Understanding What Malnutrition Really Is
Understanding malnutrition starts with understanding its meaning which is “an imbalance between the body’s demand for nutrition and the availability of nutrients”.
When your body is not getting the right amount of nutrients over a period of time you body begins to suffer.
Without adequate nutrition your body will become weak, your immune system breaks down and your overall health degrades. Bottom line is that advanced nutritional deficiency can lead to death.
Malnutrition can be Found Everywhere
Most people associate malnutrition with people living in third world countries. While it is true that you’ll find a larger percentage of malnourished people there, you’ll also find them right in your own backyard.
Going back to our definition above and you either fill your body’s nutritional requirements or you too will be considered malnourished.
A common condition found in many countries around the world is Anorexia. Even if you’ve never heard of it, you’ve probably seen it up close and maybe even personal.
Signs of Anorexia are extreme weight loss and many times it begins with a person wanting to lose weight. When the person’s perception becomes distorted about how much weight they are losing, it becomes very serious and professional help should be sought.
The type of malnutrition commonly found in third world countries is known as a protein-calorie type of malnutrition and children are often affected most frequently. Because their bodies are unable to grow and develop properly from the daily lack of food, their digestive system and organs become damaged, they suffer from starvation, and sadly they die.
Obese People Suffer from Malnutrition Too
Obese people can have severe malnutrition and you’d never think that by looking at them. But what if a person ate primarily all sugar all of the time? Empty calories, no nutrition and guess what – Malnutrition. Overweight and malnourished, how pitiful is that? Organ and digestive damage can still occur compounded by the excess strain on the cardiovascular system from being too overweight.
Remember, malnutrition is defined as is “an imbalance between the body’s demand for nutrition and the availability of nutrients”.
Many deficiencies can take hold when you fail to get the right amount of certain nutrients. You can see this in people that lack calcium for instance and their teeth, bones and fingernails turn frail and brittle. People that lack iron can become anemic and the lack of iodine can lead to thyroid problems.
The list goes on and on and the facts are that wealthy or poor, fat or thin, everyone can be at risk of malnutrition. The takeaway here is be sure that if you can’t, won’t or just don’t eat balanced nutrition, do yourself a favor and get some good quality nutritional supplements to feed your body what it’s missing.
What we’ll do next is talk a little about “Your Digestive Systems Role in Healthy Nutrition” so click that link and we’ll go through how your body uses the nutrients you consume.