It all starts with good nutrition
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We all want to enjoy
good health don’t we? But some of the
food we allow to enter our bodies is definitely not in our best interest. Too much stodgy or fatty foods, that fill us up, make us feel full but within a very short time we are hungry again.
So what should we be eating?
A balanced diet
Doctors and nutritionists talk about eating a balanced diet, but what is a
balanced diet? The nutritional value in our food is made up of:
Proteins
Are essential for bodybuilding. This does not mean making us fat, but rather building bulk and muscle. We need good strong muscles for practically everything. The heart is a muscle and that has to work really hard for the whole of our lives. When the heart stops working properly, we get
heart failure, heart attacks etc. We need good muscles to be able to digest the food we eat. Then we have muscles that keep us upright so that we can walk and run. We have muscles in the eyes that help us to see by focussing.Now this
protein is made up of blocks that interlock to form
amino acids. There are about 20 amino acids. 9 of which are called first class or
essential amino acids. Without these first class or essential amino acids the body would be a mess, with very little working, as it should.
What foods contain protein?
Most
dairy products, for example meat, milk, cheese, fish and eggs are called
complete proteins. Milk is a complete protein in that it has all 9 essential amino acids. Egg whites are a complete protein as well. Protein is also found in other food sources, eg whole grains, rice, corn, beans, legumes, oatmeal, peas and peanut butter. Vegetarians, Vegans and others who do not eat meat, dairy products orfish, must make sure to eat the above foods in order to keep healthy.
Carbohydrates
Are major sources of energy and an active adult should be burning 50 – 60% of calories each day.
Carbohydrates are converted into sugars and starches within the body. Sugars are found in fruits, milk and soft drinks and sweets.
Complex carbohydrates are found in whole grain cereals, flour, bread, rice, corn, oats, potatoes and legumes. We are inclined to eat more carbohydrates than we should. This is because of the sweetness and the feeling of fullness we get when we tuck into a cream cake. Too much carbohydrate will, if we are not active enough, turn into fat, which is what happens when we put on
weight. Yet not enough carbohydrates would mean the body would not function at its best. Therefore a certain amount of carbohydrates each day is essential. So the lesser evil would be to fill up on the complex carbohydrates like whole grain and cereals. In other words plants and nuts. These have the added advantage of also providing us with
proteins, so we get two for the price of one.
Fats
Three types of
fat
- Saturated fat
- Polyunsaturated fat
- Monounsaturated fats
Saturated fat is found mostly in meat and dairy products and some vegetable oils. Saturated fats tend to increase blood
cholesterol levels.
Why is too much cholesterol bad for us?
Cholesterol is the fatty
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