The main components of food

Our menu is our universal soldier, who supplies the body with all the necessary substances. Thanks to chemical elements from food, we get energy and can spend it on study, work, sports and personal life. And even to great discoveries. What is included in the food? What are the main components of food and how do they affect our health?

Three whales of the right food

These are fats, proteins, amino acids, which are an important building material of the cells of our body. They also have micronutrients and electrolytes in order for the reactions in our body to proceed correctly. Vitamins also help to go through many processes in the body more actively or, conversely, depress them.

Metabolism is the holy of holies for the proper development of the organism, a key to which any reaction can be discovered. When complex chemical reactions take place in the body due to the intake of food from him, a person receives an inflow of energy and disposes of it as he pleases. These complex reactions trigger the metabolism in the body. The metabolism in the body occurs even when a person sleeps, and regardless of his will.

There are seven components by which a person gets proper nutrition and is saturated. These are vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates, proteins and amino acids, as well as water and fiber. In food there are all seven components, but the most common, as a rule, are only three. These are traditional fats, carbohydrates and proteins. They are measured as the units of energy that a person receives from food. If you incorrectly choose the ratio of fat, carbohydrates and proteins or use one thing, giving up another for weight loss, this leads to improper metabolism and malfunction of many body functions.

Proteins

The most serious disorders in the body occur during protein deficiency.

Proteins are building materials for the body. Proteins consist of amino acids, nine of which are not synthesized in the human body and must be absorbed from food. The content of essential amino acids in animal food is much higher than in plants. In addition, proteins from plant foods can be metabolized in the body not completely, about 65%, while animal proteins - by 90%.

Norms of proteins

A person should consume 1 gram of protein per kilogram of weight per day in a normal way of life. This minimum should be increased to 2 grams on days of athletic training or other heavy physical exertion. If you need to quickly increase muscle mass, you can use protein shakes to help the body develop.

Details on the types of proteins

Proteins make up 50 percent of the body weight. These are muscles, organs, hair, nails and skin. As your body replenishes with cells, your body needs new sources of protein. This process requires proteins, or the body will not develop.

Meat of animals such as beef, pork, mutton, poultry and fish give a person full proteins, comparable to those that are in the body. Animal products, such as dairy products and eggs, have the same composition.

Vegetable proteins are considered an incomplete kind of proteins due to the lack of certain amino acids that make up a high-grade protein. However, by combining plants and grains in the diet, you can use a full-fledged protein.

[1], [2], [3]

High-grade proteins

Some combinations of foods that include high-grade proteins are all kinds of beans, brown rice, grain bread, whole grains, pasta. Soybeans have the same protein formula as meat and they can be obtained from plants in many forms, such as tofu, lemon sorghum or fried soy nuts.

Fats

We must use a certain amount of it. Fats perform energy-saving functions and are used to produce testosterone in the body.

Part of the fatty acids are necessary for the body and must enter it with food. Lack of fat leads to increased protein degradation, it also affects digestion, skin health, fragility of blood vessels and can lead to hormonal failures.

Excess fat greatly increases the load on the cardiovascular system, can disrupt the metabolism, increases the likelihood of heart attack, stroke, diabetes.

[4], [5]

Types of Fats

Saturated animal fats enter our body on a regular basis from such products as meat, and can be placed in reserve. At the same time, unsaturated fats are not stored in the body, but they are more necessary for it.

Unsaturated fats are important for the replenishment of essential acids, such as linoleic, linolenic, etc. In principle, they can be taken from plant products (vegetable oil, nuts). Unsaturated fats are easy to determine - they remain in a liquid state at room temperature.

Your body needs fats to control digestion. The density of fats leads to the absorption of more calories than carbohydrates and proteins. Diets high in fat lead to obesity and increase the level of cholesterol in the body. Eating fat gives you the feeling of satiation necessary to avoid overeating.

Some fats benefit us more than others. We get bad, saturated fats from beef, butter, cheese, coconut and palm oils.

Unsaturated fats are best for us, they are present in most vegetable oils - the best fats come from olives, almonds, rapeseed and olive oils. This is a contribution to the healthy heart and blood vessels, because it leads to lower cholesterol levels. Some other useful fats, omega-3 and 6 fatty acids, not only prevent the increase in cholesterol, but can also lower high cholesterol. You will find these fatty acids in the meat of fish such as tuna, herring, salmon, sardines and linseed oil or in pharmacy capsules.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates are the best source of energy for us, but proteins and fats can also be converted for these purposes. Carbohydrates can be simple and consist of one sugar molecule, or - less often - two molecules, and polysaccharides (for example, starch). The most useful are the polysaccharides. Fiber fibers in carbohydrate-containing fruits and vegetables are also healthy.

A lack of carbohydrates can lead to a decrease in protein levels. Too much carbohydrate is also bad, as it leads to the conversion of carbohydrates into fats.

The best simple carbohydrates can be found in fruits and honey. Complex carbohydrates are found in large quantities in potatoes, bread (preferably from coarse flour). If you need to quickly gain weight - use protein-carbohydrate dishes.

With the exception of water, practically everything we need to eat and drink consists of carbohydrates, fats or proteins. These basic elements are diets in various proportions. Despite a number of diets, the principle of which is to accelerate the process of weight loss by eating one of these elements, excluding others, in a healthy diet we need all three components. Carbohydrates, fats and proteins - each of them makes a significant contribution to the physical development of the body.

