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Effective health promotion needs an understanding of the various ways in which
nutrition is related to human requirements.
Although nutrition means the food you eat and its utilization by the body,
the requirements of the body are of nutrients. Particularly the requirement of essential nutrients.
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Nutrient |
Energy density |
Carbohydrates |
4 kcal/g* |
Fat |
9 kcal/g |
Protein |
4 kcal/g |
*kcal/g is kilocalories per gram. Sometimes the term Calories/g
is also used with “C” in uppercase. Both are correct and 1 kcal = 1 Cal. When we loosely
say 1 Calorie, actually we mean 1 kilocalorie. |
- Protein
- Carbohydrates
- Fat
- Vitamins
- Minerals
- Fiber
- Water
Protein is a general name of chemical compounds formed by combining the basic
building blocks called amino acids in a highly varied and complex chemical manner. When proteins
are mentioned, generally emphasis is given on the amino acid content rather than the calories. If you
regard carbohydrates or fat as fuel, it’s ok, but not protein. We buy potatoes by weight, but not
a microprocessor, for example! The role of protein is very important in the body, which cannot be played
by any other nutrient. Likewise a protein’s amino acid content is even more important than the
total amount of protein........ Read more
about protein:
Sugar, glucose, fructose, maltose, lactose etc. are examples of simple carbohydrates.
For health purposes and for disease control, it is better to avoid them, because the get quickly digested
and cause weight gain (read fat gain!), rise in blood sugar in diabetes and
rise in LDL cholesterol levels.
Complex carbohydrates are mostly starch and starch-like substances. Read more... Carbohydrates
Fats are sometimes called lipids. Chemically fats are called triglycerides
because the fat molecules are composed of a glycerol molecule to which three fatty acids are attached.
We saw in the table above that 1 gram of fat gives us 9 Calories—more than twice the calories given
by the same amount of carbs or protein. For disease control less is better in case of fats! There are
several categories of fats: The good, the bad and the ugly! Read more...
Fats For Health And Disease
Prevention
Vitamins are a group of nutrients that are essential for maintenance of normal
health. The regulate metabolism, growth and development, Vitamins mainly act as a catalysts in our body
All vitamins are natural organic compounds that are found only in living organisms:
plants and animals. Except a few vitamins, our body cannot synthesize vitamins. Therefore vitamins have
to be consumed via natural food or by taking dietary supplements. Read more… Vitamins
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Nutrition: Its Importance in Fitness And Health