Optimized nutrition is the key to optimal health and should form part of every person’s lifestyle. A consistent source of nourishment from food gives us strong bones and muscles all over our bodies.
Remedial massage also assists the body in recovering faster from surgeries and illnesses, strengthens immune defenses, heals wounds faster, and keeps digestive processes functioning optimally.
Immune System
The immune system is an intricate network of cells, tissues and organs designed to defend against infections from germs such as germs or viruses that could make us ill. It identifies and combats invaders such as viruses, bacteria and fungi; or abnormal cells like cancer cells.
Skin serves as the first line of defense in terms of immunity. Immune cells produced by bone marrow and carried through lymph can then be found throughout the body via lymph nodes and the thymus; lymph nodes and the thymus also help produce these immune cells for use against infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses and fungi; however when they encounter abnormal cells they send antibodies out to destroy them.
Adaptive immune systems remember which germs they have already defeated so they can be destroyed more rapidly when encountered again. Public health practices such as handwashing and vaccination reduce infectious disease infections among a population; however, such measures don’t offer complete protection from new or changing germs.
Wound Healing
Wound healing requires additional energy consumption and specific nutrients such as protein. Protein Energy Malnutrition (PEM), however, has been directly linked with slow wound healing and can result in lean body mass reduction while simultaneously suppressing immune systems and hindering reepithelialization efforts.
Carbs provide an important source of energy and contribute to metabolic activity by supporting insulin production for tissue regeneration and fibroblast proliferation. Protein needs increase significantly during all stages of wound healing.
Vitamins play an essential role in wound healing processes and deficiencies can further hinder recovery. Many long-term care residents are vulnerable to malnutrition due to factors like confusion, poor appetite, feeding issues and medication side effects; nutritional assessments and tailored nutritional interventions may improve wound healing processes and care processes – consult your facility Dietitian to gain more knowledge.
Digestive System
Your digestive system works to process food into nutrients your body needs for cell repair, growth and energy – the organs making up this system (known as the gastrointestinal tract) include your mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine and anus; liver pancreas and gallbladder also play a part in digestion.
As you begin eating, glands in your mouth release saliva to moisten the food you will soon consume, while teeth break it into smaller pieces for digestion. A ring of muscle at the end of your esophagus allows food to enter your stomach while another keeps stomach contents from backing up into it.
Once in the stomach, enzymes begin breaking down carbohydrates while peristalsis and chemicals in your stomach lining break down other food, before being pushed further through to be broken down by liver bile and pancreatic secretions in your small intestine.
Weight Loss
Discovery Health: Optimized nutrition means selecting foods that will supply your body with essential vitamins and nutrients to support optimal performance, such as olive oil, nuts, lean meats, whole grains and an abundance of vegetables and fruits.
As opposed to meeting only minimum nutritional needs, optimal nutrition goes far beyond preventing deficiencies and instead works to enhance health, performance and longevity through a healthy diet. For instance, calcium, vitamin C and iron help prevent osteoporosis.
Ideal nutrition promotes strong bones and healthy muscles from head to toe by providing your body with enough magnesium and calcium from dairy, green leafy vegetables, fish, lean meats and low-fat milk products containing these minerals. Protein from lean meats or low-fat milk sources such as lean meats can also help build muscle. Furthermore, optimal nutrition has many other health benefits, including strengthening immunity, speeding wound healing timeframes faster, improving digestion processes as well as avoiding issues like Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
