The Importance of Balanced Diet

a) Balanced diet entails a combination of various nutrients that is sufficient to give the number of nutritional requirements of the human body. A balanced diet is crucial and is needed for one to have good health. To have a healthy and proper diet, an individual should utilize calories contained in fresh fruits, whole grains, legumes, lean proteins, and fresh vegetables (Carter et al. 2016, p.341).

Inadequate intake of the various vital nutrients can be very dangerous to some levels and may lead to some nutritional issues. Consequences of deficiency of the essential nutrients include anaemia, osteoporosis, heart diseases and stroke, development of goiters, memory loss. Common deficiency diseases include marasmus, kwashiorkor, beriberi, scurvy, rickets, and pellagra. There are major two forms of malnutrition: protein-energy malnutrition and micronutrient malnutrition. Protein-energy malnutrition results from deficiencies in any or all nutrients in the body, while micronutrient deficiency results when there is a deficiency of a specific nutrient in the body (Yilmaz et al. 2015, p.39).

b) Anatomically, the human digestive systems can be divided into two: the one forming the alimentary canal, and those that are referred to as the accessory organs. The gastrointestinal tract is hollow and continuous right from the mouth to the anus (Denbow 2015, p.354). Along the length of the gut, there is a contribution of the accessory organs. Teeth and salivary glands are accessory organs of the mouth that help in the early breakdown of food before it moves to the eosophagus where it is moved down to the stomach via peristalsis. In the stomach, the food is churned to produce chime. Down to the intestines, a lot of processes take place, including the absorption of digested food. In the intestines, there are projections-like fingers called villi that help in the absorption digested food through active transport (Lefebvre et al. 2015, p.531).

References

Carter, N.A., Dewey, C.E., Thomas, L.F., Lukuyu, B., Grace, D., and de Lange, C., 2016. Nutrient requirements and low-cost balanced diets, based on seasonally available local feedstuffs, for local pigs on smallholder farms in Western Kenya. Tropical Animal Health and Production, 48(2), pp.337-347.

Denbow, D.M., 2015. Gastrointestinal anatomy and physiology. In Sturkie's Avian Physiology (Sixth Edition) (pp.337-366). Cambridge, MA: Academic Press.

Lefebvre, D.E., Venema, K., Gombau, L., Valerio Jr, L.G., Raju, J., Bondy, G.S., … Mehta, R., 2015. Utility of models of the gastrointestinal tract for assessment of the digestion and absorption of engineered nanomaterials released from food matrices. Nanotoxicology, 9(4), pp.523-542.

Yilmaz, F.Ö., Engin, K., and Hunt, A.Ö., 2015. The effects of balanced diets with soy bean extract or meat and bone meal on muscle and liver tissue protein and glycogen levels of the Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus infected with Vibrio anguillarum. Journal of Applied Biological Sciences, 9(2), pp.37-42.