
Anything, liquid or solid, which, when swallowed, can do one or more of three things, can be classified as food.
1. It needs to be able to provide the body with material from which it can make heat, work , or some other form of energy.
2. It needs to be able to provide the body with material to allow growth, maintenance repair or reproduction to take place.
3. It needs to supply substances which regulate these two actions.
The first one above applies to fats and sugars and starches mainly. We need a moderate amount of these. Most western diets today are very high in these. When these materials, fat and starches and sugars are taken in excess, they don't give energy, but convert to fat in the body.
The second one above is protein. This is the only material that contributes directly to growth, maintenance and repair. A lot of western diets are deficient in protein, and this results in a state of undernutrition. In more and more cases, the western diets are growing in the amounts of fats, sugars and starches, and various additives, and lessening in the amounts of protein, leading not only to under nutrition, but malnutrition. That's ONE of the reasons why the World Health Organisation states that 75%, seventy five percent, of illness today is as a result of poor nutritional habits.
The third one above refers to vitamins, minerals, trace elements, which regulate what the first two do. They help to release energy from sugars and starches and they help the protein synthesise into healthy body tissue. They also help regulate the chemical process of fats.
So, from this you can see how all these elements not not only work individually, but work with the other nutrients of food too.
That's what nutritionists mean when they talk about balance.
Again,the significance of this is that most diets today contribute to overweight, ill-health and poor levels of energy. The bodies get a lot of bulk, but not enough nutrients.
The result is that they get over-fed and under-nourished. One way to counter this is by use of supplements. Used in conjunction with a modified eating pattern, and a bit of regular, vigorous exercise, along with good breathing patterns and adequate rest, it is possible to bring about the most wonderful of transformations to body, mind and spirit.
For more on this, look HERE.