Nutrition Equals Life

Technically speaking, nutrition is the science of how the body uses food. In fact, nutrition is life. All living things, including you, need food and water to live. Beyond that, you need good food, meaning food with the proper nutrients, to live well. If you don’t eat and drink, you’ll die. Period. If you don’t eat and drink nutritious food and beverages:

• Your bones may bend or break (not enough calcium).
• Your gums may bleed (not enough vitamin C).
• Your blood may not carry oxygen to every cell (not enough iron). And on, and on, and on.

Understanding how good nutrition protects you against these dire consequences requires a familiarity with the language and concepts of nutrition. Knowing some basic chemistry is helpful (don’t panic:Chemistry can be a cinch when you read about it in plain English). A smattering of sociology and psychology is also useful, because although nutrition is mostly about how food revs up and sustains your body, it’s also about the cultural traditions and individual differences that explain how you choose your favorite foods.
To sum it up: Nutrition is about why you eat what you eat and how the food you get affects your body and your health.