• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

CBSE Tuts

CBSE Maths notes, CBSE physics notes, CBSE chemistry notes

  • NCERT Solutions
    • NCERT Solutions for Class 12 English Flamingo and Vistas
    • NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English
    • NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Hindi
    • NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Hindi
    • NCERT Books Free Download
  • TS Grewal
    • TS Grewal Class 12 Accountancy Solutions
    • TS Grewal Class 11 Accountancy Solutions
  • CBSE Sample Papers
  • NCERT Exemplar Problems
  • English Grammar
    • Wordfeud Cheat
  • MCQ Questions

Variety of Food: Importance, Nutrients, Types, Components, and Sources

Contents

One of the most fascinating Biology Topics is the study of genetics and how traits are passed down through generations.

What does eating a variety of foods mean?

Well eat chcipatti (roti) and rice ; bread and butter ; fruits, vegetables and pulses; vegetable oil (cooking oil), butter and desi ghee. Some of us also eat eggs, meat, chicken and fish. And all of us drink milk. These are some of the examples of food. In fact, anything which we eat to live is called food. Food is necessary for us because it provides ‘matter’ for the growth of our body and ‘energy’ to do work.

We can now define food as follows : Food is a substance eaten by us to do work, grow, maintain our body and remain healthy. Food is like a fuel for our body. Just as petrol is fuel for a car, in the same way, food is fuel for our body. We must eat food to stay alive. It is not only human beings who eat food, in fact, all the animals eat food to live. No living thing can survive without food. So, food is very precious. We should not waste food in any way.

We eat many different kinds of food at different times and on different days. This is called variety in food. Different people eat different types of food according to their habits, life style, taste and availability. For example, some people eat mainly food prepared from wheat (like chapatti, bread or noodles), pulses (dal), vegetables and fruits. On the other hand, some people eat mainly rice preparations (in the form of boiled rice, biryani, dosa or idli). And some people also eat dishes made from eggs, meat, chicken and fish. Please note that a particular variety or preparation of food served as part of a meal is called dish. And any of the foods or substances which are combined to make a particular dish are called ingredients.

Food Items and Their Ingredients

The various food items (or dishes) which we eat daily are usually made up of more than one materials or ingredients. This will become more clear from the following examples. In order to prepare boiled rice, we take raw rice and boil it in water. So, just two materials or two ingredients, raw rice and water, are needed to prepare a dish of boiled rice. Even chapatti (or roti) is made of only two ingredients : flour (atta), and water (Flour is the powder obtained by grinding grain, usually wheat grain).

Some food items are, however, made by using many ingredients. For example, vegetable curry is made by using many ingredients like different types of vegetables, salt, spices, oil, and water. Similarly, a dish of dal can be made by using many ingredients such as pulses (urad, moong, masoor, etc.), salt, spices, oil, and water, etc. (Please note that urad dal is black gram; moong dal is green gram whereas masoor dal is lentil). Some of the common ‘food preparations’, ‘food items’ or ‘dishes’ and their major ingredients are given below.

Some Common Food Items and Their Major Ingredients
Variety in the Food 1

In the above discussion we have used oil for preparing many food items or dishes. The ‘oil’ here means ‘cooking oil’. The cooking oil includes groundnut oil, mustard oil, sunflower oil and coconut oil, etc. Please note that in place of oil, we can also use ghee to prepare food or cook food. Ghee (also called desi ghee) is made from milk.

The food ingredients like rice, flour (atta), vegetables, pulses, spices, and oil, all come from various types of plants. Sugar also comes from plants. We get sugar from sugarcane (which is a plant). On the other hand, the food ingredients such as milk, ghee, eggs, chicken, mutton and fish, come from animals. Please note that oil is a plant product (it is extracted from oil-seeds) but ghee is an animal product (which is made from milk).

Sources Of Food ; Plants And Animals

Most of the food which we eat comes from plants and animals. So, the main sources of our food are :

  1. Plants, and
  2. Animals

The foodgrains (like wheat, rice and maize, etc.), pulses, fruits and vegetables which we eat, all come from various types of plants. The plants also give us oils (like groundnut oil, mustard oil, coconut oil and sunflower oil, etc.), which are used in cooking food. Sugar, spices, tea and coffee are also plant products. In fact, plants are the major source of food for human beings and other animals.

