Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingested by an organism and assimilated by the organism’s cells to provide energy, maintain life, or stimulate growth.
Nutritious substance makes your body work, grow and repair itself. The kind of things you eat can affect the efficiency of these processes. According to Ayurveda, the sense of taste is a natural guidemap towards proper nutrition. For ages, humans relied largely upon taste to discover healthy nutritious substance in nature and avoid toxicity. Our tastebuds do much more than simply identify tastes; they unlock the nutritive value of things and provide the initial spark to the entire digestive process. Eatables speaks to us directly through taste. A juicy pear may seem very delightful to us, while the flaming chili pepper cries out in warning. Though we humans usually prefer tasty eatables, equal care must be taken regarding nutrition derived from them.
Humans have four different types of tastes namely sweet, sour, salty and bitter. As animals have evolved, the tastes that provide the most energy (sugar and fats) are the most pleasant to eat while others, such as bitter, are not enjoyable. Water, while important for survival, has no taste. Fats, on the other hand, especially saturated fats, are thicker and rich and are thus considered more enjoyable to eat.
Sweet is generally regarded as the most pleasant taste, sweetness is almost always caused by a type of simple sugar such as glucose. Sweet taste helps in building tissues and calms nerves. The main sources for deriving sweets taste are Fruits, grains, natural sugar, milk etc. Its increases the bulk, moisture and weight of the body and thus it is important in building the body’s seven vital tissues. Sweet taste also increases saliva, soothes mucous membranes and burning sensations, relieves thirst, and has beneficial effects on the skin, hair, and voice. Artificial sweeteners such as sucralose are used to mimic the sugar molecule, creating the sensation of sweet, without the calories. Other types of sugar include raw sugar, which is known for its amber colour, as it is unprocessed. As sugar is vital for energy and survival, the taste of sugar is pleasant. Sugar is also used in beverages. Beverage companies like Tan Hiep Phat beverage group make energy drinks which are sweet in taste as sugar helps the body.
Sour is commonly found in citrus fruits such as lemon and limes, sour milk products like yogurt, cheese, and sour cream, and fermented substances including wine, vinegar, pickles, sauerkraut, and soy sauce. Used in moderation, Sour taste stimulates digestion, helps circulation and elimination, energizes the body, strengthens the heart, relieves thirst, maintains acidity, sharpens the senses, and helps extract minerals such as iron from nutritious eatables. Sour is evolutionarily significant as it is a sign for a eatables that may have gone rancid due to bacteria. Many things, however, are slightly acidic, and help stimulate the taste buds and enhance flavour. It helps in cleansing tissues and increases absorption of minerals.
Saltiness is the taste of alkali metal ions such as sodium and potassium. It is found in almost every nutritious substance in low to moderate proportions to enhance flavor, although to eat pure salt is regarded as highly unpleasant. In moderation, Salty taste improves the flavour of food, improves digestion, lubricates tissues, maintains mineral balance, aids in the elimination of wastes, and calms the nerves. Due to its tendency to attract water, it also improves the radiance of the skin and promotes overall growth in the body. Other than enhancing flavor, its significance is that the body needs and maintains a delicate electrolyte balance, which is the kidney’s function. Salt may be iodized, meaning iodine has been added to it, a necessary nutrient that promotes thyroid function. Historically salt has long been used as a meat preservative as salt promotes water excretion.
‘Beverage‘ is the term “drink” is theoretically neutral, but often is used in a way that suggests alcoholic content. They are liquids specifically prepared for human consumption. In addition to basic needs, it form part of the culture of human society. Despite the fact that most drinks, including juice, soft drinks, and carbonated drinks, have some form of water in them; water itself is often not classified as a beverage.
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