What Is Meaning Of Nutritional Status?

Nutrition is the science of how nutrients affect the body and their subsequent relation to health and disease. Your nutritional status is defined as your health in relation to your diet. How well your body functions is a direct reflection of what you eat, how much you eat, and the balance between the two. When one or several of your body systems are malfunctioning, it most likely relates, in some degree, to your nutritional status.

Determining Factors

Your digestive system breaks down foods, so the nutrients can be absorbed in the bloodstream and transported throughout your body. As your body metabolizes these nutrients, vitamins and minerals work synergistically to allow your body to build and repair itself to keep you healthy. The health of your body's cardiovascular, digestive, urinary, immune, muscular, nervous, reproductive, respiratory and skeletal systems is critical in determining your nutritional status.

Wellness

Wellness is essentially a state of health, when your body is functioning at optimal performance based on peak nutritional intake. Your mind and body function at levels that meet or exceed your demand. You are resistant to illness and disease, and you sleep well and awaken refreshed and energized. Your body is able to heal and recover quickly and repair itself with little outside intervention.

Poor Nutritional Status

Several diseases and conditions result from poor nutrition, such as high blood pressure, which can result from a diet high in sodium. Atherosclerosis, a narrowing of the arteries due to a buildup of plaque, occurs when your diet is high in saturated and trans fats. Osteoporosis, the result of a diet low in calcium, magnesium and several vitamins, causes your bones to become porous and brittle. You can be genetically predisposed to these conditions, which makes your diet all the more important.

Malnutrition

There are causes, other than diet-induced diseases, for an altered nutritional status. Issues such as economic conditions, ignorance, disaster, stress, psychological disorders, among others, can all cause an altered nutritional status or malnutrition, which can result from an unbalanced diet -- or one lacking in essential nutrients -- or from eating foods in disproportionate amounts.