Please note that the grains used for food are called foodgrains or cereals. We can now say that: Plants are the source of food materials like cereals (wheat, maize, rice, sorghum, millet, etc.), pulses, oils, fruits, vegetables, sugar, spices, tea and coffee, etc. About half of the human food comes from just two crops : wheat and rice. Wheat grains are ground to make flour for chapatti (roti), bread and noodles, etc. Rice is used as such in the form of boiled rice and biryani or in the form of dosa and idli, etc.

Animals provide us food materials such as milk, eggs, chicken, meat, fish and honey. The animals like cow and buffalo give us milk. Goat and camel are two other animals which also give us milk. The
Variety in the Food 2
adult female chickens are called hens. The hens provide us eggs and chicken. Goat and sheep give us meat (or mutton). Please note that when we talk of ‘chicken’ as food material, it actually means ‘chicken meat’. And by saying ‘meat’ we usually mean ‘mutton’ (which is goat meat or sheep meat). Fish and prawn are also animals which are used as food by many people. Honey is another food material provided by animals. Honey comes from the insects called bees (or honeybees).

Primary Sidebar

NCERT Exemplar problems With Solutions CBSE Previous Year Questions with Solutoins CBSE Sample Papers
  • The Summer Of The Beautiful White Horse Answers
  • Job Application Letter class 12 Samples
  • Science Lab Manual Class 9
  • Letter to The Editor Class 12 Samples
  • Unseen Passage For Class 6 Answers
  • NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Hindi Core
  • Invitation and Replies Class 12 Examples
  • Advertisement Writing Class 11 Examples
  • Lab Manual Class 10 Science

Recent Posts

  • Understanding Diversity Question Answer Class 6 Social Science Civics Chapter 1 NCERT Solutions
  • Our Changing Earth Question Answer Class 7 Social Science Geography Chapter 3 NCERT Solutions
  • Inside Our Earth Question Answer Class 7 Social Science Geography Chapter 2 NCERT Solutions
  • Rulers and Buildings Question Answer Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 5 NCERT Solutions
  • On Equality Question Answer Class 7 Social Science Civics Chapter 1 NCERT Solutions
  • Role of the Government in Health Question Answer Class 7 Social Science Civics Chapter 2 NCERT Solutions
  • Vital Villages, Thriving Towns Question Answer Class 6 Social Science History Chapter 9 NCERT Solutions
  • New Empires and Kingdoms Question Answer Class 6 Social Science History Chapter 11 NCERT Solutions
  • The Delhi Sultans Question Answer Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 3 NCERT Solutions
  • The Mughal Empire Question Answer Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 4 NCERT Solutions
  • India: Climate Vegetation and Wildlife Question Answer Class 6 Social Science Geography Chapter 8 NCERT Solutions
  • Traders, Kings and Pilgrims Question Answer Class 6 Social Science History Chapter 10 NCERT Solutions
  • Environment Question Answer Class 7 Social Science Geography Chapter 1 NCERT Solutions
  • Understanding Advertising Question Answer Class 7 Social Science Civics Chapter 7 NCERT Solutions
  • The Making of Regional Cultures Question Answer Class 7 Social Science History Chapter 9 NCERT Solutions

Footer

Maths NCERT Solutions

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Maths
NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Maths
NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Maths
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Maths
NCERT Solutions for Class 8 Maths
NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Maths
NCERT Solutions for Class 6 Maths

SCIENCE NCERT SOLUTIONS

NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Physics
NCERT Solutions for Class 12 Chemistry
NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Physics
NCERT Solutions for Class 11 Chemistry
NCERT Solutions for Class 10 Science
NCERT Solutions for Class 9 Science
NCERT Solutions for Class 7 Science
MCQ Questions NCERT Solutions
CBSE Sample Papers
NCERT Exemplar Solutions LCM and GCF Calculator
TS Grewal Accountancy Class 12 Solutions
TS Grewal Accountancy Class 11 Solutions