"Food is life, Food is alive" - The Kenyan Food Biochemist
Food is life. It is fact. All organisms need food.
Plants are able to make food by utilizing the energy from the sun. E.coli can live on glucose only. This amazing bacteria is able to meet all its energy requirements and synthesize all molecules it needs for life from glucose. Homo sapiens sapiens lack the cellular processes to synthesize all life molecules from glucose so we depend heavily on our environment for food. We must eat adequate and balanced amounts of both carbohydrates (glucose), proteins (amino acids) and vegetables (minerals and vitamins).
Food is alive. This is also a fact but it may not be obvious to everyone though.
There are two levels in which food is alive: intrinsic, which denotes that the source is inside the food and where enzymes are involved; and extrinsic, which denotes that the source is coming from an outside factor and usually involves bacteria.
The intrinsic source of life can be seen clearly when a potato after being peeled is left out in the open. A set of enzymes called monooxygenases are able to use atmospheric oxygen and via an oxidation reaction convert pigments in potatoes to the darker pigment melanin, the pigment that is found in the human skin. To prevent this from happening, potatoes are kept under water after being peeled to eliminate oxygen. It is a practice that has been done for so long in all kitchens.
The extrinsic source of life is easier to define. It is the reason that most households have refrigerators. The low temperatures prevent, but do not kill bacteria, thereby slowing food from going bad.
Yought is good for you because it contains live bacteria called Lactobacillus that helps to lower the population of other harmful bacteria in the gut.
In conclusion, food is important and a necessity for life.
