How Important is Nutrition in My Life We are what we eat, so goes a popular aphorism, the veracity of which cannot be overemphasized.

What I eat constitutes a very important aspect of my metabolism as a living thing and I definitely cannot do without it for as long as I want to keep living. Nutrition, according to the World Health Organization, is the intake of food according to the dietary needs of the body (WHO, 2013). From this definition, it can be deduced that it nutrition goes way beyond just eating to quell hunger, but involves the very act of eating food that is beneficial to my body. Nutrition therefore is very important in my body as it increases my daily productivity, enables my body immune system to be functional, promotes my mental development, and keeps my weight under optimum check. In the subsequent paragraphs, I will elucidate on how these attributes of nutrition prove to be important in my life.

As a living thing, energy is needed to carry out my daily activities and my body has to be able to provide the needed energy if I have to be productive in whatever activity I involve myself in. Energy has been defined as the ability to do work and nutrition gives me the needed energy through the food that I consume. Without this energy, it is impossible to work and without nutrition, it is impossible to obtain the energy needed to remain productive. As earlier mentioned, nutrition does not necessarily imply that I eat, but I have to eat what will embellish my body. There are some foods that satiate my hunger but are not very good for the body. It is therefore very important that I not only have food to eat, but I eat what will give me the required energy to perform my daily obligations, and here is where nutrition comes in.

Another importance of nutrition in my life is in the manner in which it enables my immune system to function optimally. My immune system is fueled by essential nutrients that come from no other place than the foods that I eat. If I eat right, my immune system will be fueled with the nutrients it needs to continue performing its duties as efficiently as it can. On the other hand, the absence of the nutrients that fuel the immune system results in a depreciation of the functionality of my immune system and it is only a matter of time before things get out of hand and the immune system breaks down. The needed nutrients come in the form of vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals; and quite a number of studies have revealed that the absence of some of the essential nutrients are the reasons why diseases like cancer, heart-related ailments, kidney failure and so on (Chandra, 1997). For instance, Vitamin C in the body contributes immensely to the production of the antibodies that are responsible for combating foreign bodies that can cause illness in the body.

My mental development is not possible without the presence of certain nutrients in my body, particularly my brain, and these nutrients are not available without proper nutrition. In other words, nutrition enables my brain to carry out its function of coordinating my mental activities. The mental activities in turn coordinate my physical activities and those physical activities enable me pursue the things that make life interesting for me. There are some nutrients that have great effects on the brain and there are others that do not (Giorgieff, 2007). Examples of those nutrients that have huge effects on the brain include choline, iodine, folate, Vitamin A, iron, zinc, copper, and so on (Giorgieff, 2007). Since the body does not manufacture any of these nutrients, they are bound to find their way into the body through appropriate

diet. Nutrition therefore is one of my most important responsibilities since it is accountable for keeping my brain the center of my nervous system in good health.

In a related manner, is the impact that nutrition has in keeping my Body Mass Index (BMI) under check so that I am neither overweight (being obese) nor underweight. Obesity for instance has been tied to the etiology of diseases like coronary artery disease, type-2 diabetes, sleep apnea, gallstones, and high blood pressure, to mention but few (Fontaine, Redden, Wang, Westfall, & Allison, 2003). On the other hand, being underweight can result in dire health conditions, some of which include osteoporosis (otherwise referred to as fragile bone disease), hyperthyroidism, infertility, anemia, as well as a less potent immune system (Mahan, 2000). With proper nutrition therefore, my chances of being diagnosed of any of the above medical conditions will be drastically reduced.

Many disease conditions are usually life threatening and any thing that poses as a threat to human life should be treated with utmost importance. I have been able to expatiate, in the previous paragraphs, that the importance of nutrition in my life cannot be understated given the fact that without proper nutrition, my daily productivity will be affected, my immune system will not be as functional as it should be, my mental development will be affected negatively, and my BMI will be optimal.

References
Chandra, R. K. (1997). Nutrition and the Immune System: An Introduction. Am J Clin Nutr , 66 (2), 4605-4635. Fontaine, K., Redden, D., Wang, C., Westfall, A., & Allison, D. (2003). Years of Life Lost Due to Obesity. JAMA , 289 (2), 187-193. Giorgieff, M. (2007). Nutrition and the Developing Brain: Nutrient Priorities and Measurement. American Society for Clinical Nutrition , 85 (2), 6145-6205. Mahan, K. (2000). Krause's Food, Nutrition & Diet Therapy (10th ed.). Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Co. WHO. (2013). Nutrition. Retrieved July 27, 2013, from World Health Organization Website: http://www.who.int/topics/nutrition/en/