June 10th, 2008 -- Posted in Calcium, Carbohydrates, Fat, Minerals, Nutrients, Nuts, Protein, Vitamins |
It is known that in order to function properly and encourage the development and growth of the body, it is important to consume adequate amounts of food. They contain nutrients that the body needs to maintain health and development of physical and mental activities. Nutrients are essential for the functioning of the body.
What are the nutrients?
These are chemical compounds that cells need a body to fulfill various functions such as:
To provide heat and energy.
Helping the formation and repair of tissues.
Regular operation of tissues
The main nutrients are:
Proteins
The lipid or fat
Carbohydrates or carbohydrate
Vitamins and minerals
Let’s now look at what food groups are these nutrients:
Proteins
They are composed of organic acids nutrients, supplied by food, although some of them prepare the body itself. They are essential for growth and repair of tissues, performing work related to the assimilation of nutrients, oxygen transport and fats in the blood, among others. In our diet can be distinguished animal protein or plant origin.
The animal protein found in meat, fish, poultry, eggs and dairy products. The vegetable can be found in abundance in nuts, grains, legumes, whole grains, soybeans and mushrooms.
The amount of protein required by the body depends on several factors such as age, health status of the intestine and kidney.
Lipids or fat
They are made up of nutrients oils, fats and glycerin. Its most important functions are to provide energy and contribute to the absorption of some vitamins. They are found in vegetable oils (olive, corn, sunflower) that are rich in unsaturated fatty acids, and animal fats (bacon, butter, and lard), rich in saturated fatty acids.
Typically, the food we eat is a combination of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The saturated fatty acids are more difficult to prosecute by the body, so that sometimes can accumulate and form plaques inside the arteries producing and arteriosclerosis.
Carbohydrates or carbohydrate
They are nutrient composition of which come three elements: oxygen, hydrogen and carbon, including in some foods.
They constitute the main source of energy in the body, helping to maintain tissues, develop the vision and prevent infections.
From a nutritional point of view we can talk about three types of carbohydrates:
Starch: present in cereals, pulses, potatoes, etc..
Sugars: present in fruits, milk, white sugar, honey, etc..
Fiber: present in vegetables, fruits, nuts, whole grains and legumes whole.
Vitamins
They are organic substances that serve to regulate the functions of the body. Do not bring energy, but without them the body is unable to take advantage of the constructive elements and energy supplied by food.
Vitamins are found in foods of animal origin so as vegetable. One exception is vitamin D is formed in the skin with sun exposure.
There are two types of vitamins:
The fat-soluble: namely, that dissolves in fats and oils and vitamins A, D, E, K & F.
The water-soluble: so called because it dissolves in water. They belong to this group vitamin C and B complex. With a diet rich in fresh produce and natural, can consume all the necessary vitamins supplements without requiring pharmacists.
Minerals
They are inorganic components of food, which is found in nature rather than living beings. They serve a very important role in the body, because they are necessary for the development of tissues and the formation of hormones, enzymes and other substances.
It can be divided into three groups:
Microelement: are those the body needs in greater quantity and can be measured in grams. For example, the body needs plenty of calcium, an element which is the hard part of bones and teeth. In this group we sodium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, chlorine and sulphur.
Microelements: are needed in fewer than the previous ones and are measured in milligrams. The microelements are no major structural elements, but involved in the functioning of certain enzymes, acting much like vitamins. Among them are iron, fluorine, iodine, manganese, cobalt, copper and zinc.
Trace elements: Those are needed in small quantities. They receive the name because of trace elements found in very small quantities in the body. The trace elements and are active in living tissues at concentrations that are expressed in micro grams per gram or micro grams per milliliter. They are silicon, nickel, Chromium, lithium, molybdenum.
June 10th, 2008 -- Posted in Calories, Carbohydrates, Cereals, Energy, Nutrients, Nuts, Vitamins |
There is no food that contains all the essential nutrients. For example, wheat flour and comprehensive lack of vitamins A, B12, C and D, and contain very little calcium. However possess a lot of dietary fiber. The calf contains very little or nothing of calcium, vitamins A, C and D and fibre but possesses iron and vitamin B12. In making both food groups, we received the elements from both, but we need to add citrus salads or make vitamin C, and milk or cheese containing vitamin D and calcium. So, combining the completion of various food groups to form a balanced diet.
According to the role in the body, foods are classified as:
- Foods rich in plastic or trainers substances essential for the formation and maintenance of our structure: protein and calcium.
- Food energy-rich substances that provide energy to the body: fat and carbohydrates.
- Food regulators rich in vitamins and minerals essential for occurring chemical reactions of metabolism.
From a practical point of view, the classification of functional foods is not possible to establish guidelines or patterns of simple food for the general population. It is necessary to group the foods they share responsibilities and provide similar amounts of nutrients. In Spain, since the education programmed in Food and Nutrition (EDALNU) in the sixties, was adopted a model for classifying foods based on 7 groups.
Group 1: milk and dairy products: cheeses and yogurt.
Group 2: meat, eggs and fish.
Group 3: potatoes, vegetables and nuts.
Group 4: vegetables.
Group 5: fruit.
Group 6: bread, pasta, cereal and sugar.
Group 7: fats, oils and butter.
A balanced diet should provide:
4-6 servings per day of food groups 3 and 6: bread, pasta, cereals, potatoes, vegetables
3-4 servings per day Group 4: vegetables
2-3 servings per day of group 5: fruit
2-3 servings per day of Group 1: Milk
2-4 servings per day in Group 2: meat, eggs, fish
40-60 grams per day of fat
We must not take the same daily rations of food each group but there are several that for two reasons:
1. Nutrients are characteristic of each group vary widely among the same foods.
2. The natural toxins and pollutants are distributed in all groups. The more varied the food is, the lower the possibility of taking in harmful quantities.
Diabetes Program EDALNU Properties Function
Group 1
Lacteal Rich with high-quality protein and calcium plastic or biological trainers
Group 2
Meat,
Fishing,
Eggs
Rich in protein feeding stuffs high-quality protein and iron and some vitamins. Algunos are rich in saturated fat plastic or trainers
Group 3
Potatoes,
Pulses
Tubers
And nuts
Group 4
Vegetables
Vegetables rich in vitamins and minerals and fiber Regal
Group 5
Fruit
Fruit Rich in vitamins, minerals and some fiber-rich sugar and Regal
Group 6
Cereals and vegetables
Starchy food Or hydrocarbons
Grains and derivatives
Sugars and Sweet
Sugary drinks
Pulses
Tubers
Nuts
Rich in carbohydrates mixed: energy and plasticity
Carbohydrates rapid absorption
Rich in protein and fiber
Rich in protein, fat (except chestnuts), and minerals
Group 7
Gras
Rich in vitamins fat, fat-soluble and essential fatty acids Energetic
Alcoholic beverages
The food pyramid
It is the graphic representation of the recommended daily servings of each food group. This is the best guide qualitative and it is clear that the bases for food are cereals, tubers, legumes and vegetables (carbohydrates) together with milk and derivatives. The animal protein outside the dairy are recommended from fish, white meat and eggs. The red meat and liver should be present only with weekly / fortnightly.
May 31st, 2008 -- Posted in Energy, Nutrients, Vitamins |
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.
It is known that in order to function properly and encourage the development and growth of the body, it is important to consume adequate amounts of food. They contain nutrients that the body needs to maintain health and development of physical and mental activities. Nutrients are essential for the functioning of the body.