So much information now exists that it is difficult to know if it is reliable. When it comes to health and nutrition, there is never a shortage of “experts”; who share a strategy that worked for them; or that gave someone else results, but can we trust them? We set out to make a short glossary to clarify some basic concepts.
NUTRITION: It refers to the nutrients that make up food; it implies the processes that happen in your body after eating, that is, the obtaining, assimilation, and digestion of nutrients by the body.
FOOD: Set of actions by which food is provided to the body. It covers food selection, cooking, and intake. It is related to traditions, tastes, economy, and geographic location.
DIET: Pattern that the human being follows in the habitual consumption of food without considering his needs.
BALANCED DIET: This refers to the habitual consumption of foods that provide all the nutrients and energy necessary for a person; Covering their needs.
FOOD PLAN: Strategy used to ensure adequate availability, consumption, and biological use of food to satisfy food and nutritional needs of the person.
EATING AND FOOD INGESTION DISORDERS: Persistent alteration in eating or eating-related behavior that; leads to an alteration in the consumption or absorption of food and causes a significant deterioration in physical health or functioning psychosocial.
Let’s clarify;
Nutrition refers to the action and effect of nourishing. And, if we think of the word nourish, we can define it as increasing the animal or vegetable substance through food, repairing what we lost due to metabolic functions.
The concept of a diet is a little simpler. It refers to the set of foods that a person consumes; and is not necessarily focused on a goal, such as weight loss or obesity treatment. That is, it is what we eat throughout the day. Therefore, we all follow a diet.
We do not all need the same type of diet. Has it happened to you that you do the same magazine diet as your friend, and it works excellent for him/her, while it does not work for you? That happens because fad diets are generally very low-calorie diets that can make you lose weight quickly; but that you are going to abandon soon. After all, you will be hungry, which generates frustration and a return to bad habits.
Your food plan must be, prepared by a qualified nutritionist. It has to be based on a caloric deficit, and its’ preparation includes a balanced diet and strategies that will help you carry out the food plan in a more efficient way, constant, prolonged, and experience favorable long-term results.
