WHAI IS NUTRIENTS?

Nutrient is any substance contained in food and we need to live and keep us in health.

Nutrients are those essential that the body can not synthesize (from others) and, therefore, depends entirely on your food intake.

The Human nutrition as a science is very recent, and indeed the discovery of the 40 or 50 essential nutrients occurs in the last decades of the nineteenth century and first third of the twentieth century.

The nutrients that provide energy are called macro nutrients and consist of: 1) protein 2) fat and 3) carbohydrates.

1) The proteins are our structure and are therefore essential for growth, renewing them and for the synthesis of many substances related to our immunity and cellular enzyme reactions.

2) Fat is the nutrient energy par excellence (1 gram of fat provides 9 Kcal, compared to 4 Kcal of proteins and carbohydrates) also provide essential fatty acids and provide the body fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K. Its intake is essential, although the excess of their contribution, especially saturated fat (as in the usual diet of developed countries) is harmful to health.

3) Carbohydrates have a key role which is the energy: energy is easier to use. His contribution is an action-saving protein and avoids the pathogenesis. The recommended daily intake in a healthy adult and sedentary is 3 to 5 g / kg / day, or approximately 200-300 g / day.

Vitamins and minerals do not have role energy but are essential for life because they are involved in many cellular processes.

There are two types of vitamins in our food:

Hydrosolubles: 8 B vitamins and vitamin C.

Insoluble: vitamins A, E, D and K.

We need some 18-20 minerals which are as follows: calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, cobalt, chromium, molybdenum, iodine, fluorine, sodium, potassium, chlorine, sulfur, selenium, nickel, tin and Silicon .

The fiber

The fiber is described in general as that part of plants that is not digested by the human gut by lack of specific digestive enzymes.
The fiber can be classified into 2 groups:

– Insoluble fiber cellulose, lignin and some nitrocelluloses. They are found in whole grains, rye and rice products.

– Soluble fiber: nitrocellulose, pectin’s, gums exudates, rubber seeds, derived from algae and chemical derivatives of cellulose. They are found in fruits (pectin), legumes and cereals that contain beta glucano, such as barley and oats.

The soluble fiber increases the viscosity of food bolus and gastric emptying time. It also increases the intestinal transit time

Insoluble fiber (such as wheat bran) lowers the foregoing.

Benefits of fiber:

1. It increases the feeling of satiety.
2. It reduces the absorption of some nutrients such as calcium, iron, saturated fatty acids.
3. Fermentation bacteria in the colon.
4. It increases the weight of the stool.