What+are+foods?

What are foods?

All foods no matter traditional or modern foods consist of various chemicals. We can even say that we are eating 'chemicals' every day. There are some people who blame food technologists for contributing to the world’s increasing cases of health problems by producing foods that are actually a cocktail of chemicals. They thought that those chemicals are harming us. When we are eating those foods available in the market, we are actually digging a hole for our grave.

Most people have wrong interpretation of the term “chemical”. Actually chemicals are not necessary something bad that will harm us. According to the dictionary, a chemical is a substance used in or produced by the process of chemistry. It has a defined atomic or molecular structure that results from or takes part in reactions involving changes in its structure, composition and properties. For example, when the proteins in the foods that we ate arrive at the small intestines, they are hydrolyzed by enzymes and break into amino acids and water. This is a process of chemistry. During the reaction, proteins undergo a change in its structure. Protein is the reactant and amino acids and water are the products in the reaction. Thus, they are chemicals. This is the same with carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and various minerals in our body. Therefore, we can even conclude that we are made up of chemicals!Water also can consider as chemicals.

Since the ancient times, humans feed their newly born children with human milk. Do you know that actually human milk contains several hundred chemical compounds? We are being fed with chemicals when we were born. However, does the milk harm us? The answer is absolutely not but it gives us the essential nutrients and enables us to grow up. In this way, chemicals are good for us.

Most people are not aware that the salt that they often use in foods to enhance the taste or to preserve the foods is actually a chemical. Its chemical name is sodium chloride, NaCl.

The increasing cases of health problems today are not contributed by the chemicals in foods. They are actually caused by the unhealthy modern lifestyle. Nowadays, people are facing stresses from various sources. They lack discipline in planning their diet. They do not have meals on the consistent time too. Some of them even suffer from anorexia as they want to be as slim as possible by avoiding the consumption of foods.

In conclusion, we should not fear the use of chemicals in foods, but we need to screen them for safety when their effects on human health are not known.