Understanding Fat

In casual discussions about nutrition and dieting fat often is considered a bad guy. This is not necessarily true so lets take a closer look at fat to get a better understanding of its role in nutrition. The human body uses fat for energy, insulation, protection against shock, efficient use of protein and carbohydrates, and building cell structures. These are very necessary functions making fat essential to the body. That being said, because of the high fat content of a lot of the foods we eat regularly in the United States we run into problems with excess fat consumption. Rather than give you a chemistry lesson on the different kinds of fat I’ll stick to food label references to fat and the American Heart Associations intake recommendations. There are essentially 4 classes of fats: Trans, Saturated, Monounsaturated and Polyunsaturated. The American Heart Association recommends that Trans fats be less that 1% of your daily caloric intake. Saturated fats should be less than 7% of your daily caloric intake. Other fat intake should come from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats but your total fat consumption should be less than 25-35% of your total daily caloric intake. Keep in mind when reading food labels that there are 9 calories in 1 gram of fat no matter what kind of fat it is, this will help you monitor how much you’re eating. Eating high amounts of trans and saturated fats will increase your cholesterol level, increasing your risk of heart disease and stroke. Eating excessive amounts of any fat will cause your body to store those extra calories and unless you are exercising enough to burn them off you will experience weight gain. So be diligent in reading those food labels and keep control over how much fat you’re eating.

Sources:

American Heart Association website, www.americanheart.org

Understanding Nutrition, E.N Whitney and S.R Rolfes. 2002 Wadsworth Thompson Learning

Understanding Protein

Protein is composed of amino acids that our bodies use for numerous purposes. Some of the main functions of protein include: providing building material for tendons and ligaments, strengthening artery walls, knitting torn tissues back together and helping heal injuries, replacement of skin cells when they are shed, and serving as antibodies to help defend against disease. The institute of medicine recommends consumption of .8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. This is to keep the body from experiencing tissue breakdown. Beyond that there is not firm information on which to base a recommendation of more or less protein. However, where we get our protein from deserves some consideration. Complete proteins (containing all the amino acids your body needs you to consume) come from animal products. The typical American diet includes a lot of meat and dairy foods therefore protein deficiency is pretty rare. Unfortunately many animal products (especially red meat) are high in saturated fats, so a good recommendation is to eat a variety of vegetables and nuts and make the steaks and cheeseburgers an occasional meal choice. If you do not eat any meat or dairy products then make sure you are consuming a good balance of vegetables, legumes and grains.

Sources:

Protein, the Bottom Line. Harvard School of Public Health
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/protein/

Understanding Nutrition. S. R. Rolfes, E. N. Whitney. Wadsworth Thomson Learning

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates (carbs) are the main source of energy in our bodies. In the metabolism process carbs are broken down and converted to Glucose for immediate energy needs or they are stored as Glycogen for reserve energy to be used as needed by the body. Carbs are made up of sugar units (saccharide units) and are divided into two types, simple and complex. Simple sugars contain only one or two units (monosaccharides and disaccharides) and are quickly broken down for energy. Complex carbs are chains of simple sugars bonded together (polysaccharides). The body breaks the bonds in the chain so that the units can be absorbed and used for energy.

The complex and simple classifications are primarily on a chemical level, so a newer system exists to help classify carbohydrate foods for dietary purposes. The Glycemic index classifies foods based on how quickly and how high they will boost blood sugar compared to pure glucose. This coupled with the food’s Glycemic load can help you determine which foods should be a part of your diet and which ones should be limited or removed. This system is especially helpful when managing type 2 diabetes. For more information on Glycemic index, Glycemic load, and lists of food ratings I recommend you visit www.glycemicindex.com.

When determining your own personal diet I recommend you consult with a trained professional (i.e your doctor or a registered dietitian). Learn all you can about carbohydrates and their role in your body before you make any drastic changes to your diet. Stay tuned and we’ll talk about some other elements that need to be considered when formulating your diet.


Sources:

Carbohydrates, The Bottom Line. Harvard School of Public Health.
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/carbohydrates/

What is the Glycemic Index? http://www.glycemicindex.com/

Carbohydrates, A. Carpi. Vision Learning. http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=61

Understanding Nutrition

I was recently reading an article about making dietary adjustments to help a family member dealing with a specific medical condition. At first I thought I could post about certain conditions and what dietary adjustments can be made, but I decided that should be left to the professionals with advanced training on those conditions. Instead I think it would be helpful if I did a series of posts on basic nutrition elements. A better understanding of what makes up the food you are eating and how it works in your body will be helpful when it comes to evaluating our own diet. In my next few posts I will try to give you a basic understanding of things like, fats, carbs, protein, sodium, vitamins, etc. There is a lot of information about these things and for those who are really into science and would love to hear about the chemical make up of a carbohydrate I'm going to have to dissappoint you. My intent is to keep things practical, so I will try to describe these nutritional items in such a way that you can use it when you are creating a suitable diet for yourself.

Stay tuned!