So what does good nutrition actually mean? Good nutrition means that obtaining the correct amount of nutrient from healthy foods in the right order or mixture. What is nutrition for? To employ food to grow, repair and maintain the body of humans. It is also to obtain the right amount of nutrients healthy foods in the correct mixture and making clever choices about the food you eat. Proper nutrition assists you on developing and maintaining health. Carbohydrate are simply sugars that breaks down inside the body to create glucose. Protein is the type of molecule in food that can be broken into amino acids. Fat is an essential nutrient needed inside the human body. Cholesterol is a type of fat found in the blood. Fiber is a type of complex carbohydrates. Fiber is well known for regular bowel movements. Vitamin is the name given to nutrients vital to health and well-being that cannot be produced by the body. There are vitamin A, vitamin B, vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E and vitamin K1. Minerals are naturally occurring elements and are therefore found on the periodic table.
What happens when you take too much of carbohydrates?
Taking in too much of carbohydrates can make you gain excessive body weight.
Stress levels are higher than usual.
We have trouble controlling what we eat.
We develop insulin resistance, elevated triglycerides and other health problems.
Video discussing the differences between good and bad carbs:
Does taking excessive protein is harmful to your body?
Does overtaking proteins can harm your body? Truthfully, consuming excessive protein can can actually be detrimental to your health.
Eating more protein than your body needs can interfere with your health and fitness goals in a number of ways including weight gain, extra body fat, stress on your kidneys, dehydration and leaching of important bone minerals.
Can excessive intake of fat be life threatening?
Over-intake of fat can be severely life threatening, those threats that can possibly happen are said below:
Heart disease = Too much cholesterol in diet can lead to atherosclerosis.
Obesity = Too much body fat can lead to being overweight and obese.
Diabetes = Overweight people are at higher risk of diabetes compared to persons of normal weight.
Stroke = Excess fat and cholesterol is a dangerous combination that can cause a stroke.
Can excessive intake of fiber effect your health in a negative way?
Too much fiber can cause several health problems too. The health problems are listed below:
Cramping
Cramping occurs because the body cannot properly break down fiber. If too much fiber is consumed, food digestion can be momentarily slowed or even stopped. This can lead to intestinal cramping and discomfort.
Diarrhea
If you increase your fiber intake too suddenly, then your body will not have enough time to adjust. One of the biggest benefits of fiber is that it increases the speed in which food moves throughout the digestive tract. By consuming too much fiber, you may increase this speed too much, which can lead to diarrhea.
There are other health problems, but these two are the most common.
Not following instructions when taking the pills?
Taking vitamins or supplements as directed on the package label is considered to be safe, but not following instructions can lead to problems.
Norman Hord, an Associate professor in the department of food science and Human nutrition says"Excesses of all nutrients from water to iron, to water soluble B vitamins can potentially cause toxicities"
Vitamins and other nutrients play essential roles in maintaining good health, but they need to be consumed in proper amounts.
Athletes exercise more than most people right? They burn their calories way more than normal people, which means if we logically think about it, they would need a lot of amount and type of nutrients so that their body can withstand the movements they do everyday and so that their bodies do not break down.
Video showing on how to eat like athletes do:
1. Load up on carbohydrates:
Carbs are an athletes main fuel. Your body changes them to glucose, a form of sugar and stores it in your muscles as glycogen.
When you exercise, your body changes glycogen to energy. If you exercise for 90 minutes, you have enough glycogen, you have enough glycogen in your muscles, even for high intensity activities.
But...
if your workout is longer than that, use these strategies listed:
Eat a diet that gets about 70% of its calories from carbohydrates including breads, cereals, pasta, fruit and vegetables to achieve maximum carbohydrate storage.
On the day of the big event, eat your last meal 3 to 4 hours before exercising, to give your stomach time to empty.
Avoid eating sugary of starchy food within 30 minutes of starting an activity - they can speed up dehydration.
2. Get enough protein but not too much.
Protein does not provide a lot of fuel for energy but you need it to maintain your muscles.
Know what you need: The average person needs 1.2 to 1.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight a day.
Favor foods: Getting too much protein can put a strain on your kidneys.
