Obesity, starvation, malnutrition, healthy diet and metabolic rate

Healthy diet What makes a healthy diet? A healthy diet contains: Carbohydrates- e.g. dried fruits, potatoes and cereals Proteins- e.g. fish, yoghurt, eggs Fats- e.g. cake, cream, chocolate Vitamins and minerals- e.g. Found in fruits, and meats Fibre- e.g. Fruit, vegetables, nuts Water If your diet is unbalanced, it can lead to health complications, such as…

Malnutrition Definition: lack of proper nutrition If you don’t take in enough vitamins and minerals, you could end up with diseases such as scurvy which is caused by lack of Vitamin C. Some early symptoms of malnutrition include: Feeling tired all the time and lacking energy Taking a long time to recover from infections Delayed wound healing Irritability Poor concentration

Starvation Definition: a state of extreme hunger resulting from lack of essential nutrients over a prolonged period of time Starvation is a severe deficiency in caloric energy, nutrients, and vitamin intake. It is the most extreme form of malnutrition. In humans, prolonged starvation can cause permanent organ damage and eventually, death.

Obesity Definition: Obesity is a term used to describe somebody who is very overweight with a high degree of body fat. What causes people to become obese? There is easy access to cheap, high-energy food that is often aggressively marketed to people People’s lifestyles and jobs are much less active than in the past and many leisure activities such as watching television or playing video games are usually done sitting down People drive or use public transport and walk a lot less than they used to Illnesses that may cause someone to gain weight

Obesity What can you do to lose weight? Exercise regularly Decrease your calorie intake Eat a well balanced diet In extreme cases, some people resort to surgery.

Metabolic rate Definition: The amount of energy used in a given period of time. Facts: Your metabolism slows down as you get older Increased levels of activity speed up your metabolic rate The more muscle compared to fat you have, the quicker your metabolism will be Men’s metabolic rate is generally higher than women’s How can you speed up your metabolic rate? To speed up your metabolism, you should eat smaller portion sizes but more of them. E.g. eat 5 small portions of food a day instead of 3 larger ones. You should also do more exercise.