THE 4 LAWS OF FOOD FOR A PROPER DIET - NUTRITION - 2025

The laws of food summarize in four points what is the nutrition that we must carry properly. As is known, food is an essential part of everyone's life and, in that sense, the laws of food can be considered universal.

Food gives us the energy and nutrients necessary to grow and develop, be healthy and active, move, work, play, think, and learn. The body needs a variety of the following 5 nutrients to stay healthy and productive: protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, and minerals.

Protein is needed to build, maintain, and repair muscles, blood, skin, bones, and other tissues and organs in the body. Protein-rich foods include meat, eggs, dairy products, and fish.

On the other hand, carbohydrates provide the body with its main source of energy. High carbohydrate foods include rice, corn, wheat, potatoes, fruits, honey, etc.

Meanwhile, fat is the body's secondary source of energy and provides more calories than any other nutrient. Foods high in fat are oils, butter, milk, cheese, and some meats.

Lastly, vitamins and minerals are needed in very small amounts, which is why they are sometimes called micronutrients. They help build body tissue, for example bones (calcium) and blood (iron).

But before continuing with the importance of a good diet, we will see the famous laws of food, fundamental to establish the importance of food in all human beings.

Laws of food

Quantity Law

This law determines the amount of food that is necessary to satisfy the energy requirements of the human body, and thus maintain a balance. The amount of food that a person eats will guarantee a long and healthy life, to which physical activity must be added.

The amounts of food depend, of course, on the size of the individual, as well as their body composition (fat and lean mass), the type of physical activity carried out, and activities outside the sports field, such as the type of work And I study.

Quality law

The law of quality refers, as its name indicates, to the qualitative and not to the quantitative. In other words, the diet must be complete and healthy to maintain the body as an indivisible unit. For this, the body needs proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, vitamins, minerals and water.

Law of harmony

By harmony is understood the proportion of foods to each other, to maximize the benefits of each of them. In other words, the amount of nutrients must be in balance.

Law of adequacy

Last but not least, there is the law of adaptation, which basically says that each person is a world with their tastes and habits, economic and cultural situation, and that food must be adapted to these contexts.

Therefore, each meal plan must be made individually and take people as a whole. In other words, an eating plan needs to take into account multiple variables, it is not only about dictating what is healthy, but also what is appropriate.

The importance of a balanced diet

To stay healthy, the human body doesn't just need the five nutrients that were mentioned at the beginning of this article. It is also necessary to administer them in the correct amounts, that is, to have a balanced diet.

Otherwise, the consequences are numerous and dangerous. If your body doesn't eat enough energy foods (for example, carbohydrates and fats), you will feel very tired. But if you eat too much fat, you will become overweight. The key is balance.

Many people in the so-called developed world (for example, the United States) eat too much saturated fat, which is why obesity is becoming a big problem. Being obese goes far beyond a cosmetic issue: it has serious health implications, including increasing your chances of suffering from heart disease, diabetes, having a stroke or suffering from cancer.

On the other hand, in the underdeveloped world many people suffer from hunger or undernourishment, so they do not have enough food or are "undernourished". Meanwhile, malnutrition is characterized by an inadequate intake of protein, energy, or micronutrients.

What is malnutrition?

People who are hungry or malnourished are at risk of malnutrition.

Types of malnutrition

The type of malnutrition a person experiences depends on the lack of nutrients in their diet:

1. Children who lack energy and protein in their diet, in the form of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, can develop a condition called proteo-energy. Protein-energy malnutrition is the most lethal form of malnutrition.

1. Children who lack a single micronutrient (a specific vitamin or mineral) or lack other nutrients can develop what is known as micronutrient malnutrition. These types of malnutrition are less visible but no less serious than protein-energy malnutrition.

What is hunger?

The world produces enough food for all its inhabitants. However, some of this data will surprise you:

• The world produces enough food for everyone. However, there are more than 800 million hungry people in the world.
• Every 5 seconds a child dies of hunger or related causes.
• Chronic hunger kills 24,000 people every day.
• Every year, 10.9 million children under the age of 5 die of hunger in developing countries.
• Malnutrition and hunger-related diseases cause more than 60% of these deaths.

Where are the hungry?

Hunger exists in all parts of the world. However, most malnourished people live in the developing world and earn less than a dollar a day.

More than 314 million of the world's hungry live in South Asia. This is equal to the entire population of Australia and the US combined.

Sub-Saharan Africa also has large numbers of hungry people, with more than 30% of the population undernourished.

Main causes of hunger

The main causes of hunger are:

• Poverty

Hunger is closely linked to poverty. Currently, more than 1.1 billion people make no more than a dollar a day. Many of these poor people often cannot get enough food, either because they lack the resources (land, seeds, and tools) to grow enough food, or they lack the money to buy it.

• War

The war disrupts agricultural production and the distribution of food products. Even worse:

Some crops are intentionally stolen or destroyed. In some countries, governments spend a lot of money on weapons that they could have spent on food production, education, and medical care. Military spending is more than the total income of the world's poorest 45%.

• International trade

The current global trading system does not treat poor countries fairly, and trade rules favor rich, multinational companies.

For example, the poor often do not have access to sale of their products in developed country markets due to barriers to trade, such as tariffs or agricultural subsidies. These barriers are established by governments to protect their products and markets from external products.

• Debt

When developing countries have debt problems and ask for help, they are told to carry out economic reforms called Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). SAPs often require governments to cut public spending. This has led governments to eliminate subsidies, raise local food prices, and reduce the aid they provide to their citizens.

• Gender discrimination

Women of all ages have higher rates of hunger and malnutrition than men. This is in part due to women having special nutritional needs as a result of having and breastfeeding children. However, gender discrimination also plays a role. For example, women work longer hours than men and earn money.

• Damage to the environment

Poor people rely heavily on nature for their basic needs, including food, water, and firewood. Yet the lands they depend on for survival are increasingly being destroyed. Such environmental degradations make it increasingly difficult to produce food and make large areas of land unsuitable for future crops.

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