The-Nutrients-in-Food

TheNutrientsinFoodAdelleDavisIntroductionAreyouashealthyasyoucanbe?Thispassagetellsinsimplesttermswhatittakestobuild,fuelandmaintainthehumanbody.Nutrientsarethepartsoffoodthatareimportantforlifeandhealth.Nutrientsareimportantforthreereasons.First,somenutrientsprovidefuelforenergy.Second,somenutrientsbuildandtherepairbodytissues.Third,somenutrientshelpcontroldifferentprocessesofthebodyliketheabsorptionofmineralsandtheclottingofblood.Scientiststhinkthereare40to50nutrients.Thesenutrientsaredividedintofivegeneralgroups:carbohydrates,fast,proteins,mineralsandvitamins.Thefirstgroupofnutrientsiscarbohydrates.Therearetwokindsofcarbohydrates:starchesandsugars.Bread,potatoes,andricearestarches.Theyhavemanycarbohydrates.Carbohydratesareimportantbecausetheyprovidethebodywithheatandenergy.Sugar,forinstance,is100percentenergy.Ithasnootherfoodvalue.Sugardoesnotbuildbodytissuesorcontrolbodyprocesses.Iftherearetoomanycarbohydratesinthebody,theyarestoredasbodyfat.Thebodystorefurlasfat.Therearetwotypesoffats:animalandvegetable.Butter,cream,andthefatinbaconareanimalfats.Olive,oil,cornoil,andpeanutoilarevegetablefats.Thebodyhasfatundertheskinandaroundsomeoftheorgansinside.Theaverageadulthas10to11kilograms(20to25pounds)ofbodyfat.Ifadultseattoomanycarbohydratesandfats,theycanaddanother45kilograms(100pounds)totheirbodies.Fatisextrafuel.Whenthebodyneedsenergy,itchangesthefatintocarbohydrates.Thecarbohydratesareusedforenergy.Fatalsokeepsthebodywarm.Thethirdgroupofnutrientsisproteins.Theword“protein”comesfromaGreekwordthatmeans“offirstimportance.”Proteinsare“offirstimportance”becausetheyarenecessaryforlife.Proteinsaremadeofaminoacidswhichbuildandrepairbodytissues.Theyareanimportantpartofallthemuscles,organs,skin,andhair.Thebodyhas22differentaminoacids.Nutritionistscalleightoftheseaminoacidsessentialbecausethebodydoesnotmanufacturethem.Therearetwokindsofproteins:completeproteinsandincompleteproteins.Completeproteins,whichthebodyneedsforgrowth,havealltheessentialaminoacids.Meat,fish,poultry,egg,milk,andcheesehavecompleteproteins.Thebodyneedscompleteproteinseveryday.Incompleteproteinsdonothavealltheessentialaminoacids.Theproteinsinvegetablesandgrains,forinstance,areincompleteproteins.Twowaystofromcompleteproteinsfromincompleteproteinsare:(1)tomixvegetableandgrainscorrectly,or(2)toaddasmallamountofmeatormilktoalargeamountofgrains.Thebodycanthenusethecompleteproteinswhichresultfromthemixtures.Extraproteininthebodycanbechangedtofatandstoredasbodyfat.Itcanalsobechangedtocarbohydratesandusedforenergy.Ifpeopledonoteatenoughcarbohydratesandfatsfortheenergythattheyneed,theirbodyusesproteinsforenergy.Thenthebodydoesnothavetheproteinsthatitneedstobuildandrepairtissues.Anutritiousdietincludescarbohydratesandfatsforenergy,andproteinsforgrowth.Thefourthgroupofnutrientsismineral.Morethantwentydifferentmineralsareinthebody.Threeofthemostimportantmineralsarecalcium,phosphorus,andiron.Calciumandphosphorus,theirbonesandteethhave99percentofthecalciuminthebody.Ifpeoplehaveenoughcalciumandphosphorustheirbonesandteethwillbestrongandhard.Inaddition,theirmuscles,nerves,andheartwillworkcorrectly.Milkandhardcheesestarethebestsourcesofcalcium.Aftertheageof19,peopleneed400to500milligramsofcalciumaday.Peoplewhodonotdrinkthreeglassesofmilkdailycaneat50hamburgersor56applestogetthecalciumtheyneed.Ironisthemineralthatmakesbloodlookred.Allleanmeatshaveiron;liverisanespeciallygoodsourceofiron.Wholegrains,nuts,somevegetables,anddriedfruitsalsohaveiron.Ifthereisnotenoughironintheirdiets,peoplewillgetadiseasethatiscommonlycalledanemia.Anemiaisfoundallovertheworld.Peoplewithanemiadonothaveenoughironintheirblood.Becauseironcarriesoxygen,peoplewhodohaveenoughirondonotgetenoughoxygenfortheirnormalactivities.Theirheartsbeatfastersotheirbodiescangetmoreoxygen.Peoplewhohaveanemiaoftengettiredeasily.Sometimestheirskinlookwhite:itdoesnotlookpinkandhealthy.Nutritioniststhinktherearethirteenvitaminsthathumansneed.Vitaminsareimportantbecausetheypreventdiseaseandhelpcontrolbodyprocesses.VitaminsAisimportantforhealthyskinandeyes.PeoplewhodonothaveenoughvitaminAmayhavenightblindness.SomeautomobileaccidentshappenintheeveningbecausepeoplewholackvitaminAdonotseetheroadwellaftertheylookatthebrightheadlightsofacar.VitaminAinthedietcomesfromdeepyellowfruitsandvegetable,darkgreenleafyvegetables,andwholemilk.WhenpeoplehaveenoughBvitamins,theirappetiteisgoodandtheirnervesarecalm.Bvitaminsinthedietcomefromsomemeatsandvegetables,milk,cottagecheese,andwholegrains.Whenagrainisprocessed,itlosesvitamins.Forexample,thereisabigdifferencebetweenbrownandwhiterice.Whenriceisprocesses,thebrownoutsideislost.ThebrownoutsideofriceasmoreBvitaminwhichwhitericelacks.Inshort,brownricehasmoreBvitaminsthanprocessedrice.VitaminCkeepsthecellsofthebodytogether.Ithelpsskintissuerecoverfromcutsandburns.VitaminCinthedietcomesfromtomatoes,citrusfruitslikelemonsandoranges,andsomevegetablessuchascabbageandgreenpeppers.VitaminDiscalledthe“sunshine”vitamin.Whenpeoplesitoutside,ultravioletraysfromthesunchangeafatintheirskintovita