The Rule
You are what you eat. Every food that gets into your body will be processed and the same food will be used to build your muscle, your bone, your blood, e.g. your entire body. This shows that it is very important to choose your food carefully. We live in the modern world where people always want to do things at lightning speed, for example we communicate via e-mail which sends the message to the other person almost instantly. We use handphones which can connect to our friends at the touch of a button. We also prefer fast food to nutritious food for the reason that fast food can be prepared almost instantly with disregard to the low nutritious value of the fastfood.
This is the most important factor to be healthy, by eating it right. In this chapter, I will explain the nutritional value of food and the chemical properties of food in order to generate a rule on what food we should eat and avoid so that we can stay healthy.
Macronuttrients
We learn in science subject during pimary and secondary school the basic nutrients that our body needs in order to function properly. Most of us have probably forgotten the basic nutrients. I list down the 3 basic nutrients below classified as macronutrients to refresh our memory:
Carbohydrates: These come primarily from plants for example vegetables, fruits, grain, rice, bread and pasta (from flour) etc.
Proteins: These come primarily from animal and plants for example chicken, fish, beef, egg, nuts, beans etc.
Fats: These come primarily from animal and plants for example olive oil, sunflower oil, fish, meat etc.
Let us look the function of each of the macronutirents above.
Carbohydrates: The primary purpose of carbohydrates is to provide energy, enhance immune function and support cellular communications. Carbohydrates are converted into energy to allow our cells to function.
There are two major types of carbohydrates as follows:
Simple Carbohydrates: These are carbohydrates in the simplest form (C6H12O6) also commonly known as sugar. There are 4 types of simple sugar, meaning that to our tongues it tastes sweet. The common one is Glucose. Fructose is the main sugar in fruits. Fructose has the same chemical formula as glucose (C6H12O6), but the atoms are arranged slightly differently. The liver converts fructose to glucose. Sucrose, also known as "white sugar" or "table sugar," is made of one glucose and one fructose molecule bonded together. Lactose (the sugar found in milk) is made of one glucose and one galactose molecule bonded together. Galactose, like fructose, has the same chemical components as glucose but the atoms are arranged differently. The liver also converts galactose to glucose. Maltose, the sugar found in malt, is made from two glucose atoms bonded together.
Complex Carbohydrates: They are made up of chains of glucose molecules commonly known as starches. Starches are the way plants store energy -- plants produce glucose and chain the glucose molecules together to form starch. Most grains (wheat, corn, oats, rice) and things like potatoes and plantains are high in starch. Your digestive system breaks a complex carbohydrate (starch) back down into its component glucose molecules so that the glucose can enter your bloodstream.
One important point to note is that it takes a lot longer to break down complex carbohydrates. This will provide a steady release of glucose into the bloodstream and a sustained level energy. On the other hand, simple carbohydrates are metabolized quickly, entering the bloodstream and raising the blood glucose thereby providing a quick source of energy. For example, if you drink a can of soda full of sugar, glucose will enter the bloodstream at a rate of something like 30 calories per minute. A complex carbohydrate is digested more slowly, so glucose enters the bloodstream at a rate of only 2 calories per minute.
When a person consumes a sweet food, such as a candy bar or a can of soda, the glucose level of the blood rises rapidly. In response, the pancreas secretes a large amount of insulin to keep blood glucose levels from rising too high. Insulin is the feedback system in our body to ensure that the glucose level in our blood is not too high. The functions of insulin are:
· To enable glucose to be transported across cell membranes
· To help excess glucose be converted into fat
· To prevent protein breakdown for energy
This large swing in the blood glucose and insulin level will create visceral fats, which are fats surrounding our organs near the abdomen such as the pancreas, liver, kidney and heart. Visceral fats in our abdomen or girth are dangerous (compared to fats in our legs and hands) as they are close to our organs and could eventually prevent these organs from functioning optimally, which is when we could start developing diseases of the pancreas, liver, kidney and heart such as diabetes, high blood pressure etc. One way to prevent this large swing in the blood glucose and insulin level is by eating smaller and more frequent meals rather than eating a few large meals.
