Nowadays people are getting more and more health conscious.

Nutritionists and doctors always advise us to eat healthy food.

Most of us ignore the advice and eat whatever our taste buds prefer.

We eat more of tasty food without paying much attention to healthy food.

The quantity of food we eat also determines our health.

Food taken more than the requirement is only digested partially and the rest acts as a foreign substance.

Hunger is the natural expression of the needs of the system and appetite is the index for the quantity of food to be taken.

The nutritional quality of various kinds of foods is being described in a most popular language to feed the brains of the common men and women.

The lists of healthy foods are being published in books and health magazines.

‘Do not eat junk food’ is a slogan we hear from the four corners of the world.

Still the restaurants selling the junk food are increasing in number all over the world.

Mostly young people are trapped by the chain of food stalls which impart an injurious habit.

Americans eat more of junk foods than any other nationals, because of their multiplicity and availability.

Healthy food is one which has less oil (fat), salt and spices.

But our tongue looks for oily, salty and spicy foods for a better taste.

How to compromise?

In fact, diet influences every aspects of our life including our mood, body weight, sexuality, fertility, life span etc.,

Breakfast followed by lunch, evening snack and night dinner is a set pattern followed by everyone in the world, with slight modification at times.

Whatever healthy food we eat should be digested before we take the next course of food.

Better digestion takes place only when we do physical exercise.

In other words, calories have to be burnt to gain energy to do work.

Reducing the body weight is one of the major problems faced by a good lot of people in most of the developed countries.

Obesity has become almost a disease to fight with.

In fact, vegetable and fruits are considered to be healthy foods, because of their fibre and mineral contents.

Non vegetarians get animal proteins from fish, mutton, beef and chicken.

Milk and its products such as curd, cheese and cream contain most of the essential nutrients we require.

Similarly, egg also is a good source of protein.

It is always debated whether vegetarian diet is superior to non vegetarian diet.

There are arguments for and against each type of diet.

One thing acceptable from these arguments is the selection of food to eat depends on the climatic conditions in which one lives.

People living in temperate region prefer non vegetarian diet whereas people in the tropics prefer vegetarian diet.

Healthy food for children, middle aged and aged people will also vary.

Food nutrition is a good field of specialization.

Standards have been fixed for good food based on their chemistry.

Dieticians know much about the standards and they also know about what to eat and what not to eat.

Because of greediness for excess production of food for the ever increasing population, all sorts of adulteration take place.

Such adulterations are not known fully well to the people who consume such foods.

Production of most of the agricultural products is subjected to poisonous pesticides and other chemicals.

Animals and birds are being injected with excess doses of antibiotics and growth promoting hormones.

The reseals as well as the accumulated substances are accompanied with the consumed meat creating trouble to humans.

Therefore, the movement of organic agriculture is gaining importance in every country.

Food safety is the talk of the day.

Safe food and environment are needed for human health.

Thus healthy food has a number of dimensions.

One has to take care of his or her health by going through the details of healthy food.

Strict control on the food we eat is essential to achieve a healthy life for a happy stay in this Planet.

Let us not neglect the habit of taking only healthy food and feeding our children with it.

Businesses such as GuideMeGreen green directory and the co-op offer a real alternative for people concerned with these issues and with businesses that combine a strong ethical dimension in tandem with making profits.

Here are some of the main features of organic farming:

• Organic farming severely restricts the use of artificial chemical fertilisers and pesticides.

• Instead, organic farmers rely on developing a healthy, fertile soil and growing a mixture of crops.

• Animals are reared without the routine use of drugs, antibiotics and wormers common in intensive livestock farming.

Synthetic dyes and ingredients such as Sudan1 were in the national news in February and can cause cancer. See www.food.gov.uk for further details. Genetically modified (GM) crops and ingredients are not allowed under organic standards.

Why Buy Organic?

It has never been easier to shop for organic food, and there has never been so much choice. Every food category now has an organic alternative. Its also common sense; organic food is good food. Good to eat, good for the environment, good for the small-scale farmers and the farm workers who produce it.

Chefs across the country are committed to using organic ingredients because plants from healthy soils and organically fed livestock provide us with more flavorful food. Organic foods allow true flavour to shine through unlike other non-organic foods that look and taste good but are often full of E numbers and artificial flavourings and ingredients.

By supporting local, sustainable and organic farms in your local community you also support the larger community of which we are all a part. By eating organic food you are providing the healthiest choice for your family and supporting the farms that provide us with healthy and ecological neighbourhoods.

The ‘go local’ food movement is flourishing – over 15% of people buy organic food locally and this number continues to rise as the number of farmer’s markets, box schemes, cafes and restaurants serving organic food increase. GuideMeGreen helps you to find locally produced foods which are fresher, healthier and more economical. It cuts down on transport costs and ‘food miles’ where an average shopping basket can include fruit and vegetables transported from all over the world.

The big supermarkets in the UK are about to introduce there own vegetable box schemes. This is good because the supermarket schemes should encourage more people to buy organic food and are likely to raise the profile and public awareness of the benefits of organic box schemes in general. These new organic consumers will hopefully become convinced of the benefits of organic food and become more interested in and aware of the advantages of buying local too. The supermarket schemes could therefore be a positive first step on people’s journey to buying organic, local food generally and perhaps moving on to subscribe to independent box scheme businesses – as well as supporting other local food outlets like farmers’ markets or independent retailers.

The supermarkets themselves may find their businesses becoming subject to more far-reaching changes, as their customers are exposed to the principles and practices which inspire the original local food and grassroots box-scheme movement.