Persuasive Essay: Why Do We Eat?

Why do we eat?

For energy, for movement, for life.

Food, and the subsequent energy it holds is required so that our bodies work, muscles, joints and bones all functioning efficiently and highly. Energy is required for all processes within the body including brain function, temperature regulation, growth, movement and correct functioning and repairing of all organs within the body system.

The simple rule to eating a better, healthier diet is to try and include as much whole and raw or unprocessed foods as possible in the daily diet. Most culprits that get in the way of performance are fatigue, injury and soreness. A proper diet will reduce these disturbances in performance. The key is to get a variety of food, to get all the macronutrients, vitamins, and minerals. It is optimal to choose raw, unprocessed foods, for example; oranges instead of orange juice. Eating foods that are natural means the athlete is getting the most nutritional value out of the food.

Another aspect of a healthy diet is an appropriate eating pattern. Due to the nature of these adventure sports, what you put into your body and when is very important. Bad eating patterns can have serious consequences on the body and the type of life that is ultimately lead.

If, for example, the body is only receiving one meal a day then it has to limit the nutrients utilized and the amount of energy that is spent on day to day activities. Having a breakfast that is high in protein will get the body going for the day ahead. If only eating one meal a day, not enough nutrients are introduced into the body to satisfy all the necessary organs and operations that take place, the basal metabolism rate (BMR) may not even be satisfied with one meal, so high energy activities such ...

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...nce. As previously stated, the body required energy to function. The basal metabolic rate measures metabolism, and provides insight into the energy, or calories, needed for life. However, due to the intensity of the adventure sports, the energy requirement of an individual is increased. This calorie requirement depends on a variety of factors, these include; age, gender, weight, metabolism, exercise intensity and conditioning level. The calories used backpacking, or hiking with a back pack, for example will depend on a number of factors, including; distance travelled, duration, elevation gained, temperature and weight being carried by backpack. On average, rock climbing will use approximately 540 – 750 calories an hour while white-water kayaking could use 300 – 350 calories in an hour. The calories (kcal) used in each adventure sport are outlined in Table 1 below.