Food Choices and Their Effects

           

            As can be seen in the above photo, there are many factors in our lives that guide our food choices. Along with those factors can be different challenges of choosing the correct type of foods. While we all know that people eat to maintain life because without nourishing our bodies they would break down, become sick and ultimately die. However, people also eat for many other reasons. Some eat out of pleasure and some out of boredom. However, there are also those who eat for comfort or to reward themselves. People eat alone, or in groups of family or friends. Food has always brought people together. It is no wonder that the kitchen is typically the room in the house that people flock towards. People also share their cultures through their food. There are even festivals each year that are only about food from different regions, sharing their culture through their dishes. In the book Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies, the authors point out how “people offering foods are expressing a willingness to share cherished values with others. People accepting those foods are symbolically accepting not only the person doing the offering but also the person’s culture” (Sizer & Whitney, 2013. Page 13).

            Culture can have an effect on what types of foods people eat, thus in turn it can also have an impact on their overall health. The food that makes up an individual's diet will either help them or hurt them over the course of their life. Nutrition can keep a person healthy while a lack of proper nutrients can cause malnutrition or obesity and their effects or illnesses like diabetes, high blood pressure, and anemia. These diseases can create a cycle of illness, medication, feeling well, only to be sick again.  If people were to eat a balanced diet rich in vegetables, fruits, dairy and whole grains, they may find that their illnesses could be helped naturally. However, instead of changing their eating habits, many rely on different medication to fight the effects of a poor diet. What is worse, according to Debbie Kralik and the Journal Of Nursing & Healthcare Of Chronic Illnesses (2010), these medications have side effects. Many of the side effects can lead to more problems with the absorption of nutrients, taste of food, and even appetite. Because of this it may seem as if the disease does not kill you, the medicine might. How sad to think that instead of someone changing their eating patterns, they would rather be sick and reliant on medications for the rest of their lives. Except, for some, it is not that easy. If a person grew up eating certain dishes, they might not realize that what they have been eating is unhealthy. Furthermore, it may not occur to them that they can change their illness to wellness simply by changing their diet. Being educated and having knowledge of what makes up a nutritious diet should be an even more important factor than those of culture, social, or even philosophical, and physical.

References

Kralik, D. (2010). Editorial: What are the issues of nutrition for people living with chronic illness?. Journal Of Nursing & Healthcare Of Chronic Illnesses, 2(1), 1-3. doi:10.1111/j.1752-9824.2010.01049.x

Sizer, F. & Whitney, E. (2013).  Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies (13th ed.).  Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.