Nutrition is the process that makes it possible to increase body substance through the consumption of food.
The word nutrition is associated with the verb to nourish . This action consists of increasing the body's substance through the intake of food. Nourishing can also refer to reinforcing or increasing something , especially in relation to moral or cultural issues.
For example: "If you want to improve your physical condition, you must take care of your nutrition" , "When I was a teenager I had many nutritional problems" , "Going to the theatre contributes to the nourishment of my spirit" .
For medicine , on the other hand, nutrition is the preparation of remedies by mixing different medications to improve their properties.
Nutrition according to biology
In its most common sense, however, nutrition is the process that belongs to biology and involves the assimilation of food and drink by an organism. Thanks to this assimilation, the organism obtains what it needs to develop and maintain its most important functions. Nutrition, on the other hand, is the study whose purpose is to understand how food and health are linked.
In this sense we have to emphasize that within the concept that concerns us it is necessary to talk about the existence of six different types of foods or nutrients that should be eaten by humans, if possible, on a daily basis, since they are the ones that will determine whether they have formidable health.
Specifically, the six different nutrients are water, vitamins (vegetables, fruit, etc.), carbohydrates (potatoes, pasta, legumes, etc.), minerals (dairy products, fish, meat, vegetables, etc.), fats (fish, nuts , etc.) and proteins (meat, seafood, etc.).
Good nutrition requires eating healthy foods.
Differences with food
The terms nutrition and feeding are often used as synonyms. However, nutrition is linked to the nutrients found in food and to various involuntary actions that take place once a living being has ingested the food.
Food, on the other hand, refers to actions that are consciously carried out and voluntary, such as the selection, preparation and ingestion of each food. This means that food is related to culture, economy and other factors.
Sports nutrition
In addition to all of the above, it is important to determine that there is a specific area within nutrition that is called sports nutrition . A term that defines that branch of the aforementioned area that focuses exclusively on what people who practice a sport of a certain intensity do.
In this sense, nutrition professionals working in this field must determine the diet and nutrients that these athletes must consume on a daily basis, taking into account everything from the wear and tear that occurs in this sport to the physical needs that they have.
More precisely, what these nutrition experts do is to prepare very specific diets for these athletes, with which they can not only strengthen and repair tissues but also enjoy the energy they need to train and compete. And that's without forgetting that they must also regulate their metabolism.