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Why is it important to put gasoline or petrol in to our cars? Why is it important to plug our TV's in to the electrical socket before switching them on? Why is it important to charge up our mobile or cell phones on a regular basis? The reason, quite simply, is that all of these items and many more in everyday life require the necessary fuel in order to function, whatever form that fuel may take. In precisely the same fashion, our bodies require their own fuel, in this instance the fuel being what we refer to as food and drink.

Let us now take it one step further. What happens if we put, for example, an inferior or inappropriate grade of petroleum product in to our cars? They may work perfectly well in the short term, or at least give the illusion of same. In the longer term, however, things will start to go wrong. We may see such as a blockage in the fuel line - perhaps akin to a clogging of the arteries?

The quality of the fuel that we put in to our bodies is therefore just as important as the quantity. When we are referring to the fuel for our own bodies, we "grade" it under the broad heading of "nutrition." We can therefore define nutrition simply as being the quality control aspect of that which we eat and drink.

Nutrition is important because it ensures that our bodies get all of the essential vitamins and minerals which it requires to function in an effective capacity. Different parts of our bodies and the different organs within it require different nutrients. Eating a balanced diet therefore means ensuring that we take in all of these substances and in sufficient quantities.

Let us look briefly at nutrition therefore in a little more detail:

Vitamin A is essential for our eyes and consequently our eyesight. It is important to the cellular structure of our skin and to our immune systems in that it helps us fight off infection. It is an effective anti-oxidant which can protect the body against certain forms of cancer.

The Vitamin B group of vitamins are important particularly to ensure that our bodies produce enough red blood cells to distribute oxygen effectively. A Vitamin B deficiency can lead to anemia.

Vitamin C is required to assist our bodies in repairing what is effectively cellular damage in the form of bruises, cuts or grazes. It is also extremely effective in preventing the onset of many types of cancer.

Vitamin D, like calcium, is essential for maintaining the health of our bones and teeth.

Vitamin E in a sense can be viewed as a guardian of the work performed by Vitamin A. It protects the essential fatty acids in the body and prevents tissue deterioration.

The above is but a very brief and simplistic look at some of the more common vitamins and why they are essential for each and every one of us. I hope I have therefore gone some small way to illustrating why nutrition is important.

Learn more about this author, Gordon Hamilton.
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