Being healthy is about more than just not being sick.
An important factor in achieving good health is
eating the right things – in the right amounts.
The body may be compared to a car that cannot
run if it hasn't been filled with the right type of fuel.
Similarly, your body will not function well if it
hasn't been filled with the right type of fuel. The
fuel we humans burn is called nutrients – substances we draw
nourishment from. These may be substances
that supply our body with energy, or substances that help the body
function better.
In other words, a human being needs nutrients
in order to function correctly. We get
these from the food we eat. Once the food
has passed through the digestive system, it has been broken down
enough that we may exploit the nutrients it contains.
The food we eat
is cut up and mashed by the teeth. It then proceeds to the stomach
where it is intermixed with gastric juices and broken down further.
Once the food has spent some time in the stomach,
it slides down into the intestine, where the broken-up nutrients are
absorbed into the blood-stream. From here, they are transported to
where the body needs them.
If we take in a surplus of energy, it is
stored in the form of fat. If our bodies
store too much fat, we will become overweight – a condition that
places excess strain on our organism. Even
if you are not overweight, you may lead an unhealthy life.
Maybe you eat the wrong things. Your
goal should therefore be to life a healthy life, eat right, and avoid
overweight.
The nutrients that provide energy for our
bodies are carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids (fats), and the
substances that help our bodies function are minerals and vitamins.
These different types of substances are briefly
described in the following.
Carbohydrates
carbohydrates are found in the form of starch
and sugars. Starch is found in vegetables,
potatoes, and grain products (such as bread, cereals, rice, pasta,
and bulgur). Vegetables, potatoes, and
grain products are healthy, as they contain a lot of carbohydrates in
the form of starch, and furthermore have a low fat content.
Therefore, this type of carbohydrates are known as
“good” carbohydrates. Our diet should
include large amounts of “good” carbohydrates. There
are also “bad” carbohydrates. These, we should not eat as
abundantly. We get the “bad”
carbohydrates from all the high-sugar foods we consume, such as
candy, chocolate, ice cream, cake, and soft drinks. Along
with the sugar content of all these sweet foods, we also get a long
list of colouring agents and flavour additives that our bodies have
no use for. Although we really don't need
any of the sugar contained in these products, we still consume
enormous amounts of candy, chocolate, ice cream, cake, and soft
drinks – in all likelihood because many find these treats taste
better than potatoes.
The real difference between the “good”
carbohydrates (starch) and the “bad” carbohydrates (sugar) lies
in how fast they pass into the intestine and are absorbed into the
blood-stream. The “bad” carbohydrates
are very quickly absorbed by the organism. This is no good thing, as
it causes wild fluctuations of the blood sugar levels, which should,
ideally, be constant, and furthermore does not give the eater a
long-lasting feeling of fullness. If you
don't feel full after eating, you will eat some more, which may lead
to you take in more energy than you really need, which in turn will
cause you to put on excess weight. Consequently,
eating right is all about having a diet where a large part of the
energy is derived from the “good” carbohydrates. These take a
longer time to be broken down in the stomach and intestine, and for
this reason, they help maintain the blood sugar at a constant level,
and will help give you an enduring feeling of fullness.
Proteins
Proteins are a very important group of
nutrients. Besides providing energy, they are the building blocks of
the organism. Because proteins are the
building blocks of our bodies, protein deficiency during childhood
and adolescence can have severe consequences.
Protein
can come from both animal and vegetable products. Animal
protein is, for example, derived from eggs, milk, cheese, meat, fish,
and shellfish. Vegetable protein is derived
from plants, and can, for example, be found in peas, beans (soy
beans, white beans, and red beans), rice, Graham flour, and oatmeal.
Proteins help maintain the tissues of our bodies.
For this reason, it is important to include energy
from this source in each of our main meals. However,
protein does not have to comprise a very large portion of the meal,
as even a small quantity of high-quality protein is sufficient to
ensure the overall value of the meal to our protein needs.
You
don't have to eat animal foods in order to come by sufficient amounts
of protein in your diet. Vegetarians can
still get sufficient amounts of protein, but need to pay more
attention to their food, and make sure they include vegetables that
are high in protein in their diet. This may
be supplemented with eggs, milk, and cheese products.
Lipids (fats)
Lipids contain more energy than the other
nutrients. In fact, 100 grammes of lipids contains twice the energy
of 100 grammes of carbohydrates. This means
that one should be careful not to eat large amounts of lipids, as
this will quickly lead to a surplus intake of energy – and thus the
risk of obesity.
Knowing exactly how great
a portion of a given food is comprised of lipids can be difficult,
except when it comes to butter, oil, or margarine – these are
almost pure fat. The term “hidden fat”
is used to describe the lipids we can't see in a given food. For
example, it might be very difficult to tell exactly what is the fat
content of a block of cheese – it could be anywhere from 10 to 100
percent.
You will need to read the
declaration of contents and the informative label, in order to find
out how great the content of lipids of a given food is.
Industrial foods are not necessarily less healthy
than home-cooked meals, but note that lipids are cheaper than, say,
meat, and there is thus a financial incentive for producers to
replace some meat with fats.
Eating too high a proportion of lipids in your
diet is unhealthy. Among other side
effects, lipids may lodge in the blood vessels, leading to an
increased risk of thrombosis, which may be life-threatening.
In addition, a high proportion of lipids in the
diet will often lead to overweight or obesity. You
will become overweight if you ingest more energy than you consume.
Your body will store the surplus energy in the belly region and other
areas of the body in the form of fat.
Vitamins and minerals
Our bodies need a supply of particular
substances, vitamins and minerals, from our diet. You
can get the vitamins and minerals your body needs from a vitamin
pill, but if you maintain a healthy and varied diet throughout the
year, this isn't necessary.
Vitamins are tiny, organic compounds that our
bodies need in minuscule amounts. They are
necessary for a long range of bodily functions, among which is our
metabolism. Our bodies cannot produce the
vitamins we need, and we must therefore get them through our diet.
Generally, vitamins are divided into those that
are soluble in water (Vitamins B and C), and those that are
fat-soluble (Vitamins A, D, E, and K).
Minerals are elements that are absolutely vital
to our bodies. Just as was the case with vitamins, our bodies cannot
produce the minerals that we need. We must get them from our
diet. Some examples of minerals are: sodium, potassium, calcium,
magnesium, iron, iodine, manganese, copper, zinc, chromium, fluorine,
selenium, and silicon. It can be difficult
to determine whether you get sufficient amounts of vitamins and
minerals from your diet. If your suspect that you don't, you should
consult your family doctor.
