Nutrition refers to the nourishment of your body. Fitness refers to your state of health and well-being. What you put in your body and what you do with your body determine your overall health, your risk for developing major diseases and your quality of life. By improving your nutrition and fitness, you can reap many benefits.
Weight Management
Many factors can influence your weight. Hormones, genetics and environment play a part, but nutrition and fitness are the main determinants. Weight loss requires that you burn more calories than you take in, while weight maintenance requires that you eat only what you will use. The outcome can be altered by increasing or decreasing food intake or exercise or both. Many diet plans suggest limiting a food group such as fat or carbohydrates. However, a study in 2009 by the Department of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health concluded that reduced-calorie diets were effective for weight loss regardless of percentage of fat, protein or carbohydrates.
Quality Sleep
Lack of quality sleep can cause fatigue, memory loss, weight gain, headaches and irritability. Dietary intake before bedtime can affect your quality of sleep. In 2007, the School of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of Sydney reported that high-carbohydrate, high-glycemic foods can decrease the time of sleep onset and determined that this effect was most pronounced four hours before bedtime. Additionally, foods with tryptophan such as peanut butter and milk are associated with better sleep. Exercise is another technique for improving sleep quality. The Journal of the American Medical Association reported in January 1997 that regular, moderate-intensity exercise improves sleep patterns.
Mood Maintenance
Food and exercise have been strongly linked to moods. In 2006, the American Journal of Psychiatry confirmed that omega-3 deficiency is a contributing factor to mood disorders and that supplementation would likely provide a benefit. According to the Department of Nutrition at Arizona State University, a vegetarian diet is associated with healthy mood states. Exercise also plays a large role in mood. The University of Birmingham in the UK reviewed exercise and depression studies and reported that exercise can be as effective, and sometimes more effective, than medication with the same adherence rates.
Disease Prevention
The rising incidence of disease and the cost of health care require preventive strategies. Good nutritional practices help prevent many diseases. Consuming more whole grains, fruits and vegetables helps prevent certain cancers and heart disease. Decreasing consumption of refined sugars and carbohydrates can prevent type 2 diabetes. Eating more omega-3 food sources, such as fish, decreases risk for cardiovascular disease, cancer and osteoporosis. Exercise is an important factor in prevention as well. In 2007, the Institute of Physical Education in Szczecin, Poland, reported evidence confirming that physical activity is important for primary prevention of chronic diseases, decreased mortality rates and physical and psychological well-being.
References
- New England Journal of Medicine: Comparison of Weight-loss Diets with Different Compositions of Fat, Protein and Carbohydrates
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: High-glycemic-index Carbohydrate Meals Shorten Sleep Onset
- Journal of the American Medical Association: Moderate-intensity Exercise and Self-rated Quality of Sleep in Older Adults
- American Journal of Psychiatry: Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Mood Disorders
- Nutrition Journal: Vegetarian Diets are Associated With Healthy Mood States: A Cross-sectional Study in Seventh Day Adventist Adults
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