You Are What You Eat!
Have you given any thought to what you put in your mouth every day?
In this country, we have lots of choices, so the best things to eat can be confusing. It turns out those choices are important! The human body is a machine that needs food so you can work and play every day. So, help it out!
Knowledge is power - take charge!
- Eating a healthy diet helps your body's immune system fight off common viruses and bacteria.
- Eating the wrong foods can make you: obese (being 20% over normal body weight), have high blood pressure, weaken your bones, get tooth and gum disease, and develop diabetes (high blood sugar). You can prevent these diseases!
- Eating healthy is money well spent and can save your life. After all, you want to live long and get the most out of every dollar you spend!
Eat healthy,feel better and enjoy life more!
Do you love donuts? Have them as an occasional treat, not as an everyday meal. If you develop new habits of eating healthy foods, your body will actually start to crave those things, rather than the unhealthy items. Besides giving your body fuel for energy, you are providing it with building blocks for your body's growth and care.
These building blocks within foods act to control the body functions you need everyday. Teens need lots of calories to support rapid growth. Girls need approximately 2200 calories/day, while boys need 2500-2900 calories.
Once growth has stopped, it is important for the young adult (20 and 30 somethings) to balance caloric intake with energy expended, or the weight will begin to increase yearly. Fat begins to build in the middle of the body, leading to many health issues if left unchecked. Look around you at all the people in this country carrying too much fat around their middle! When calories going in everyday exceed those burned, you begin to gain weight.
Next: What are the building blocks of foods and what do they do for you?