be your sole aim to provide a healthy nutrition to your child. 

Nutritional Deficiency:

Nutritional deficiency arises when one is not taking all the essential macronutrients which result in the development of many chronic health issues. Children who remain deprived of a healthy diet and lack proper nutrition gradually develop many serious health issues. As per the studies, the major nutritional deficiency which arises in a child as well as in adults is of iron and vitamins. Vitamin deficiency in an individual may lead to chronic diseases like throat and chest infections, intestinal problems as well as weakling of eye sights. Different Vitamins when in deficit lead to different types of diseases.

1. Vitamin A

• Deficiency – Vitamin A deficiency can lead to night blindness
• Source – Major sources of Vitamin A are dairy products and green leafy vegetables

2. Vitamin B

• Deficiency – Vitamin B deficiency can lead to many kinds of diseases like Beri-Beri, lack of energy, fatigue
• Source – Major source of vitamin B is whole grains, nuts, soybeans

3. Vitamin C

• Deficiency – Vitamin C deficiency causes Scurvy which is a gum disease and Vitamin C also prevents the damage of cells in diseases like cancer and heart diseases. It also strengthens our immune system.
• Source – Vitamin C is Citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruits, broccoli, sprouts, raw dark leafy vegetables.

4. Vitamin D

• Deficiency – Deficiency of Vitamin D causes bone problems.
• Source – The best source of Vitamin D is sunlight.

5. Vitamin E

• Deficiency – Vitamin E helps in developing a good immune system. Its deficiency can cause weakening of immune system. 
• Source – Its sources are green vegetables

6. Vitamin K

• Deficiency – Vitamin K helps in the clotting of blood while bleeding. Iron deficiency can lead to anemia
• Source – Its sources are soybeans, broccoli, and green vegetables.

Symptoms of Deficiency:

The common symptoms of nutritional deficiency are

• Numbness in hands and legs
• Balance problems
• Inflamed tongue
• Fatigue

Since modern-day eating habits have decreased the intake of all nutrients, it is a must that we should focus on our diet the most.

If you want to stay healthy and lead an active lifestyle throughout the life you should focus on your diet and make sure that you are taking all the essential macronutrients with your food.

Here are some tips:

• Focus on green leafy vegetables, eggs, soy, dairy products, meat for the protein requirements.
• For vitamins, one should include fruits in one’s diet plan.
• For Carbs, one should focus on taking more complex carb rather than a simple carb.
• A major source of complex carb is whole wheat chapati, oats, whole wheat daily as well as brown rice.
• Our fat intake should come from unsaturated sources like Olive oil, almonds, and nuts.
• The major thing that you should keep in mind is not to rely on supplements to fulfill your nutritional intake.
• Focus on natural products more and also include daily exercise in your schedule to stay healthy and to be active, as we all know health in the most precious wealth.
• Besides this, it will highly boost up your productivity and take your game to a whole new level and everyone likes to be on top of your game every day as success comes from consistent performance.

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Article Credits: Hafsa Zamindar | Mumbai | India

Editor: LivePeppy

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