A selection ofmagnesium-containingfood consumed by humans. The human diet can vary widely.
In nutrition,diet is the sum of food consumed by a person or otherorganism.[1]The word diet often implies the use of specific intake ofnutrition forhealth orweight-management reasons (with the two often being related). Although humans areomnivores, each culture and each person holds some food preferences or some food taboos. This may be due to personal tastes or ethical reasons. Individual dietary choices may be more or less healthy.
Complete nutrition requires ingestion and absorption ofvitamins,minerals,essential amino acids from protein and essential fatty acids from fat-containing food, alsofood energy in the form of carbohydrate, protein, and fat. Dietary habits and choices play a significant role in thequality of life,health andlongevity.
A healthy diet can improve and maintain health, which can include aspects of mental and physical health.[2] Specific diets, such as theDASH diet, can be used in treatment and management of chronic conditions.[2]
Dietary recommendations exist for many different countries, and they usually emphasise a balanced diet which is culturally appropriate.[3] These recommendation are different fromdietary reference values which provide information about the prevention ofnutrient deficiencies.
Raw food tacos prepared with guacamole, non-fried beans and sour cream. Raw foodism promotes the consumption of food which has not been cooked.
Exclusionary diets are diets with certain groups or specific types of food avoided, either due to health considerations or by choice.[2] Many do not eat food from animal sources to varying degrees (e.g.flexitarianism,pescetarianism,vegetarianism, andveganism) for health reasons, issues surrounding morality, or to reduce their personal impact on the environment[4] (e.g.environmental vegetarianism). People on a balanced vegetarian or vegan diet can obtain adequate nutrition, but may need to specifically focus on consuming specific nutrients, such asprotein,iron,calcium,zinc, andvitamin B12.[5][2][6]Raw foodism andintuitive eating are other approaches to dietary choices. Education, income, local availability, and mental health are all major factors for dietary choices.[2]
A particular diet may be chosen to promote weight loss or weight gain. Changing a person's dietary intake, or "going on a diet", can change the energy balance, and increase or decrease the amount of fat stored by the body.[2]
The terms "healthy diet" and "diet for weight management" (dieting) are often related, as the two promote healthy weight management.[7] If a person is overweight or obese, changing to a diet and lifestyle that allows them to burn more calories than they consume may improve their overall health,[2] possibly preventing diseases that are attributed in part to weight, includingheart disease anddiabetes.[8] Within the past 10 years, obesity rates have increased by almost 10%.[9] Conversely, if a person is underweight due to illness ormalnutrition, they may change their diet to promote weight gain. Intentional changes in weight, though often beneficial, can be potentially harmful to the body if they occur too rapidly. Unintentional rapid weight change can be caused by the body's reaction to some medications, or may be a sign of major medical problems includingthyroid issues andcancer among otherdiseases.[10]
Dietary meat consumption, particularly consumption of red and processed meat, is associated with an increased risk ofcolorectal cancer.[11][12] There appears to be a metabolic link between a fat- and meat rich diet and cancer associated gut microbes.[13] In the colonic contents of humans on a high fat diet, the secondary bile aciddeoxycholic acid produced from the primary bile acid cholic acid by the gut microbiota is increased, and this increase is associated with a higher risk of colorectal cancer.[14][15] In populations that have a high incidence of colorectal cancer fecal concentrations of bile acids, particularly deoxycholic acid produced by the action of gut microbiota, are higher.[14][15]
Some cultures and religions have restrictions concerning what foods are acceptable in their diet. For example, onlyKosher foods are permitted inJudaism, andHalal foods inIslam. AlthoughBuddhists are generallyvegetarians, the practice varies and meat-eating may be permitted depending on the sects.[18] InHinduism,vegetarianism is the ideal.Jains are strictly vegetarian and in addition to that the consumption of any roots (ex: potatoes, carrots) is not permitted.
^Some variants of the diet are paleolithic-oriented and exclude dairy while other variants may include dairy products provided that they are ketogenic. Less strict approaches allow allanimal sourced foods.
^Kossenas K, Constantinou C (December 2021). "Epidemiology, Molecular Mechanisms, and Clinical Trials: an Update on Research on the Association Between Red Meat Consumption and Colorectal Cancer".Curr Nutr Rep.10 (4):435–467.doi:10.1007/s13668-021-00377-x.PMID34665439.