Chapter 3: Mindful Eating: A Path to a Healthy Body
What we eat shapes how we grow and how we feel. In this chapter we explore India's food variety, find out what food is made of and how to test for it, plan a balanced plate, meet the mighty millets, and think about how far our food travels.
In this chapter you will
- name the components of food and what each does
- test foods for starch, fat and protein
- plan a balanced diet
- understand millets and food miles
Topics
- What Do We Eat? NCERT 3.1
India has a great variety of foods, shaped by local crops, climate and traditions.
- Components of Food NCERT 3.2
Carbohydrates and fats give energy; proteins build and repair; vitamins and minerals protect.
- Testing Components of Food NCERT 3.3
Starch: iodine turns blue-black. Fat: a see-through oily patch on paper. Protein: violet colour.
- Balanced Diet NCERT 3.4
A balanced diet has all nutrients in the right amounts, plus fibre and water.
- Millets NCERT 3.5
Millets (ragi, jowar, bajra, kodo) are nutrition-rich grains.
- Food Miles NCERT 3.6
Food miles: how far food travels from farm to plate.
Key words
- Nutrients
- the useful substances in food
- Carbohydrates, fats
- nutrients that give energy
- Proteins
- nutrients for growth and repair
- Vitamins, minerals
- nutrients that protect from disease
- Dietary fibre
- roughage that helps food move through the body
- Deficiency disease
- illness caused by lack of a nutrient
- Balanced diet
- all nutrients in the right amounts
- Food miles
- the distance food travels from farm to plate
Summary
- Food contains carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals, plus fibre and water.
- Starch, fat and protein can be detected with simple tests.
- Lack of a nutrient over a long time causes deficiency diseases.
- A balanced diet has all nutrients in the right amounts; millets and local seasonal food are healthy choices.