It was Oral Health on Yspot! Last week. Well today on health we have Nutrition with Yspot.

So what exactly is nutrition?

I have met people who have a confusing opinion about what nutrition is. They think nutrition has to do with the size of an individual, whether fat, thin or average. While in school doing my masters, we happened to be 6 in my class, out of which I was the fattest from behind, I had a partner though but he had a little more flesh than I had.....lol, one day things will sha change...back to the story. When we go for lectures, especially when it was a combined class where people from other departments were in attendance and a question was directed at my department (nutrition) or maybe we were asked to do something or signify our presence, at the sight of myself and my dear partner, people begin commenting- saying see them oh and they are in nutrition but it’s not showing on them, in essence they felt since we were nutritionist we should be fat but nah it doesn’t work that way.

Feeding well is a part of nutrition that shouldn’t be ignored but nutrition goes beyond just feeding or eating. God knows I do my best at eating but it just doesn’t show. My brothers always told me when we were little that even if I had the opportunity to eat the whole World I would still be the way I was (Hmmm what an advantage I have got there, it means I can just keep eating and eating and still maintain my stature....*wink). The funny thing is that some others eat very little and they blow up before they even know it.

Some others think nutrition has to do with you eating a complete 3 square meal, morning, afternoon and night. Well, eating a 3 square meal is also a part of nutrition but it’s just a part of the whole package. Let me give you a scenario. Imagined you woke this morning had akara (Bean balls) for breakfast, Beans for lunch and Moi-Moi (steamed savoury bean cake) for dinner or you soaked garri for breakfast, had eba for lunch and then ended the day eating amala or had pap for breakfast, eko (solid pap) for lunch and tuwo for dinner............e don happen oh.

Well I’ll explain why the above two are not exactly what nutrition is. The very first school of thought people have about nutrition suggests your body size tells if you are feeding well or not feeding well, and therefore tells if you are healthy or not. This is faulty. Although having a small body size may reflect a poor feeding habit sometimes, truth be said some large body sized individual are less healthier than people with smaller body sizes. For example, obese individuals who obviously have a large body size are most unhealthy and are prone to having numerous health conditions like heart diseases that put them at risk of death. Size is a poor instrument for measuring nutrition.

For the second school of thought, eating 3 square meals doesn’t mean you are well-nourished, only if the 3 square meals eaten are balanced (consuming food items from all the sources of nutrients). The first scenario I gave above shows an individual consuming his 3 square meals from only one major source of nutrient - Protein while the second scenario, we see an individual who consumes food items containing majorly carbohydrate. These nutrients can work on their own but work better when accompanied with other sources of nutrients like minerals and vitamins. This happens due to ignorance sometimes but poverty can’t be ruled out too.

So what is nutrition?

Well time is up. Next time when am here on Health on Yspot! with Yspot I will shed more light on what nutrition truly is. Thank you.

Yspot!

This is dedicated to Dr Tiseer who passed on some weeks ago. A lecturer with the department of Biological Sciences, ABU Zaria. He lectured me on Soil in its entirety. Can’t forget him at all, ‘cos he gave us very funny definitions of soils, till today I can’t recall him giving us the real definition of soil. The only definition that really stuck is that soil is a piece of cake. Rest well sire.

Coming soon!

Whatever You believe In will Determine What You'll BE -LIVING-IN

Join us at Move Your World, Lagos edition.

Date: Sunday, 19th August, 2012
Theme: Shine!
Morning Session
Time : 10am

Venue: Harvest House Christian Center, The Kitchen Towers, Opp Murhi International

Beside BigTreat Building, Ojodu/Ogba Road

Evening Session

Time : 5pm
Venue: 3rd Floor, BigTreat Building, Lateef Jakande Rd,
Agidingbi, Ikj