Why do we have to eat?

Nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, and water have different functions in the body. They provide the body with vital substances every day, provide energy and maintain optimal health.
If a food is "ideal", it provides the body with all the nutrients it needs in order to replace degraded and excreted substances. It also provides the necessary energy for this.





Nutrients and energy for the body

Nutritional components are necessary to provide all body structures (such as muscles, tissues, organs, etc.) with what they need and to operate a variety of processes. Some substances are considered essential food components. They are particularly important for the body, as they cannot be formed alone, but must be supplied with food (such as certain vitamins, fatty acids and amino acids).

The processes of construction, deconstruction, and rebuilding take place continuously in the body. The body needs energy for these processes and related functions (such as growth, maintaining body temperature, breathing, or muscle work). This is provided by the breakdown of certain nutrients (carbohydrates, fats, protein).

NB
Those who constantly fuel their food with more energy than they consume gain weight. Those who supply less energy to food over the long term than they consume lose weight. In either case, an unbalanced diet can lead to deficiency symptoms. It is therefore important that a sufficient amount of vitamins, minerals and trace elements are ingested with food, in addition to energy-providing ingredients.

Perception, taste and emotions

Eating and drinking has a lot to do with perception, senses and different emotions. How something tastes - sour, salty, bitter, sweet or umami (savory, meaty or glutamate taste) - people perceive through the taste buds of the tongue. Recently "fatty" has been given as a taste. The taste buds at the edge of the taste capsules are supplied by so-called sensory neurons, which transmit taste information to the brain and thus stimulate taste sensations. Sour, salty, sweet, or umami are perceived with different sensitivity in almost all areas of the tongue. The "bitter" taste quality is found mainly at the back of the tongue, the base of the tongue.

The sense of smell also plays an important role in the sense of taste. The olfactory mucosa of the nose contains about ten million olfactory cells connected to the olfactory center in the brain via the olfactory nerve. Part of the nerve fibers is also connected to the so-called limbic system (part of the brain responsible for emotional reactions). As a result, olfactory sensations can lead to pleasant and unpleasant emotional reactions (e.g. to change facial expressions when having pleasure, but also to nausea with unpleasant taste sensations).

Other senses also contribute to the experience of taste. For example, the “appearance” of food and drink plays a role. There are also papillae on the tongue, which are responsible for the sensations of touch, heat and pain (filariform papillae, filiform papillae).

What shapes our eating habits

Consciously or unconsciously, our imprints, knowledge, habits and role models play an important role in our eating habits

Adult nutrition often reflects what they have learned in childhood, the family (social) environment, and experiences in kindergarten, school, and among friends. Learned eating habits (for example, the plate should be eaten empty) are often difficult to relearn. They shape our eating behavior and can contribute to overweight or obesity. Various psychological aspects such as uncontrolled eating, eating to compensate for stressful situations, or eating out of boredom affect the choice and quantity of food.

Diet is also related to marital status and level of education. Lack of knowledge of a balanced diet can lead to behaviors that also lead to obesity - for adults as well as for children.