Food and Nutrition ESSAYS

By now you have studied the various kinds of foods and their use in our daily diet. You have also learnt how these foods can be made into many different preparations. But, do you think you would enjoy cereal, pulse, vegetable, meat and egg preparations if salt and spices were not added to them? Surely, you would not. If the food is not tasty, it is not liked and not accepted even though it may be very nutritious and well cooked. Spices and condiments are substances which give taste, flavour and colour to the food, thus making it attractive and acceptable. Spices are also important to promote appetite as they stimulate the secretion of digestive juices in our body. Some of them are rich in minerals, especially iron, and some are a good source of B-complex vitamins. But their nutritional contribution in the diet is not of importance because they are consumed in small quantities. We should not consume spices in excessive amounts as this can cause irritation and lead to problems like acidi...

We have learnt what food is, why we eat it and how important it is for our health and well-being. We have also read that food provides us with the essential nutrients required by our body. Most of the foods like cereals, pulses, vegetables, meat, etc., have to be cooked before eating. Cooking makes them tasty, colourful, attractive and easily digestible. However, if proper care is not taken during cooking, certain nutrients may be destroyed even though food may be tasty, colourful and attractive to eat. It is, therefore, important to take care that the nutrients do not get destroyed while cooking the food. Only then would they be of nutritional benefit to us. We are going to see what are the methods of preparing, cooking and combining foods so that they are nutritious and attractive, as well as tasty.  Most foods require some kind of preparation and cooking before they are consumed. This is because: i) Most foods cannot be eaten as such in a raw state, and require to be washed, pre...