Details about carbohydrates

Culprits of obesity and diabetes, carbohydrates began to advertise, since the introduction of the Atkins diet. However, they contain vitamins, minerals and fiber. Because carbohydrates contain starch compounds, they easily convert to energy for the body cells. Without this energy, you can not breathe, move, swing muscles or activate blood circulation.

Simple carbohydrates turn into sugar faster than complex carbohydrates. This undesirable feature of simple carbohydrates causes a load on the pancreas, the body produces enough insulin to accompany this sugar into the cells of the body at the same time.

Simple carbohydrates include white bread and pasta, white rice and sweet desserts. Complex carbohydrates, such as whole-grain bread, pasta and flour, in turn, give the body the ability to absorb glucose in a short time.

[6], [7], [8], [9]

Amino acids

All proteins in the body are formed from compounds called amino acids. There are twenty amino acids in the form of numerous combinations to create 50,000 kinds of proteins needed to create every cell of our body. Nine amino acids can only be obtained with the help of products, but our body will be able to create others.

[10], [11], [12], [13]

Protein norms per day

When we take protein from food, our body divides it into constituent amino acids. Then the body uses these amino acids to create the protein needed to build cells, tissues, organs, hormones, neurotransmitters and enzymes - in other words, that's all that makes up our body. The protein intake should be between 10 and 35 percent of our daily calories.

Children aged 1 to 3 years should consume 13 grams of protein per day, while children between the ages of 4 and 8 should consume 19 grams of protein. In connection with the growth and maturation bursts in adolescence and adolescence, this number almost doubles - to 34 g at the age of 9 to 13 years, and then increases to 46 grams for girls and 52 grams for boys under the age of 18 years. The level of protein decreases in adulthood to 46 g for women and 56 g for men.

Essential amino acids

Among the nine amino acids that can not be produced by our body are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan and valine. The 10 amino acids required for very young people are arginine.

[14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20]

Replaceable amino acids

The remaining 10 amino acids are divided into two categories, conditionally called irreplaceable. Four interchangeable amino acids - alanine, asparagine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid. The term "irreplaceable" does not mean that you do not need them, but only that your body can produce them when you do not take them for food.

Conditional amino acids

Conditional amino acids are cysteine, glutamine, tyrosine, glycine, ornithine, proline, serine. You need them during periods of stress or illness. Your body creates conditioned amino acids, while this is necessary. For example, the conditional amino acid tyrosine consists of an essential amino acid phenylalanine, emphasizing the importance of that essential amino acids must necessarily be included in their diet.

[21], [22], [23], [24], [25], [26]

Nutritional sources of amino acids

The protein (and amino acids in its composition) is present in meat, poultry, fish, legumes, eggs, dairy products, soy products, nuts, seeds, grains and vegetables. The protein is considered as complete or incomplete on the basis of that it contains essential amino acids.

The complete protein contains all the essential amino acids and is present in foods taken from animal sources, as well as in soy. Incomplete protein is present only in products from plant sources. However, products from various plant sources contain a large number of certain amino acids, but do not contain others. That is, the content of amino acids in proteins is not the same for all dishes. By combining these additional proteins, you can get all the essential amino acids even while sitting on a vegetarian diet.

Vitamins

Vitamins are substances in which our body needs to grow and develop normally. There are 13 vitamins we need in the first place. These are vitamins A, C, D, E, K and B vitamins (thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 and folate). Usually we can get all the vitamins from the foods that we eat. Our body can also take vitamins D and K. People who prefer a vegetarian diet can take vitamin B12 as an additional source of energy.

Types of vitamins

Water-soluble vitamins are easily absorbed by the body, which does not store large amounts of them.

Fat-soluble vitamins are absorbed into the body using bile acids, which are liquids soluble only by fats. The body stores them for use as needed.

Each vitamin has a specific dose of consumption. If you have few certain vitamins, you can develop disease. For example, if you do not get enough vitamin D, you can develop rickets. Some vitamins can help prevent medical problems. Vitamin A fights well against skin diseases, as well as night blindness.

The best way to get enough vitamins is to have a balanced diet with different foods. In some cases, you need to take a daily multivitamin to promote health. However, high doses of certain vitamins can have the opposite effect.

Rules for the intake of vitamins

Principles for the intake of vitamins include the following

1. When taking vitamins, you need to choose foods in which a minimum of saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, sugar, salt and alcohol additives.
2. Take nutrients preferably depending on the energy needs of the body. Exceeding the dose of vitamins is not worth it - it will bring the body more harm than good.
3. If you are older than 50 years, you definitely need vitamin B-12 in its crystalline form, which is found in enriched foods or pharmacy supplements.
4. If you are a woman of childbearing age who wants to conceive, eat foods high in iron and / or eat iron-rich plant foods or foods enriched with iron, such as foods high in vitamin C.
5. If you are a woman of childbearing age who is in the first trimester of pregnancy, you need to consume enough synthetic folic acid every day (from fortified foods or supplements) in addition to other foods.
6. If you are pale, you have too light skin color, then you need to take vitamin D supplementation with vitamin D-fortified foods and / or vitamin supplements.