Three Major Function of Food

What benefits does food serve? In this video, Prof. Huang will explain three functions of food.

The first one is nutrition absorption. Nutrients provide energy to our bodies so we can grow and be active and healthy. In other words, the first function of food is to keep us alive.

The second one is satisfying our psychological needs. Since food provides tastes and flavor, food serves a function to affect one’s sense and behavior. He gives an example of a chocolate cake. It’s delicious but not a must for the body to survive.

The last function is physical adjustments. By consuming nutrient-dense food, our bodies can produce energy to repair themselves. It can prevent us from disease, give us a good complexion and even longer lifespan.

So when we were acknowledged that eating plays a major role in health preservation, we start to value dietary supplements. So foods claim to promote health become popular nowadays.

How do you think that food can affect one’s health and behavior? Can you give some examples?