Nutrition 101

Nutrition is the food or nourishment needed to keep an organism growing, healthy and viable.  Food provides both the energy and the materials needed to build and maintain all body cells.

We know that the human body needs energy (or calories) to power our muscles for physical activities like running or riding a bike.  But did you know that the calories we get from food even supply us with the ability to sit up in a chair or pump blood to and from our heart?  Every process that occurs in our body requires the energy that we get from eating!  The food we eat consists mainly of water and three types of energy-yielding nutrients called macronutrients.

Carbohydrates act as the main
source of energy for our bodies.  The majority of our calories (45-65%) should come from carbohydrate sources such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes and nuts.  Carbohydrates can exist in the form of sugar (i.e. fruits) or starches (i.e. bread, pasta, corn, potatoes).  Dietary Fiber also comes from carbohydrate sources.  Fiber aids in digestion and  helps to maintain healthy cholesterol levels.

Proteins are made up of “building blocks” called amino acids that work to build and maintain muscles, organs, skin, and blood. They also help the body defend against disease by strengthening our immune functions. Protein should provide 10-35% of our daily caloric intake.   The best sources of protein are lean meats, poultry, fish, legumes, nuts and seeds.

Fats provide energy during endurance exercise, in between meals, and in times of starvation.  Fats also insulate and act as shock absorbers for organs, transport the fat soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K), and provide healthy skin and hair. The two different types of fats are saturated (i.e. animal products and many processed foods) and unsaturated (i.e. nuts, avocados, olives). 20-35% of our daily calories should come from fats with less than 10% of total energy coming from saturated fat.