Drink up: "Milk is one of the best foods for recovery after an event, because it provides a good balance of protein and carbohydrates" Dubost says.
3. Go easy on fat
For long events, such as marathons, your body turns to fat for energy when carbohydrate sources run low.
Most athletes get their fat needs by following the basic dietary guideline to eat mostly unsaturated fat food such as nuts, avocados, olives, vegetable oils and fatty fish like tuna and salmon.
Avoid fatty foods on the day of an event, since they can upset your stomach.
4. Drink fluids early and often
Intense exercise, especially in hot weather, can quickly leave you dehydrated. Dehydration in turn can hurt your performance and in extreme cases, threaten your life.
"All high intensity athletes should drink fluids early and often" Dubost says. "and don not wait until your thirsty. By the time you parched, you may be seriously dehydrated.
One way to monitor hydration is to keep an eye for the color of your urine. A pale yellow color means your getting enough fluid. Bright yellow of dark urine means you are falling short.
It is a good idea to drink fluid before and during an event.
Endurance athletes such as marathon runners or long distance cyclists should drink up 8 to 12 ounce of fluid every 10 or 15 minutes during an event. when possible, drink chilled fluids which are more easily absorbed than room temperature water. Chilled fluids also helps you cool down your body.
5. Replace lost electrolytes
Sweating removes both fluids and electrolytes. Electrolytes help transmit nerve signals in your body. To replenish them, reach for sports drinks. If you are losing a lot of fluid as you sweat, dilute sports drinks with equal amount of water to get the best balance of fluid and electrolytes.
Nutrition is simply the learning of food happening in the bodies of humans, their source of energy and the method for which our nutrients can function. We can say that nutrition is the building of life itself.
There are six essential nutrients for life which are said below:
Carbohydrates
Proteins
Lipids (fat)
Fiber
Vitamins
Minerals & Water
Nutrition starts working in our life cycle from infancy to adolescence, adulthood and in our senior years. The absorption of nutrients begins at the exact time our stomach begin to digest the food then they are sent to help all of the metabolic processes that exists in the human body.
The term "Good Nutrition" means that obtaining the correct amount of nutrients from healthy foods in the right order or mixture.
Possessing the knowledge of nutrients and choosing the right kind of mixture of healthy foods to eat can or will definitely help you in achieving the ultimate health over the years of your lifetime. It will also be the key to preventing obesity, illness and a lot of the chronic diseases that exist nowadays. Nutrition is one of the main points to improving and balancing good health. Good health shows the meaning of a state of a complete healthy mind, body and spirit. Nutrition can also be a cure or antidote for many of today's common problems such as stress, pollution and sexual vitality.
What is Nutrition for?
To employ food to grow, repair and maintain the bodies of humans.
Obtaining the right amount of nutrients from healthy foods in the correct mixture.
Choosing clever choices about the food you eat.
Proper nutrition assists you on developing and maintaining good health.
Carbohydrates
Are simply sugars that breaks down inside the body to create glucose. Glucose is carried around the body in the blood and is the main origin of energy for the brain, muscles, and other important cells. The healthy body attempts to regulate glucose levels by using a series of hormones which are insulin and glucagon. The pancreas gland produces them.
Insulin lowers the blood levels by moving the glucose to various parts of the body and aiding its absorption, excess glucose can be stored in the liver or fat around the body.
What if you eat too many carbohydrates?
Eating too many carbohydrates will lead to weight gain, this is because the body will store unused glucose for later.
Proteins
The word 'Protein' refers to a type of molecule in food that can be broken into amino acids. The human body needs proteins to survive. When we eat, the body breaks down the protein in food in order to create amino acids that it needs.
What protein does for us?
Protein is the body's building block. All of our organs, including the skin, muscles, hair and nails are built from proteins. Many hormones are proteins and the immune system, digestive system and blood all rely on proteins to function correctly.
Fat
Fat is an essential nutrient needed in the human body.
Our bodies require small amounts of 'good fat' to function and help prevent diseases. However a lot of modern diets contain far more fat than the body needs. Too much fat, especially too much of the wrong type of fat, can cause serious health complaints including obesity, higher blood pressure and cholesterol levels, which in turn lead to a greater risk of heart disease.
