The food we eat is to satisfy two needs, to provide the material that our body needs to regenerate and to provide the necessary energy to continue working.
The cells that form tissues and organs that make up our body have a limited lifespan, so they must be replaced constantly.
Training is needed for different nutrients.
The main ones are proteins, carbohydrates and fats.
These materials are provided by food.
In the process of regeneration of the cells large amounts of energy is consumed, and energy is required for all activities that our body performs.
That energy is also obtained from food.
In a balanced diet, the amount of food we eat must be equal to our body's consumption to meet its needs, both nutritional and energy related.
If you eat less, then check your weight, and then eat more, it will lead to fattening.
How is the balance achieved? Our body has a mechanism that ensures that food intake is just to provide everything we need, both for the regeneration of tissues and organs and to meet the energy needs.
Although it is extraordinarily complex and responds to a multitude of stimuli, we can summarize it this way.
When the body needs nutrients, our brain sends signals to the stomach as we perceive a sense of hunger, and when the need has been met, it sends signals that are translated into a feeling of satiety.
In theory we should only respond to these signals to achieve a balanced diet.
In practice, the balance is not easy, because there are many factors that can alter the response that our body gives.
Factors that alter the balance: Disease - Some diseases (bulimia, anorexia, depression, stress, cystic fibrosis, and hyperthyroidism) cause disturbances in the mechanism of hunger, inhibiting or causing this sensation.
External stimuli that influence appetite - The smell, taste, sight, family environment, company, advertising, culture can influence our desire to eat more or doing less than what would be the "real need "of our body.
Lack of regular habits - Not having a fixed schedule for meals, skipping breakfast or dinner, eating hastily, eating while standing, taking other chores.
All this also affects the response of our body.
Nutritional imbalance - To meet the needs of our body, we must provide an adequate amount of protein, carbohydrates and fats.
A disproportionate diet with excess fat or low in protein or carbohydrates affects the balance; although the proportion is not critical, because our metabolism can get energy from any of the three groups, if necessary to keep within limits.
Exercise - The work tasks of today's society are not related to vigorous exercise and technical advances that bring modern life which makes people take less active lifestyles.
This lack of physical activity is also detrimental to our health.
As we see, there are several factors to take into account if we want to eat properly.
We must know our body and not ignore the signals it sends.
The signals of hunger and satiety, including others that may provoke desire for some particular food, are sent by the central nervous system to meet the needs of all our cells.
Many times we do not act according to these signals, perhaps because we give priority to other psychological or social needs, or simply because we have lost the ability to capture.