Diets

Food is something that nourishes our body. Since before birth and until before dead food is a dominant and necessary factor in our every day life for our survival.

Food provides us energy to do our everyday activities and to carry on vital functions. Like respiration, heart contraction, the maintenance of our muscular and bone mass, regulation of the muscle movements, maintenance of our bones, the adequate function of our nervous system and so we can continue naming all of the organs in our body from skin to the use of our intellectual functions.

But food is much more than a mere nutrient, because all of us find in food a pleasure. Food makes us feel happy and secure, it serves as an act of sharing time with our friends, it’s useful to make businesses, it makes us feel more pleasure in our vacations and it also has a meaning in religion (lent, not eating pork, not mixing meats with dairy foods, not to eat solids, etc).

They are all of those chemical substances (more than 50) content in food and that our body needs them.

An adequate nutrition is achieved when the nutrients and calories intake is NEITHER excessive NOR poor.

They’re substances that contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. Independently of it’s sweetness, all carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram.

Polysaccharides or complex sugars – Cereals, grains, leguminous, pasta, root vegetables, bread and tortilla.

The main function of carbohydrates is to provide energy to carry on the body functions and provides heat to keep body temperature.

The everyday diet HAS to have at least 100 grams Of carbohydrates per day, with 22% of simples and 10% of processed.

They’re substances that contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and 16% of nitrogen. Proteins are formed by 20 organically compounds called amino acids and depending on their combination is the type of protein formed.

Amino acids are classified in two: No essential amino acids that can be produced by the body and essential amino acids that CANNOT be produced by the body itself and these are:

Histidina

isoleucina

leucina

lisisna

metionina

Fenilalanina

treonina

triptofano

valina

If some food provides the amino acids in the amount and proportions needed by the body cells for the replacement and growth of the tissues it’s known as High biological value. All the proteins contain 4 calories per gram.

When talking about proteins, we immediately think of meat, fish, poultry, eggs and this is a mistake because milk, cheeses, ice cream, leguminous vegetables (beans, peas, lentils, etc.) oleaginous (peanuts, pistachios, nuts, almonds), vegetables, fruits, cereals, bread, rice and pasta also contain proteins.

Proteins are essential compounds of body cells and most of them are in the muscles. The enzymes, haemoglobin, antibodies and hormones are proteins.

They are substances also known as lipids and contain carbon, hydrogen and oxygen in a minimum proportion. Fats are formed by chylomicrons, triglycerides, fat acids, phospholipids, lipoproteins and cholesterol.

Chylomicrons are very small fat particles that appear from 1 to 8 hours after food intake.

Triglycerides are the most part of the fat and are formed by 3 fat acid molecules and 1 glycerol molecule.

The fat acids are divided in saturated and non-saturated and the non-saturated can be divided in monounsaturated and polyunsaturated.

The saturated are the most dangerous and non-saturated are more beneficial, generally the solid fat at room temperature are the saturated and the liquid fats are more beneficial.

Whole milk	cream	ice cream
Whole milk	cheeses	egg yolk
Bacon	butter	lard
Ham	pork meat	chocolates
Cakes	Cookies

Vegetable oils

liquids margarine

fish

High density lipoproteins are the protector ones, while the other types are of high risk to cardiovascular diseases.

Cholesterol is a white substance, wax like but with a very different chemical structure than the ones discussed before. It’s normally found in the liver and is 80% produced by the liver and has a very important role in the formation of cerebral and nervous tissue. It’s a vitamin D precursor.

All fats contain 9 calories per gram. It’s recommended that no more than 20% of total calories come from fats. And less than 8% of these should be saturated fats, 15% of them should be polyunsaturated.

WATER is the most important element for life after oxygen. From 50 to 70% of the body weight is made up of water and ¾ parts are inside the cells (intracellular liquid). The remaining water is in the blood, lymph and in the liquids around cells (extra-cellular liquid).

The daily water requirement is around 1 ml per calorie we consume in our everyday food. For example is we intake 2000 calories a day we should drink 2000 ml of water (2 litres).

The liquids we drink give us a great quantity of water, but also the food gives us water.

There is a great controversy about drinking water before or after the meals or between meals, definitely it doesn’t matter as long as the basic requirements are filled.

