awesomeapril
11-30-2009, 02:35 PM
I believe that the key to a healthy diet and life style is knowledge. Unfortunately there is a lot of bad, or easily misinterpreted information out there. Hopefully the following summery will help a reader to understand and interpret all of the dieting fads out there.
Your body needs six nutrients; water, carbs, protein, vitamins, minerals, fat
Water: This is the most important nutrient and is necessary for all cell function, but also cleanses the body, helps regulate body temp and prevents premature aging in women. It can be found in milk, and juices as well, basically any edible liquid that doesn’t contain caffeine, which does the opposite. Water has no calories. It should account for 50-70 percent of your intake
Carbohydrates; These are the body’s first energy source. They help to break down protein, protect the body from toxins and even help dehydration. Love carbs!. But beware there are two types complex and simple. They should account for up to 65% of your daily intake
Complex carbs; have 4 calories per gram and are a great source of energy as the burn slowly and have other beneficial nutrients. Don’t be afraid of these! They are found in whole grains fruits and vegetables.
Simple; also have four calories per gram and are processed quickly. They have no other health benefits and because they are processed quickly lead to “crashes”.
Proteins; Proteins are made up of amino acids. A complete protein contains a good amount of these amino acids and can be found in meat.
Incomplete proteins do not have enough of the essential amino acids to be considered complete. They can however be paired with each other to form complete protein. Example; red beans and rice, peanut butter and whole wheat.
Amino acids help to build and repair muscle tissue and also play a role in brain function. They should account for around 35% of your daily intake.
Fats/lipids: These are stored energy, contain 9 calories per gram and should make up 20-35 percent of daily intake. Aside from being a great energy source fat is also necessary for the absorption of vitamin A, D, E and K. Just like carbs, fat is necessary and an important part of our diet, but have two basic types; saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fat is solid at room temp and has a habit of clogging arteries and raising bad cholesterol. Unsaturated fat however is a good energy source and depending on the type of fat, can even lower bad cholesterol while raising the good. This is why olive oil is such a good choice.
Vitamins and Minerals; these help support normal body function, have no calories and should be obtained naturally for food. In other words if you eat right there is no need for dietary supplements.
Alcohol: Alcohol is not apart of the basic nutrients because it is not needed and has no nutritional benefits; seven empty calories per gram. Looking to loose weight? One step I highly recommend is cutting out the drinks.
Notice that percentages don’t exactly add up to 100% this is because everyone’s body is different ,so the optimum consumption is and should be just a bit different from person to person. Reasons to eat more; exercise, high metabolism, larger natural personal size, and sex (generally males tend to need to consume more than females). The converse is also true.
I've been meaning to post this for a while as nutrition is a subject that interests me and there really is a lot of bad information out there. I hope you find it useful
-April :)
Your body needs six nutrients; water, carbs, protein, vitamins, minerals, fat
Water: This is the most important nutrient and is necessary for all cell function, but also cleanses the body, helps regulate body temp and prevents premature aging in women. It can be found in milk, and juices as well, basically any edible liquid that doesn’t contain caffeine, which does the opposite. Water has no calories. It should account for 50-70 percent of your intake
Carbohydrates; These are the body’s first energy source. They help to break down protein, protect the body from toxins and even help dehydration. Love carbs!. But beware there are two types complex and simple. They should account for up to 65% of your daily intake
Complex carbs; have 4 calories per gram and are a great source of energy as the burn slowly and have other beneficial nutrients. Don’t be afraid of these! They are found in whole grains fruits and vegetables.
Simple; also have four calories per gram and are processed quickly. They have no other health benefits and because they are processed quickly lead to “crashes”.
Proteins; Proteins are made up of amino acids. A complete protein contains a good amount of these amino acids and can be found in meat.
Incomplete proteins do not have enough of the essential amino acids to be considered complete. They can however be paired with each other to form complete protein. Example; red beans and rice, peanut butter and whole wheat.
Amino acids help to build and repair muscle tissue and also play a role in brain function. They should account for around 35% of your daily intake.
Fats/lipids: These are stored energy, contain 9 calories per gram and should make up 20-35 percent of daily intake. Aside from being a great energy source fat is also necessary for the absorption of vitamin A, D, E and K. Just like carbs, fat is necessary and an important part of our diet, but have two basic types; saturated and unsaturated. Saturated fat is solid at room temp and has a habit of clogging arteries and raising bad cholesterol. Unsaturated fat however is a good energy source and depending on the type of fat, can even lower bad cholesterol while raising the good. This is why olive oil is such a good choice.
Vitamins and Minerals; these help support normal body function, have no calories and should be obtained naturally for food. In other words if you eat right there is no need for dietary supplements.
Alcohol: Alcohol is not apart of the basic nutrients because it is not needed and has no nutritional benefits; seven empty calories per gram. Looking to loose weight? One step I highly recommend is cutting out the drinks.
Notice that percentages don’t exactly add up to 100% this is because everyone’s body is different ,so the optimum consumption is and should be just a bit different from person to person. Reasons to eat more; exercise, high metabolism, larger natural personal size, and sex (generally males tend to need to consume more than females). The converse is also true.
I've been meaning to post this for a while as nutrition is a subject that interests me and there really is a lot of bad information out there. I hope you find it useful
-April :)