Brief Information on Diets

A diet is defined as the sum of food consumed by a person or other organism. Dietary habits are habitual decisions an individual or culture makes when choosing what food to eat.
Many individuals choose the type of food by certain criteria, like:

1. Desired state of health;
2. Morality;
3. Religion;
4. Effectiveness.

It seems that in the last few years more and more people are concerned with their health, when speaking of diets.

The imbalance of consumed products results in either starvation or excessive reserves of adipose tissue (body fat) .

Vitamins and minerals are very important (poor intake can cause dramatic effects on someone’s health):

• More than 3 million children are blind because of poor intake of vitamin A;
• Lack of vitamin C can cause scurvy;
• Lack of dietary proteins can cause childhood disorders like Kwashiorkor and Marasmus;
• The intake of vitamin D can affect the absorption of other substances like calcium and phosphorus (other two very important elements);
• It is believed that more than 30% of world’s population either has or is at risk of developing iodine deficiency;
• Heart diseases and diabet are often caused by obesity.