How Important Are Fruits and Vegetables in Our Daily Diet?

Food is any substance eaten to provide nutrition to an organism. Food is generally of animal, plant or fungi origin, and includes vital nutrients, including proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, fat, or minerals. In most cases, food is consumed for the satisfaction of the appetite, as well as to meet the body’s requirements for a number of other functions. For example, human beings require certain carbohydrates in order to function normally; others require fats to protect the body from various kinds of infections; some require minerals to help maintain the health and energy levels of the human body. The main objective of nutrition is to ensure that the correct kind of nutrients are provided to all the organisms involved.

The basic principles behind nutrition are not difficult to grasp, however it is rather difficult to change people’s eating habits. This means that if people do begin to eat healthier diets, which involve a greater amount of vegetables and fruits, and smaller amounts of meats and other animal products, they will still probably eat a large amounts of sweet and fatty foods. This is because the taste of many foods is highly complex, and requires a lot of skill to identify the different tastes among the various ingredients. This is why it is easier to eat small quantities of healthy foods, so that one does not have to learn how to distinguish the different flavours among different vegetables. A diet that consists mainly of these types of food, together with a small amount of healthy carbohydrates and a sufficient amount of dietary fibre, will do far more to boost the immune system than any massive quantities of sugary, salty, and other unhealthy foods.

Fruits and vegetables are the richest, most complete sources of the main nutrients that are required by humans, and therefore form the basis of a healthy diet. Although it may seem hard to believe, fruits can provide a number of important micronutrients that are not included in the diet, including vitamin C, beta carotene, dietary fibre, potassium, magnesium, and selenium. The only problem is that the majority of fruits are relatively low in calories, meaning that people who are aiming to lose weight should include a good amount of fruits in their diets, as well as incorporating other beneficial micronutrients from vegetables. However, fruits can also contain some of the highest levels of fat, sodium, cholesterol, carbohydrates and sugar, and thus moderation is the key when choosing between different varieties. The exception to this rule is that the juice of citrus fruits is a good source of antioxidants and other important minerals, including vitamin C.