Diabetes which is a disease with too much glucose in the blood is due to the inability of the body to utilize insulin to lower the blood sugar level. This could be due to deficiency of the pancreas to make insulin coupled with the cell not able to utilize the insulin made by the pancreas. The point to note is that complex carbohydrates are much better than simple carbohydrates since the glucose is release at slower rate to the blood which keeps the pancreas working at a steady rate and not being overburdened. This will also prevent large swing in the blood glucose and insulin level.
Proteins: The primary purpose of protein is to provide building blocks to produce new tissues, and to repair damaged skin, bones and muscles. It also creates the antibodies that help fight off disease and the hormones that regulates various functions in the body. Protein is made of building blocks called amino acid. An amino acid is a small molecule that acts as the building block of any cell. Carbohydrates provide cells with energy, while amino acids provide cells with the building material they need to grow and maintain their structure. Your body is about 20-percent protein by weight. It is about 60-percent water. Most of the rest of your body is composed of minerals (for example, calcium in your bones). Amino acids are called "amino acids" because they all contain an amino group (NH2) and a carboxyl group (COOH), which is acidic.
There are 25 amino acids in the body, 8 essential and 17 non-essential. The 8 essential amino acid must be obtained from food: Histidine, Isoleucine, Leucine, Lysine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Threonine, Tryptophan, Valine. Milk, poultry, fish, milk, eggs and cheese are considered complete source of protein because they contain these 8 essential amino acids. The other 17 are called non-essential because the body can make them: Alanine (synthesized from pyruvic acid), Arginine (synthesized from glutamic acid), Asparagine (synthesized from aspartic acid), Aspartic Acid (synthesized from oxaloacetic acid) , Cysteine, Glutamic Acid (synthesized from oxoglutaric acid), Glutamine (synthesized from glutamic acid), Glycine (synthesized from serine and threonine), Proline (synthesized from glutamic acid), Serine (synthesized from glucose), Tryosine (synthesized from phenylalanine).
The human body builds over 50,000 known protein and 15,000 enzymes from the amino acid, sometimes with vitamins acting as coenzymes and sometimes with mineral activators. Amino acid plays a key role in normalizing moods, attentions, concentrations, aggression, sex drive and sleep. Even the digestive enzymes to break protein, carbohydrates etc are made from amino acids so a lack of protein could lead to a cycle of poor nutrition because the body needs amino acids to break and extract the necessary nutritions from food.
There are 4 major source of protein:
Plant/ Non-animal: nuts, seeds, beans, lentils, soy products (tofu, tempeh, miso, soy milk, soy protein), blue-green algae (spirulina, chlorella), grains.
Sea animals: fish (tuna, salmon, sardines, mackerel, trout) and seafood (shrimp, lobster, crab)
Land animals: beef, chicken, lamb
Land animals (dairy): yogurt, milk, cheese, eggs
Note: The egg is considered perfect protein because it contains all the amino acid and is very easy to digest.
Fats: We need to eat fats for several reasons as follows:
- Certain vitamins are fat soluble. The only way to get these vitamins is to eat fat.
- In the same way that there are essential amino acids, there are Essential Fatty Acids (EFA, for example, linoleic acid is used to build cell membranes). We must obtain these fatty acids from food we eat because our body has no way to make them.
- Fat turns out to be a good source of energy. Fat contains twice as many calories per gram as do carbohydrates or proteins. Your body can burn fat as fuel when necessary.
There are four major types of fats as follows:
Mono-unsaturated fats: they are mainly found in foods that come from plants and are liquid at room temperature. They include olive oil, hazelnut, almonds, Brazil
Poly-unsaturated fats: come mainly from plants and fish and are liquid at room temperature and contains Omega-3 and Omega-6 Essentials Fatty Acid (EFA). Poly-unsaturated fats that are rich in Omega-3 EFAs include flax oil, hemp oil, pumpkin seeds, walnuts and oily fish such as wild salmon, sardines, mackerel, trout and herring. Polyunsaturated fats that are rich in Omega-6 EFA include evening primrose oil, borage oil and black current seed oil.
