How important would you say eating properly was? Would you say its importance was closer to 20, 50, 75, or 100 percent? If you are thinking more along the lines of a lower percent, maybe I can help you to change your mind. I myself think it’s VERY important. I’ll tell you why too. I am sure everyone knows what the food pyramid -more recently my pyramid- is. In elementary school, we were told "This is how many servings of each group you need to consume per day to stay healthy and be eating properly. You also need to exercise properly, but we’ll discuss that later.” However, do you know how important following a food pyramid can really be? It can be very detrimental to somebody’s health. Here is a link that will describe different types of pyramids such as a weight loss pyramid and a healthy eating pyramid as well as how to choose which pyramid is more right for you.
Along with knowing the pyramid guides, it is good to know some common bad eating habits. Think about any that you might have. Everyone picks up on at least one or two of these at any given point. They are really hard to avoid, especially for college students and I know that I have been guilty of doing all 5 of these more than a few times in my life. The two that I am most often guilty of are "skipping meals" and "eating on the run". You can read a little more on these two along with the other three in the link I've provided above. There are many other bad habits you can pick up, but you have to be aware of them. As I mentioned before, it is easy to pick up on these habits so you have to be more cautious about what you do on a daily basis. Working along with eating right can and will be very beneficial to your health. I know I would like to become more health conscious myself.
Before I let you go, I want to show you an example of how unsafe improper eating can be. I am not going to show any gruesome pictures or videos. I am, however, going to link a story that I hope you will take the time to read. The article, Chicken Nuggets: How Bad Are They?, was featured on yahoo news. The article discusses a 17-year old girl who has been eating almost nothing but fast-food chicken nuggets since she was two years old. Can you imagine all of the preservatives and oils she consumed? I don’t know how she could live off of that. After collapsing one day, she was rushed to the hospital because she was struggling to breathe. They found more health problems with Stacey than you would probably imagine, but she is a living example of how important food variety is and how scary improper eating can be for any one person and their family as well.
I completely agree that following a proper diet with a lot of variety is very crucial to one's health! I still remember in highschool when I was made to watch "Super Size Me." This changed my whole outlook on fast food, and I did not want any type of fast food for months. That is, until I was short for time, like you said. I have many bad eating habits I wish I could get out of, but it is so hard! I have found myself substituting fiber bars for pop tarts, though. That's a start! This was a really great paper and very informative.
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