The meaning of the word diet
1 min
Did you know...
The word diet, so widely used nowadays, comes from Greek and means way of life.
Very often in everyday language the word diet is used to refer to abstaining from food for health reasons or to a slimming diet for aesthetic purposes. The meaning of the word thus takes on a negative connotation, one of giving things up and of the sacrifice faced by anyone who decides to follow one.
On the contrary, the most appropriate definition is "the set of foods that must be supplied to the body every day to meet its requirements in proportion to the growth or renewal of tissues and to energy expenditure" (Salvatore Battaglia, Grande dizionario della Lingua italiana, Turin: UTET 1991).
A correct diet must therefore be able to provide the energy needed to meet the individual's overall needs, always bearing in mind that an excessive energy intake is the precondition for obesity, while an energy deficit causes loss of muscle mass and thinness.
In your diet it is important to vary your foods so as to increase the likelihood of taking in all the nutrients you need, protecting your metabolic and psychophysical balance. This also minimises the chance of ingesting potentially harmful substances found in certain foods*.
In this way you also benefit psychophysically from the chance to eat different foods, since it is worth remembering thatpeople also eat for pleasure.
*from: "Lineamenti di dietoterapia e nutrizione clinica".
The word diet, so widely used nowadays, comes from Greek and means way of life.
Very often in everyday language the word diet is used to refer to abstaining from food for health reasons or to a slimming diet for aesthetic purposes. The meaning of the word thus takes on a negative connotation, one of giving things up and of the sacrifice faced by anyone who decides to follow one.
On the contrary, the most appropriate definition is "the set of foods that must be supplied to the body every day to meet its requirements in proportion to the growth or renewal of tissues and to energy expenditure" (Salvatore Battaglia, Grande dizionario della Lingua italiana, Turin: UTET 1991).
A correct diet must therefore be able to provide the energy needed to meet the individual's overall needs, always bearing in mind that an excessive energy intake is the precondition for obesity, while an energy deficit causes loss of muscle mass and thinness.
In your diet it is important to vary your foods so as to increase the likelihood of taking in all the nutrients you need, protecting your metabolic and psychophysical balance. This also minimises the chance of ingesting potentially harmful substances found in certain foods*.
In this way you also benefit psychophysically from the chance to eat different foods, since it is worth remembering thatpeople also eat for pleasure.
*from: "Lineamenti di dietoterapia e nutrizione clinica".
