If you frequent health forums or fitness blogs, you'll have read the word “macros” before. The word is short for macronutrients. That leads to the question, “what are macronutrients?” The macronutrients a person consumes are what the body needs to function properly. They are the nutrients from protein, fats and carbohydrates that make up a person's daily nutrition. The amount of macronutrients and ratio of one to the other is what people alter to achieve a certain result. For example, lowering carbs and fats while amping up on protein is what body builders do to gain more muscle. Runners will lower protein while increasing carbs to give themselves a rush for a big races. What is Protein? You've probably heard about how influential protein is to gaining muscle, but it also gives you …show more content…
In terms of why your body needs fats from foods, it uses fat to absorb vitamins. Dietary fats will include saturated as well as unsaturated fats. One type of fat is good for your body and one isn't great at all. This is what can be confusing to most people who strive to remove fats from their diet when they're trying to lose weight. Saturated fats come from animal sources like steak, hamburger and pork. Unsaturated fats are derived from plants. There are also trans fats that are considered poison for the body. They raise the bad cholesterol in your body, and should never be included in a healthy diet. There are also fatty acids like omega-3 and omega-6 that are good for a healthy body. There should always be a balance between the good macronutrients. Even though you might want to eliminate fats from your daily intake, the USDA concludes that all of the macronutrients are vital in combination with the others. They advocate that daily calories from fats should account for 20-40% of the person's daily calories. Good fats are found in nuts, avocados, olives, seeds and healthy oils like olive oil, flaxseed, and sesame. What's Wrong with Focusing on
Replace food high in saturated fat with food sources that are high in polyunsaturated fats. Instead of cooking with animal fat, lard, try using olive oil or vegetable oil for frying and cooking with.
In the year 2010, the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead was released. In the film, Australian native Joe Cross has realized that his health is worsening very fast. So Cross finally decides that he will turn his life around by taking an extreme diet that will deprive him of macronutrients for 60 days. Macronutrients are nutrients found in foods other than fruits and vegetables. Micronutrients are those nutrients found in fruits and vegetables. Micronutrients provide minerals such as Vitamin A, Iodine, Iron, Folate, and Zinc. While the body does not need these in large amounts, they are essential to the body because they help develop disease prevention and promote well-being. Micronutrients are important to include
In this lecture, it talks about fat and how it affects us and our bodies. There are two main different types of fat, saturated and unsaturated. Many types of saturated fat are found in meat and dairy products. These fats are hard to break down for cells, because of this, they tend to get tucked away and build up over time if worked off. Unsaturated fats are found in olive oil and other plant oils. These types of fat are readily consumed for energy.
The third molecule is protein. On an everyday basis, people eat protein to stay fit and and grow in a healthy manner. Runners keep to foods with lots of protein along with all athletes such as dancers, swimmers and many more. The reason so many people depend on protein is because it helps with the building of cells. These cells contribute to the building of your muscles, keeping them strong and healthy. Protein is made up of Amino Acids, which are found in meat, nuts, quinoa, green veggies, and some beans. Eating protein is important for every living things growth and daily needs.
There are nine amino acids that are considered “essential” for health, which we must obtain from our diets since our bodies cannot make them on their own. Some of the roles that amino acids/proteins have include helping to form and maintain muscle mass, providing energy for our cells and brain, helping store away energy for later use in fat stores, making your heart beat, and helping build the foundation of vital organs, including your heart, lungs and even your DNA, and supporting growth/development. Because of its ties to lean muscle mass and satiety in terms of controlling your appetite, protein is especially important as you age.
“Nutrition is the science/study of ways in which the body uses food. It is also the study of how and why we make food choices” (Lesson 18). Nutrients are substances in food that provide energy for body tissues and are necessary for life and growth. There are six classes of nutrients: carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water. Carbohydrates are a class of energy-giving nutrients that include sugars, starches, and fiber. Carbohydrates can be simple (donuts, chocolate, french fries, and gummy bears) or complex (bread, pasta, broccoli, oatmeal, and bananas). Fats are a class of energy-giving nutrients and are the main form in which energy is stored in the body. Fats can be good or bad for you and are either saturated (meats, butter, dairy) or unsaturated (vegetable oils). Proteins are nutrients made up of amino acids, which are needed to build/ repair body structures and to regulate processes in the body. There are incomplete proteins (fruits, vegetables, oats, bread, and rice) and complete (meat and dairy) versions of proteins. Water is an essential class of nutrients that keeps you alive and is necessary for almost every bodily function. Our bodies are made of approximately 60% percent water and because exercise makes you lose water through sweating it is important to drink at least 8 glasses a day. Minerals are a class of nutrients needed for certain body processes such as enzyme activity and bone
Food contains variety of nutrients, which is essential to our bodies. Nutrition is necessary to support the activities of day-to-day living. Nutrients in the food help maintaining normal growth and development, tissue maintenance and repair, cellular metabolism, and organ function (Potter, 2012, p.996). There are two groups of nutrients: macronutrients such as proteins, carbohydrates, fats, and micronutrients such as vitamins and minerals. However, nutrition should include water too because water helps protecting and repairing cells from environmental damage. Each nutrient has its own functions to restore our body. Proteins rebuild damaged tissue and promote growth. Carbohydrates and fats provide energy to the body, while vitamins and minerals function throughout the body in support of body’s processes. Water is essential for cellular homeostasis and life: it removes waste products including toxins out of vital organs. It moves nutrients to the cells, regulates body temperature, and providing a moist for brain, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, spinal cord, and
Nutrition in humans is a product that require to supply the human body to function, nutrients also helps to prevent any disease in human organs.
