In the Western world, most of us live in a fast paced environment. We’re so busy going here and there with people and schedules demanding our time, that we barely have time to eat anymore.
When we do manage to find time to have a bite, we stop in at the nearest fast food diner, or we throw in a ready-made meal into the microwave, scarf it down, and then we’re off again doing our thing.
Knowing that our diet is terrible we go and buy a bunch of nutritional supplements to try and offset the lack of nutrition we get with our diet.
Don’t get me wrong, nutritional supplements do have their place but they are only part of the solution. The other part of the solution is changing what we put in our mouths.
It’s what we eat daily that really affects how healthy our bodies are and how able they are to ward off disease.
Once you have your diet down pat, then you can look at supplementing where you need to.
The problem is that most of us have long forgotten what a good diet is anymore, so to refresh our memories lets go back to the beginning and look at basic food nutrition.
Four Basic Nutrients
There are four basic nutrients that our bodies need to stay healthy. They are:
1. Water
2. Carbohydrates
3. Proteins
4. Fats
Basic Nutrient #1 - Water
We all know that our bodies are two-thirds water. Water is involved in every function of our bodies. Water is involved in the transportation of nutrients to our cells, and the transport of waste out of our cells.
Water also plays a role in all digestive, absorptive, circulatory, and excretory functions of our body, not to mention the utilization of water-soluble vitamins, plus it’s needed to maintain proper body temperature.
To make sure that our bodies have enough water to function properly, we need to drink at least ten 8-ounce glasses per day. Once you make it a part of your lifestyle, it is not that hard to do.
Basic Nutrient #2 - Carbohydrates
The energy our bodies need to function comes from carbohydrates. Outside of milk and milk products carbohydrates are found almost solely from plant based foods such as:
*fruits
*vegetables
*peas
*beans
Carbs can be split into two types, simple and complex.
Simple carbohydrates (also referred to as simple sugars) include fruits (fructose), table sugar (sucrose), and milk sugar (lactose).
Fruits are one of natures richest sources of simple carbs. When it comes to simple carbs (sugar) it’s important that we get them from fruits instead of refined sugar that is found in processed and refined foods.
In addition to the lack of nutrition that refined and processed food have on our bodies, eating large amounts of simple carbs that come from refined foods over a period of even a few years can lead to problems such as diabetes and hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) just to name a few.
Complex carbohydrates are also made up of sugar but the molecules are put together to form a longer more complex chain.
Complex carbs include starches and fiber. When it comes to fiber it is important to consume at least 25 grams per day. Not only does this help with regularity, but it also helps prevent certain colon diseases such as colon cancer.
Some of natures richest sources of complex carbs are vegetables, whole grains, beans, and peas.
We know that carbs are a major fuel source for the cells in our body, but what most people don’t know is that carbohydrates are the only source of food for our brain and red blood cells.
Basic Nutrient #3 - Protein
Not only is protein needed for growth and development but it is also another source of energy for the body.
Protein is also used for manufacturing hormones, antibodies, enzymes, and tissues, and it helps maintain proper acid/alkaline pH in the body.
When you eat protein your body breaks it down into amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of all protein. There are two kinds of amino acids: nonessential and essential.
Nonessential amino acids - means that they don’t have to come from your diet, but instead they are synthesized by your body for the purpose of making protein.
Essential amino acids - means that your body can’t synthesize them and they have to come from your diet in order to make protein.
It’s the combination of the two amino acids (nonessential and essential) that is needed by our bodies to make protein (ie. muscle).
So if our diet is lacking in essential amino acids, the making of protein stops and our body suffers.
Dietary protein (which is what we eat so our bodies can extract the essential amino acids from it so it can make its own protein) is broken down into two groups based on the type of amino acids they provide.
Group 1: Complete proteins - These proteins provide all the essential amino acids needed by your body and they can be found in foods like meat, fish, poultry, cheese, eggs, and milk.
Because of the high fat content that comes with group 1, along with the use of antibiotics and other chemicals, it is recommended that these foods be eaten in moderation.
Group 2: Incomplete proteins - These proteins provide only some of the essential amino acids needed by the body, and they can be found in foods like grains, legumes (beans, peas, and peanuts), and leafy green vegetables.
With the problems associated with group 1, we need to find a way to obtain all the essential amino acids needed by our bodies from group 2.
This is done by combining incomplete protein foods together. “Combined,” they form a complete protein, and provide the necessary amount of essential amino acids.
Combining incomplete proteins from group 2 together to form a complete protein now becomes a quality substitute for meat.
In any case, whether you get your protein from group 1 or 2 or both just make sure you consume about 50 grams of protein per day.
Basic Nutrient #4 - Fats
Most of us who are health conscious, try to reduce dietary fat, but one thing we need to keep in mind is that our bodies do need a certain amount of fat.
Unfortunately the western diet provides way too much fat than what is needed and more so than not it is “bad” fat.
It is this “bad” fat that is a major contributor to obesity, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, and colon cancer, to name a few.
Depending on what we are trying to obtain through our diet will determine what kind of fat we should be eating.
Fat Classifications
Fatty acids are the building blocks of fats, and there are three classifications of fats.
1. Saturated
2. Polyunsaturated
3. Monounsaturated
Saturated Fats
This fat is usually found in animal products like milk, cheese, cream, beef, veal, lamb, and pork.
Our liver uses saturated fatty acids to produce good cholesterol, when consumed in proper amounts. The problem is that our western diet consumes too much of this fat, and the excess fat intake is responsible for the high rise of blood cholesterol levels. More specific the low-density lipoproteins (LDLs), also known as bad cholesterol.
For this reason the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) recommends that the total daily intake be less then 10 percent of our daily caloric intake.
Polyunsaturated Fats
This fat is found in large amounts in sunflower oils, safflower, soybean, and corn.
Unlike saturated fat, polyunsaturated fat can lower blood cholesterol, but keep the consumption to under 10% of daily caloric intake, because high amounts of this fat can also lower your levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDLs) also known as good cholesterol.
Monounsaturated Fats
This fat appears to lower LDLs without affecting HDLs at all, which is really good news if your trying to lower your cholesterol.
The NCEP recommends that your intake of monounsaturated fats be kept at 10 - 15% of your daily caloric intake.
Understanding what it is that your trying to accomplish through your diet will determine what kind of fat you should consume.
As usual try to avoid trans fats as they are known to increase bad cholesterol. Trans fats are created when polyunsaturated fats are altered through hydrogenation. This is a process used to harden liquid vegetable oils into solid foods like margarine and shortening.
As a rule of thumb try to limit all fats to 20 - 25% of daily caloric intake.
Steve Billesberger is the owner of YourSupremeHealth.com To learn more tips about how to stay healthy check out Secrets of Weight Loss Revealed.
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