Once upon a time these two words were synonymous with each other. You were able to get all your essential nutrients, vitamins, essential amino acids and essential fatty acids, all from the food you consumed every day.
Then came the advent of an increasingly industrialized civilization, more options for entertainment and more options to keep you out of the kitchen. 1953 saw the introduction of the Swanson TV dinners. Life became so easy, no cooking, no clean up. Just “heat and eat”, in front of your TV. This easy way of life was so passionately embraced by the households in the coming years, that it just became a way of life. It also slowly paved the way for fast food and chain restaurants mushroomed everywhere. Fast forward some more and you find more families with 2 income households and single parent households. With kids involved in several after school activities, parents became mere chauffeurs. Where was the time to cook? Pick up some food in a drive thru or heat up some frozen food in the microwave. We live in a time when the majority of the households are eating out because cooking has become an unpleasant and unnecessary chore!!
These changes in food consumption habits have slowly created a chasm between the food and nutrition. This ever widening chasm is one of the root causes of all the LIFESTYLE disorders that we see today. Not only is the incidence of High blood pressure, Diabetes and heart problems increasing, but it is alarming to see that people are afflicted by them at a progressively younger age.
The food that we eat should not only provide good calories and macro-nutrients like carbohydrates, proteins and fats, but also micro-nutrients like vitamins and minerals.
