The nutrition of foods
What's in your food?
Why are some foods considered "healthy"
and others are not? Why does "an apple a day keep the doctor
away?" but too much triple-death chocolate fudge cake is
considered unhealthy?
The answer is in the nutrition of foods
- the composition of the food we eat. During digestion,
food breaks down into substances that either help our bodies
work or do more damage than good.
"We
are indeed much more than what we eat, but what we
eat can nevertheless help us to be much more than
what we are."
- Adelle Davis |
Nutrition is vital to our health
and wellness. Just as plants need water and sunlight
to live and grow, our bodies need nourishment to survive.
That nourishment is obtained through the nutrition of foods
that we eat.
The body is built of billions of specialized
cells that form all of its parts, from the heart to the
bones and muscles to the hair. These cells need materials
and energy to build and maintain themselves.
The body uses the nutrition of
foods to obtain material and energy to perform all of its
activities, such as:
- Breathing
- Heart beating
- Digestion
- Regulating body temperature
- Physical activity.. you get the idea!
Types of Nutrients
The nutrition of foods
can be divided into these major categories:
- Protein
- Carbohydrate
- Fats
- Water
Water is one of the primary nutrients because it is vital
for energy production and essential in assisting the body
to function.
These are called "macronutrients"
– "macro-" meaning "large." They form the largest
portion of the nutrients that the body requires for health
and energy.
There is no "fixed" amount
of each macronutrient that we personally should consume
each day. The amounts depend on many different factors,
such as gender, age, weight, daily caloric needs, health
conditions, level of physical activity and climate (yeah,
you need more fuel to burn to keep you warm when it's cold!)
Vitamins
and minerals are also a part of the nutrition of foods
and are essential to the proper functioning of the body.
Because they are needed in much smaller amounts than the
macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, fats and water),
they're called "micronutrients" (“micro-”
meaning "small.")
| A
Piece of My Mind
- B.B. Martin,
Editor
What's a "superfood?"
Apparently there
isn't an "official" definition of the word "superfood"
yet. I don't know who we're waiting for to proclaim
it!
But the term is getting
more and more popular and there really are some
definitions for it.
I researched quite
a few and the best short definition of superfood
is:
A
superfood can be defined as a natural
food source that is highly concentrated
with a complex supply of quality nutrients. |
I vote that we make
this one "official."
As I was researching
this, I started wondering - why is this terminology
coming into vogue now? Nutritionally dense foods
have been around since Adam and Eve. They couldn't
resist the apple, could they?
My theory is that
this word, "superfood," has come into being
out of necessity. You never heard this word
30 years ago. (It's actually been around for
over 20 years.)
But the amount of
highly processed foods and the changes in our
lifestyles over the past 30 years have buried
the value of healthy food somewhere with our
rotary phones.
We used to eat "superfoods"
on a regular basis. Apples, blueberries and
avocados were "normal" foods. Now
they're "superfoods" because there's
so much crap food and advertising for it that
we need the "superfood" label on normal
food to tell us that its good for us!
So yeah, I think
that certain foods are superfoods compared to
everything available that's called "food."
And if I hear of a new one, I study the information
on it carefully and then I might try it. Unless
I've been eating it all my life.
Living
superfoods are worth learning about because
they can have a very positive effect on health.
Just adding some of these to your diet while
you're improving your nutrition is a good start!
Since there aren't
labeling guidelines, any company could label
their products as "superfood." If you don't
know what that really means and you don't look
at labels, you could be getting something as
nutritious as a plastic spoon!
|
|
Almost all foods contain some percentage
of each macronutrient. Most fruits and veggies are mainly
carbohydrate.
Avocados however, are mainly healthy fats
with minimal protein
and carbohydrate. They are also rich in vitamins, minerals
and other nutrients.
As another example, milk contains protein,
carbohydrate and
fat. The nutrition
facts labels on processed foods and beverages provide information
on how much of each of these macronutrients is contained
in that food product.
If you are interested in a source
of food that contains the broad spectrum of nutrients in
a balanced form, visit
this great site about sea vegetables and seaweed. You'll
get entertaining and useful information about the nutrition,
types and health benefits of sea veggies!
It's not slimy stuff like you may think!
Plus you will find some great recipes while you're there.
Calories and Nutrition of Foods
The calories in food are measurements
of how much energy the food can provide. As we've
seen, your body needs energy to do its thing. For example,
you need 11 calories an hour to chew gum. Even sleeping,
eating, and watching TV require your body to use energy
by "burning" calories.
A food can be high in calories but have
very little, if any, actual nutrition for the body. This
is called "junk food" or "empty calories."
Sodas are a great example of this (the sugar sweetened kind).
On the other hand, a food can be lower
in calories but pack a punch when it comes to nutritional
value (beans are a good example). They are sometimes called
"nutritionally dense" or just "healthy."
The following articles
provide basic explanations of the nutrition of foods:
Return
to Food, Nutrition and Health from The Nutrition
of Foods
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