Nutrition in Preventive Medicine – Term Paper

What Is Preventive Nutrition? is a nutrition report found on a website called Nutritional Concepts. According to the report, this type of nutrition is all about disease prevention, adopting a high level of individual well-being, and knowledge of recurring symptoms of discomfort or health problems that are likely to lead to medical problems. This report analyses an individual’s blood work and a three-meal dairy to figure out what is needed for someone to achieve optimal health. Such optimal health is achieved through a modification of diet, nutrients and way of life. This essay offers a detail review of the nutrition report. 

From a scientific point of view, preventive nutrition is a segment of nutrition science whose aim is to prevent or stall the onset of certain diseases and complications related to them. It can minimize the seriousness of such diseases. In many ways, it forms the basis for nutrition science. This is considering the fact that the goal of most aspects of nutrition is to improve an individual’s, group, or society’s health.

According to Fardet & Boirie (2013), there are several nutrition-related major diseases that are likely to cause disability or even death. They include diabetes, obesity, certain form of cancer, cardiovascular disease, dental disease and osteoporosis. Through preventive nutrition that involves the proper intake of nutrients and physical exercise, the burden related to these conditions can be reduced.  The nutrition report looks at the above-mentioned conditions one by one, and then offers guidelines on how preventive nutrition can help in reducing the chances of an individual contracting them.

Obesity is mainly caused by an imbalance between a high energy in a diet and this energy not being fully utilized due to inactivity. Such a diet often contains excessive amounts of calories gotten from starch, fat or sugars. Unhealthy gain in weight can be prevented by minimizing intake of diets that contain huge amounts of sugars, as well as increasing the amount of physical exercise. Taking such simple steps to adopting a concrete course of action requires major changes in lifestyle and the environment so as to effectively support and promote healthier diet choices among individuals (Greenberg & Shiau, 2015).

Excessive gain in weight, obesity and the state of being overweight, and lack of physical activities are among the leading causes of type 2 diabetes in the world. This condition is known to trigger an increased risk of kidney disease, heart disease, infections and stroke. Doing more physical exercise and maintaining one’s weight at a healthy level play a crucial role in treating diabetes and preventing it. On the other hand, cardiovascular diseases, which happen to be the major causes of deaths across the world, are to a great extent caused by unbalanced diets and lack of physical exercise. Two of their main forms are stroke and heart disease. Their risks can be minimized by consuming enough amounts of fruits, vegetables and polyunsaturated fats, and less amounts of salt, saturated fats and trans fats. Minimizing salt intake goes a long way in reducing blood pressure, which happens to be a top cause of cardiovascular diseases.

Tobacco may be the leading cause of cancer worldwide. However, dietary factors also significantly contribute to certain types of cancer. The risk of breast cancer and cancers of the colorectum, esophagus, kidney and endometrium can be reduced by an individual maintaining a healthy weight. Also, limiting intake of alcohol can minimize the chances of someone getting cancers of the throat, mouth, esophagus, breast and liver.  Making sure that there is sufficient intake of vegetables and fruits can further reduce the chances of someone getting oral cavity, colorectal, stomach and esophagus cancer.

Bone fractures and osteoporosis are problems experienced by older people. Sufficient intakes of calcium, amounting to at least 500 mg per day, and that of vitamin D in individuals suffering from osteoporosis goes a long way minimizing risk of fracture. Also, exposure to the sun and physical exercise contributes to stronger muscles and bones. Dental diseases such as can be prevented by limiting the amount sugar consumed as well as how often it is consumed, as well as the correct access to fluorine. Dietary acids contained in acidic foods and dietary acids contained in beverages can trigger erosion of teeth, which in turn contributes to tooth destruction (Stetson, McDonough & Mokshagundam, 2015).

Adopting healthy diets and performing physical exercise are crucial when it comes to good nutrition. In addition, they are needed for a healthy and long life. Consuming foods that are dense in nutrients and then balancing the intake of energy with the ideal physical exercise aimed at maintaining a healthy weight is vital at all life stages. If there is an unbalanced consumption of foods that are rich in sugars, fat and starch, and which contain low amounts of essential nutrients can lead to excess amounts of energy, obesity and a state of being overweight. The amount of energy that an individual consumes with respect to physical exercise as well as the quality of food consumed are major determinants of whether he or she is likely to suffer from a nutrition-related chronic disease.

According to Fardet & Rock (2014), the important role played by physical exercise as part of health and nutrition cannot be ignored. Exercise is a major determinant of energy utilization, meaning that it is crucial to energy balance in the body and control of weight. The positive effects of physical exercise on metabolism are facilitated by other mechanisms apart from control of excessive body weight. Lack of exercise is now considered a major worldwide health risk. It is widespread in both developing and developed nations, especially among poor people living in crowded urban centers. Steps and measures needed to ensure people consume healthier diets and adopt exercise routines have something in common, and happen to be mutually interactive when it comes to figuring out healthier behavior patterns (Bendich & Deckelbaum, 2016).

Certain measures need to be taken in order to achieve desirable results with respect to ensure people don’t contract nutrition related diseases. They include implementing policies and strategies that fully recognize the crucial role of both physical exercise and diet in ensuring their optimal health and excellent nutrition. In addition, programs and policies must deal with the need for change that individuals must adopt. Something else that needs to be done is make modifications within society and the respective environment with the aim of making healthier choices preferable and accessible. One way that this can be successfully achieved is through establishment of a working relationship between governments and communities. Another strategy to achieve this is by initiating local initiatives and legislation that affect workplaces and schools. These initiatives should involve producers of food and the food processing industry in general.

References

Bendich, A., & Deckelbaum, R. J. (Eds.). (2016). Preventive nutrition: The comprehensive guide for health professionals. Springer.

Fardet, A., & Boirie, Y. (2013). Associations between diet-related diseases and impaired physiological mechanisms: a holistic approach based on meta-analyses to identify targets for preventive nutrition. Nutrition reviews, 71(10), 643-656.

Fardet, A., & Rock, E. (2014). Toward a new philosophy of preventive nutrition: from a reductionist to a holistic paradigm to improve nutritional recommendations. Advances in Nutrition: An International Review Journal,5(4), 430-446.

Greenberg, H., & Shiau, S. (2015). The Trans Pacific Partnership: Global Nutrition at Risk. In Preventive Nutrition (pp. 63-69). Springer International Publishing.

Stetson, B., McDonough, S., & Mokshagundam, S. P. (2015). Nutrition Issues and Recommendations in the Management of Diabetes and Prediabetes in Older Adults. In Preventive Nutrition (pp. 399-424). Springer International Publishing.