Water loss is given in great quantity by the kidneys (urine) after them by the skin (sweating), lungs (breathing) and in a minimum way by the intestines (evacuation).

Good eating habits don’t have to be boring and difficult. A healthy diet base should be a complete, sufficient, equilibrated, adequate, nutritional, varied and pleasant to the sight, smell and taste.

To be sufficient, we have to eat a quantity that makes us feel satisfied so it’s recommended to drink water with your meal and if you need to eat more try it to be fruits and vegetables. To be equilibrated include all of the groups listed after this in your meals. To be adequate it’s important that if we are in a hot climate our food should preferably be low in salt, high in water and to drink more cold liquids; when we are in a cold climate we should eat hot food and drinks. To be nutritive, we have to eat from everything, because this is the only way we wont have any vitamin, mineral or nutritional substance deficiency. To be varied, we have to eat different types of fruits, vegetables, proteins, as more the varied the menu, as better. To be pleasant, we have to present plates with a nice view, a good smell and a pleasant texture.

They give us, vitamins particularly vitamin C and carotene (Vitamin A precursors), minerals like calcium, iron and potassium, starch and sugars that give us energy and also have fibre. Vitamins are part of the body tissues including the bones. Vitamins and minerals have very important functions in the organism, like allowing us to have a good vision, good skin, healthy hair and nails, and help to have a good memory. Cereals are, corn, rice, oat, wheat and their derivatives like tortillas, bread, box cereals, granola bars, cookies and pasta.

Cereals and tubercles contain mainly starch that give energy and contain B group vitamins like thiamine or B1, niacin and riboflavin; also minerals like iron and little protein; whole cereals provide fibre and the biggest vitamin and minerals concentration because this substances are in the husk and germ. Energy is indispensable for body growth and for the development of all the activities your body does, physical and mental and for all the processes that are taking place inside your body like heart beatings.

Leguminous are all the dry grains that come in sheath like beans, broad beans, lentils and chickpeas.

Oleaginous are peanuts, almonds, pistachio, pine nuts, walnuts, etc. This food provides energy, vegetable proteins and some vitamins and minerals.

Vegetable proteins are not so complete, thus it’s necessary to combine the leguminous with cereals, so that their proteins are complemented and to be of a very good quality, for example: combine rice and beans.

It’s very important to eat leguminous everyday to fill the energy and protein necessities; sometimes they can be substituted by oleaginous, that are rich in proteins also but contain to much fat so it’s recommended to limit their intake.

They’re poultry, fish, red and white meats, eggs, milk and its derivatives like cold cuts, cheeses and yoghurt. They’re proteins that provide energy, vitamins and minerals. Animal origin proteins are very good quality because they’re complete proteins so that they’re better taken by the organism.

Also, animal origin foods are a good source of calcium, iron, phosphorus, B complex vitamins, particularly vitamin B12 and zinc. Proteins are indispensable for muscle growth and development, calcium is needed for the adequate growth of the bones and strong teeth. Iron is needed for blood formation; although women particularly need an adequate intake of iron during menstruation time to avoid anemia.

Meat iron is absorbed in a bigger quantity than iron in vegetable foods. Zinc also takes place in it’s growth. Vitamin B12 is found only in animal origin products like liver, kidney, red meats, egg, fish, milk and cheese and is fundamental for tissue formation, neurons growth and development. Nevertheless you should not consume only animal origin foods as a protein source because they contain to much fat and cholesterol, and although they make important functions in the organism, they should not be eaten in excess, because they can originate obesity and some important diseases.

Moderate your fat intake from animal origin (cream, butter and lard) as from vegetable origin (margarine and oils) as fats derived from them like mayonnaise.

Each of these groups have a specific role in your health and eating more of one of them and very little from the other is no good.

Try to combine and you’ll see that you’ll be a healthy person and will have a better quality life.

Although not from this theme, it’s not a bad moment to remember that regular exercise is important for all the people. It helps to control weight, and maintains the muscles including the heart and other body tissues, in good condition.

Exercise also lowers fatigue by means of the physical capacity increase and helps to loose the tension caused by stress. Get use to exercise regularly, for 25 to 30 minutes 3 to 5 times a week. It can be whatever exercise you enjoy, any exercise is good for your health.