Food

Food is any substance consumed by living organisms, including liquid drinks. Food is the main source of energy and of nutrition for animals, and is usually of animal or plant origin.
The study of food is called food science. In English, the term food is often used metaphorically or figuratively, as in food for thought.
Food can also be a system of communication, a collection of images, a protocol of usages, situations, and behavior. Food is what brings the memory of our past into our contemporary life.
Contents:

Definition of Food
Food From plants
Food From animals
Food allergies
Nutrients in food

Definition of Food

Western food law defines four categories of object as food:
" any substance or product, whether processed, partially processed or unprocessed, intended to be, or reasonably expected to be ingested by humans whether of nutritional value or not;
" water and other drinks;
" chewing gum;
" articles and substances used as an ingredient or component in the preparation of food.

Food from plant sources

" Seeds
o Cereals from grasses, including barley, maize, oats, rice, rye, and wheat
o Cereals from non-grasses, including buckwheat, amaranth, and quinoa
o Legumes, including beans, peas, and lentils
o Nuts, including coconuts, almonds, and pine nuts
o Oilseeds, including sesame, sunflower, and hemp
" Vegetables (see also list of vegetables)
o Root vegetables, including potatoes, cassava, and turnips
o Leaf vegetables, including amaranth, spinach, and kale
o Sea vegetables, including dulse, kombu, and dabberlocks
o Stem vegetables, including bamboo shoots, nopales, and asparagus
o inflorescence vegetables, including globe artichokes, broccoli, and daylilies
o Fruit vegetables, including pumpkin, okra, and eggplant
" Fruits (see also list of fruits)
" Herbs and spices (see also list of herbs and spices)
Various meats

Food From animals

" Dairy products, including milk
" Eggs, including roe and caviar
" Insects, including honey
" Meat, including beef, frogs' legs, gaegogi, goat, horse, kangaroo, lamb, mutton, pork, veal, rodents, human (i.e. cannibalism)
" Offal, including blood
" Poultry, including chicken, turkey, duck, goose, pigeon or dove, ostrich, emu, guinea fowl, pheasant, quail
" Seafood, including finfish such as salmon and tilapia, and shellfish such as mollusks and crustaceans
" Snails
" Game, this includes all animals hunted for food.
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From neither animals or plants
" Salt
" Mushrooms, which are a type of fungi
" Seaweed, which is a protist
" Water, including mineral water and spring (water)


Food allergies

Some people have food allergies or sensitivities to foods which are otherwise wholesome to the majority of people.
The amount of the food substance required to provoke a reaction in a susceptible individual can be minute. For instance, tiny amounts of food in the air, too minute to be smelled, have been known to provoke lethal reactions in sufficiently sensitive individuals. In theory, any food may provoke a reaction, however, this most commonly involves gluten, corn, shellfish (mollusks), peanuts, and soy.
Most patients present with diarrhea after ingesting certain foodstuffs, skin symptoms (rashes), bloating, vomiting and regurgitation. The digestive complaints usually develop within half an hour of ingesting the allergen.
Rarely, food allergy can lead to anaphylactic shock: hypotension (low blood pressure) and loss of consciousness. This is a medical emergency. An allergen associated with this type of reaction is peanut, although latex products can induce similar reactions. Initial treatment is with epinephrine (adrenaline), often carried by known patients in the form of an Epi-pen.
Food allergy is thought to develop easier in patients with the atopic syndrome, a very common combination of diseases: allergic rhinitis and conjunctivitis, eczema and asthma. The syndrome has a strong inherited component; a family history of these diseases can be indicative of the atopic syndrome.

Nutrients in food

" Calcium
" Carbohydrate
" Essential amino acids
" Fat
" Iron
" Minerals
" Phytochemicals, including anti-oxidants, enzymes, bio-flavinoids
" Potassium
" Protein
" Sodium
" Starch
" Vitamins
" Water