Nutrition – Health – Environment

Nutrition is a fundamental aspect of our health and livelihood.

However, the vast majority of food products derive from intensive cultivations featuring farms that are make extensive use of pesticides and anti-parassite chemicals.  Moreover, in the case of intensive livestock breeding, growth hormones and antibiotics used end up in part in our food and bodies critically impacting our health and our organism as a whole.  

Furthermore, these chemical compounds deplete the soil and damage the environment.

For this reason, I am trying to observe (and recommend to parents and friends) a few alimentary choices that pertain to our wellbeing and are as well respectful of the environment.  

1.      Eating in moderation in terms of quantity and calorie intake and having an active lifestyle in terms of physical exercise.

2.      Prioritize a vegetable-based diet or become vegetarian altogether, choosing from as many organic products as possible.  The supply of organic products is continuously growing as they are available in the likes organic stores, organic farms, and supermarkets: they are more expensive than non-organic, although it is still a reasonable expense for the betterment of our health and to sustain our civic duty of protecting the environment.  

3.      Maximizing the reduction (better to cease) of meats and fish consumption, for 3 reasons:

·        Our health.  The majority of meat and fish products derive from intensive animal farms and fish breeding holdings that use anti-parasite chemicals, growth hormones and antibiotics that inevitably end up in our bodies.

·        Ethical motives.  Intensive animal farms are camps that produce suffering and constitute torture for animals, making it an inherently immoral act towards another living organism.  If we really need to consume meat and fish, then we ought to choose the source of our food supply through farms that are out in the open or fish caught in the open sea without any confines or barriers.  The reduction or elimination of meat and fish consumption may feed the doubt of animal protein deficiency in the diet, however, this risk is eliminated with the use of organic dairy products such as eggs, milk, and cheese.

·        Ecological reasons.  A vegetarian diet uses, for the same amount of calories, one-third of land with respect to chicken, one fourth in comparison to pig, and a fifth compared to cattle.

A healthy diet creates an improved lifestyle and promotes longevity.