Like protein, but not carbohydrates, fat is essential to human life, we all need fat in our diets:
Cholesterol is a type of fat found in the blood. Nearly all cholesterol in the body is produced by the liver, very little is found in foods although seafood, liver, kidney and eggs do contain some cholesterol.
Cholesterol is vital in the body, not just that it play a role in how all cells work but it is also a 'building block' for other essential chemicals that the body produces.
Video below shows a further explanation on the types of fats:
Fiber
Fiber is a type of complex carbohydrates (type of sugar) but unlike other carbohydrates which are broken down by the body to provide fuel in the form of glucose, fiber cannot be digested by the human body.
The benefits of fiber
High fiber foods help fill you up.
Foods that are high in fiber keeps you feeling fuller for longer.
Fiber is well known for regular bowel movements.
Fiber is useful for maintaining healthy colon function.
People who eat a lot of fiber are more likely to be slimmer.
Vitamins
Introduction to vitamins:
Vitamin is the name given to nutrients (Chemical Compounds) vital to health and well-being that cannot be produced by the body.
Vitamin A (Retinol)
Vitamin A is associated with vision. It helps us to see in dimly lit conditions and is important for color vision. It also helps strengthen the immune system and is useful for healthy skin.
We get Vitamin A from:
Liver.
Milk and Dairy Products.
Oily fish.
Vegetables (Carrots, Sweet potatoes, butternut squash, kale and lettuce).
Herbs and Dried Herbs.
Some red spices including paprika and cayene pepper.
Vitamin B (Thiamine)
Thiamine is not stored by the body so it needs to be replenished everyday. It is common in many foods and most people consume enough. The vitamin works with other vitamins in the B group to help in the production of glucose and other essential substances by breaking down food. It also keeps muscles and nerves healthy.
Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)
Vitamin C is for humans but not other animals. Vitamin C plays an important role in the body which includes maintaining the health of connective tissue which supports the body's organs and other tissue. Essential in the production of hormones and a powerful antioxidant Vitamin C is also thought to lower the overall risk of cancer.
Vitamin D (Calciferol)
Vitamin D is an unusual and required in the human only in certain circumstances, because we got most of our Vitamin D from sunlight. Vitamin D is important in the body for regulating the amount of calcium and phosphate, which contribute to healthy bones and teeth.
Vitamin E (Tocopherol)
There are many different forms of Vitamin E and it is common to the wide variety of foods. Vitamin E can protect the body against serious illness such as heart disease and cancer. It can also help to protect eye health in older people.
Vitamin K1 (Phylloquinone)
Vitamin K is required to for the modification of proteins in food and also blood clotting and probably for the development of strong healthy bones. Vitamin K may also help protect the body from contracting serious illness like heart disease and cancer. Moreover, Vitamin K can help in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
Minerals and Water
Minerals are naturally occurring elements and are therefore found on the periodic table. The body uses minerals for some important functions, some are necessary for a healthy body and mind.
List of nutrients:
Boron (B)
Can be found in many fruits, vegetables and nuts. Boron is thought to be useful in bone development and maintenance, muscle development and strength and can help alleviate problems associated with Vitamin D deficiency. Boron may also help with the prevention of arthritis.
Calcium (Ca)
Calcium is found in milk and other dairy products including cheese and yogurt. Lower fat dairy products contain more calcium as less of their volume is taken up with fat. Nuts, seeds, oily fish and dark green vegetables can also be rich sources of calcium.
Calcium is required for the production and upkeep of bones and teeth. Calcium also plays key roles in the nerve signalling, muscle contraction as well as controlling levels of some hormones.
Too much calcium can lead to serious problems like stroke and heart attack whereas too little can cause muscle cramps, numbness in the extremities and abnormal heartbeats.
Chromium (Cr)
Chromium helps the body breakdown fat, carbohydrates and some hormones like insulin. chromium is also fundamental in the body's production in some fatty acids and cholesterol (Essential for the brain). Needed in small quantities and and common in many foods. We get most of our chromium from meat, fish, whole grains, fruit and vegetables.
Zinc (Zn)
Zinc is an essential mineral and of paramount importance to health. Zinc deficiency can cause huge problems in developing nations and it is estimated that zinc deficiency affects around two billion people.