Saturated fats: they are essential for body tissues as they are a major component of cell membranes, the preferred fuel for the heart and muscles. Saturated fats from animal that are wild and are not given growth hormone and antibiotics are much healthier. Saturated fats are found in meat and dairy (milk and cheese) and tropical oils such as coconut and palm oil.
Trans-fat: they are man-made and reside in various processed foods including margarine, french fries, potato chips, pretzels, fried food, cookies, pies and cakes.
Micronutrients
Apart from the 3 macronutrients, there are 6 micronutrients that promote optimum health and help to determine whether a specific macronutrient will be beneficial to our health. The 6 micronutrients are vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, enzyme and oils.
Vitamins:
Vitamins are various organic substances that are essential in minute quantities to the nutrition of human, most animals and some plants which act as coenzymes and precursors of coenzymes in the regulation of metabolic processes. They do not provide energy or serve as building units and are present in natural foodstuffs or sometimes produced within the body.
The body can produce its own Vitamin D, but generally vitamins must be provided in food. The human body needs 13 different vitamins:
- Vitamin A (fat soluble, retinol) comes from beta-carotene in plants; when you eat beta-carotene, an enzyme in the stomach turns it into Vitamin A.
- Vitamin B (water soluble, several specific vitamins in the complex)
- Vitamin B1: Thiamine
- Vitamin B2: Riboflavin
- Vitamin B3: Niacin
- Vitamin B6: Pyridoxine
- Vitamin B12: Cyanocobalamin
- Folic Acid
- Vitamin C (water soluble, ascorbic acid)
- Vitamin D (fat soluble, calciferol)
- Vitamin E (fat soluble, tocopherol)
- Vitamin K (fat soluble, menaquinone)
- Pantothenic acid (water soluble)
- Biotin (water soluble)
In most cases, the lack of a vitamin causes severe problems. The following list shows diseases associated with the lack of different vitamins:
- Lack of Vitamin A: Night blindness, xerophthalmia
- Lack of Vitamin B1: Beriberi
- Lack of Vitamin B2: Problems with lips, tongue, skin,
- Lack of Vitamin B3: Pellagra
- Lack of Vitamin B12: Pernicious anemia
- Lack of Vitamin C: Scurvy
- Lack of Vitamin D: Rickets
- Lack of Vitamin E: Malabsorption of fats, anemia
- Lack of Vitamin K: Poor blood clotting, internal bleeding
A good source of vitamins is fresh vegetables and fruits. Processing tends to destroy vitamins, so we should take care not to overcook our vegetables in order to preserve the vitamins in them. In order to preserve the vitamins, vegetables are best served raw.
Minerals: they support various biological functions including the growth of bones and teeth, muscle contraction, blood pressure, nerve transmission, blood formation, energy production, fluid regulation, macronutrient metabolism, acid-alkaline balance (pH) and various other enzyme reactions. Examples of minerals as follows:
- Calcium - used by teeth, bones
- Chlorine
- Chromium
- Copper
- Fluoride - strengthens teeth
- Iodine - combines with tryosine to create the hormone thyroxine
- Iron - transports oxygen in red blood cells
- Magnesium
- Manganese
- Molybdenum
- Phosphorus
- Potassium - important ion in nerve cells
- Selenium
- Sodium
- Zinc
Enzymes: help to digest, assimilate and metabolize foods to provide fuel and energy. Enzymes are mostly made by the body such as metabolic enzymes for chemical reaction and digestive enzyme for digestion. There are some enzyme within raw food that help the digestion.
Fiber: help to cleanse and detoxify the body by removing waste, cholesterol and toxins. Example: bran, vegetables, fruits.
Oils: help to lubricate the tissues, arteries, joints, skin and other organs.Examples: olive oil, fish oil etc.
To be continued in Part 2
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