Back  to OUTLINE

     I.Nutrition

        1-Definition: is the relationship of food with the good health of the human body. Concern with food is important to prevent certain illnesses.

          Nutrition is a science that teaches us to eat the foods that our bodies need to remain healthy. What is your favorite food? Is it healthy?

        2- Nutrients – What are they?

Nutrients are specific substances found in food that keep us healthy. These are:

  2.1 Carbohydrates:

They are the main source of energy that is needed to move, perform work and live. They combine with oxygen in our bodies and release energy. Bread, cereals, pasta and rice are examples of food high in carbohydrates.

  2.2 Fats:

One of the essential nutrients our bodies need is fat. Fat give us energy, but they are a high- calorie energy source, which means a tiny bit goes a long way. Fats also help our skin and hair stay soft and healthy. We need a little fat under our skin to help insulate our bodies, keeping cold out in winter and heat out in summer. Fat also helps cushion some body parts, like the soles of our feet and our buttoms.

If we injest too much fat, it will be stored in fat cells, and we can become overweight. If we have too much fat on our bodies, we can develop problems breathing, sleeping, exercising, and even walking. Excess weight can lead to serious health problems.

It is very easy to get too much fat in our diets, as fat is in many foods naturally, and many commercially prepared foods have added fat.

Examples: oil, butter, mayonnaise, visible fats of meat and skin of chicken, and the invisible fat of milk, milk products, egg yolk, meat, nuts and olives.

2.3 Proteins:

Come from a Greek word that means “of first importance”. They are needed for growth and repair of muscles, blood, skin and all body organs. Fish, meat, chicken, eggs, peas and beans are good sources.

2.4 Vitamins and Minerals:

a- Minerals:

Of all the elements listed in the periodic table, your body requires about 14 to regulate its chemical reactions. These include calcium, phosphorous, sodium, potassium, magnesium and iron. They are required by your body in small amounts. A deficiency in any one mineral, however small, can result in disease such as osteoporosis or goiter.

b- Vitamins:

        If you are not getting the right vitamins, you might be suffering from malnutrition. Vitamins are required by your body in small amounts. However, a deficiency in any one vitamin can cause serious health problems.

Some vitamins: roles and sources

Some minerals: roles and sources

3-  Nutrients – Where are they found?

       Good nutrition and regular physical activity through the years is the key to good health.

       Eating smart means including a variety of foods each day. Foods provide the energy, proteins, vitamins, minerals, fibers and water you need for good health.

       Use the food guide pyramid to help guide your food choices for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. (www.mypyramid.gov)

3.2 What counts as a serving?

        People need over 40 different nutrients to stay healthy. No one food supplies all the essential nutrients in the amounts you need. So, it is important that you eat several types of food each day to get the nutrients you need.

3.3 Where does “spaghetti with meatballs” fit?

Many foods we eat are mixtures of foods from several groups. It is not hard to figure out where these mixtures belong, if you think about the foods in them. For example, spaghetti with meatballs has pasta made from grains, a serving of meat and of vegetables (the tomatoes in the sauce).

3.4 What about water?

       Man can live a long time without food, but he is lucky if he can stay alive even three days without water.

Water is often called the “forgotten nutrient”. It is needed to replace body water lost in urine and sweat. Water helps to transport nutrients, remove wastes and regulate body temperature.

When the body loses fluids faster than they are replaced, we say that dehydration is occuring. This is a very seriuos illness. Just think about how much of our body is really water. The cells contain water, so does our blood and saliva. This is why water is so important.

3.5 What about calories?

       A calorie is not a nutrient. It is a measure of the energy supplied by food when the body uses it. Our bodies need energy to perform work. The nutrients that supply calories (energy) are carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

The amount of energy a person needs depends mainly on three factors:

1-Age.A young person needs more energy than an adult because he needs the extra energy for growing.

2-Body size. A large person needs more energy than a small one.

3-How active a person is. The more active you are, the more energy you need.

If a person regularly takes in more calories than are used up each day, he would gain weight. Excess food energy is stored in the body as fat causing a person to gain weight.

If a person consumes fewer calories than needed, the stored fat will be broken down and used. The person would lose weight.

Action Plan:

q       Eat a variety of foods from the food pyramid.

q       Eat a good breakfast.

q       Eat healthy snacks.

q       Eat your fruits and vegetables.

q       Eat less fat.

q       Chew food thorouly and eat slowly.

q       Exercise.

q       Eat in moderation.

3.6 What’s this talk about breakfast?

       Start the day with the most important meal: Breakfast.  Breakfast helps fuel the brain and body with the energy it needs.

       Children who skip breakfast do not make up for nutrient and energy deficit later in the day, and they tend to perform less well on tests of cognition than those who eat breakfast.

How Sweet It Is

Sugar is found in great percentage of packaged and prepared food. It is not necessarily harmful, but it isn`t nutritious, either. Too much sugar in our diet can make us obese. Also, if we eat too many sugar-rich foods, we may neglect to eat enough nutrient-rich foods.

4- Nutrients – A close-up view

       We know now that nutrients are found in different kinds of foods. There are many ways to identify the ingredients of these foods. You may taste foods, read labels on canned or packaged foods, or conduct specific experiments.

4.1 How to read food lables

Knowing how to read the food lable on packaged foods can help you build better eating habits. Here`s a run down on the features you will find on a food label and how you can use the information to make healthful food choices.

Example of a food label:

a-Title

Search for the title”Nutrition Facts”. It helps you to learn about the nutritional qualities of the products.

b-Serving sizes

The serving sizes on the label are supposed to be based on how much people actually eat. Remember that a package may contain more than one serving. That`s what the servings per container line tells you.

c-Calories and calories from fat

You`ll find the number of calories in one serving and how many of these calories come from fat.

d-% Daily value

The”% Daily Value” shows at a glance how a food fits into a healthy diet. The numbers in this column can quickly tell if a food is high or low in the nutrients listed. The overall goal should be to select foods that together add up to about 100% of the daily value for each nutrient.

Rating Your Diet: How Sweet Is It?

       Now that you are aware of some of the sources of added sugars, let’s take a look at your diet. Check the box that most closely describes your eating habits to see how sweet the foods you choose are.