Nutrition is the process of obtaining and consuming the right nutrients you need in order to grow and survive. These nutrients consist of water, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, and fats. What you choose to eat has a significant impact on your well being, growth and overall health. Bad nutrition can lead to lifelong consequences such as Diabetes, High blood pressure, Obesity, Cardiovascular disease and even some Cancers. A healthy diet helps people manage a desirable body weight and composition that allows them to do their daily mental and physical activities (Youdim 1). If you eat the correct meals it provides energy and even helps boost your immune system. There are many examinations available to you to check if you’re on the
Another type of fatty acids that is often found in the diet are omega-6 fatty acids. In contrast to omega-3, these fatty acids are unsaturated fatty acids, which when taken in large amounts, can cause inflammation and lead to negative health effects.
The omega-3 fatty acids, popularly referred to as fish oil, are considered unsaturated fats. Science differentiates between unsaturated and saturated fats quite clearly. One fact that separates the two is the temperature at which melting occurs. Saturated fats melt at a higher temperature than unsaturated fats. The science behind fatty acids is rather complex; carboxylic acids with long hydrocarbon chains are the building blocks of saturated and unsaturated fats. This is important to the human body for many reasons; one reason being unsaturated fats do not cause plaque build-up in arteries like saturated fats due to their molecular structure in the human blood stream.
Most foods contain various kinds of fat, some being healthier than others. Some fats found in foods from plants and animals are known as dietary fats in which contain different types of fatty acids, such as saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. Saturated fats (butter, coconut oil, dairy products, meat) are found in animal products and processed foods. They are usually solids making them not heart healthy, since they are mostly know for raising one’s LDL cholesterol (low density lipoprotein). Polyunsaturated fats (corn oils, sunflower oil, soybean oil) are mostly found in plant sources and they tend to lower blood cholesterol levels. Monounsaturated fats (olive oil, peanut oil, canola oil, sesame oil) however, are found in both plant and animal products. These fats can help reduce the “bad” cholesterol, lowering LDL cholesterol. Thus, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats have the most positive effect in one’s health, while saturated fats have the most negative effect. The dietary fats are risky and can possibly lead to the development of
The human body requires small amounts of nutrients in microgram or milligram quantities in our diet because it cannot synthesize the necessary amounts on its own. These nutrients are considered micronutrients. Micronutrients are a combination of water, vitamins, and minerals. Vitamins are organic compounds that do not provide energy, but are essential to the body in helping “aid in metabolism, as well as the growth, development and maintenance of body tissues” (Byrd-Bredbenner, Moe and Beshgetoor 402). Vitamins are broken down into two groups, water-soluble and fat-soluble. The water-soluble vitamins are the B-vitamins, and vitamin C. The fat-soluble vitamins are A, D, E, and K. Minerals are needed in even smaller amounts, however these inorganic substances are necessary for “cell metabolism, nerve impulse transmission and growth and development” (Byrd-Bredbenner, Moe and Beshgetoor 485). Minerals can be categorized into major or trace minerals. The major minerals include Sodium, Potassium, Chloride, Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, and Sulfur. Trace minerals are Iron, Zinc, Copper, Manganese, Iodine, Selenium, Chromium, Fluoride, Molybdenum and Ultratrace minerals.
Nutrient dense foods complement your diet very well. They serve as your nutrients for the day and therefore are needed daily. I believe I am currently eating nutrient dense foods. About 7% of my fat came from saturated fat; that is half my fat that I consumed each day. Granola bars have peanut which contains saturated fat. That is the only saturated fat that I consumed in this course of time. That is the exact amount of saturated fat that someone of my age should consume.
“If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise not too little not too much, we would have food the safest way of health” (Barasi.E.M, 2003). This essay is going to discuss on the important of six essential nutrients in human body. According to PosnerB.M (1998), he define essential nutrients as a nutrients that the body cannot synthesize on its own-or not to an adequate amount and must be provided by the died. Oxford dictionary (2009), also define essential nutrients as are those nutrients that are required by the body and cannot be synthesise in the adequate amount to meet requirement, so must be provided by the diet. Essential nutrients are those found to be essential to human life and optimal function, Williams.M. H (2006).There are six main type of nutrients used to maintain body health. They are carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals and water. They must be in balance for the body to function properly.