NUTRITION

Nutrients could be subdivided into two main categories: macronutrients and micronutrients. We need macronutrients or major nutrients in large amounts as they build up the major of our diet. They include carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins. Micronutrients or minor nutrients are vitamins and minerals, that we need in small doses. Water makes about 62% of our body weight, and it is important as it considered major nutrient. 

Healthy Eating Pyramid is a specific diet created by Walter Willett in1992, although other forms of food guide pyramids have emerged in the United States that time. Healthy Eating Pyramid depends on dividing the six major food groups horizontally. It recommends eating the base of pyramid such as whole-grain foods, fruits and vegetable most, and limiting the eat at the top of pyramid such as fats and sweats. 

www.choosemyplate.gov, visiting this website will inform you about newer food organizing method called MyPlate. It has released by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in 2011. MyPlate adapts the round dinner plate, with five food groups: Fruits, Vegetables, Grains, Protein Foods, and Dairy; it sections these groups in order to encourage the person to consume the right amounts of each category, rather than the segments of pyramid food. Of course, this plate would differ according to age, sex, and activity level, the link we mentioned above will help you to get the specific diet that fits your situation. The advice could be changeable also due to cultural factors. Nonetheless, there is a general rule involves that half of the plate are fruits and vegetables (more vegetable than fruit), and the other half shows grains and proteins (more grain than protein). Measurements depend on cup equivalents (for Fruits, Vegetables, and Dairy) and ounce equivalents (for Grains and Protein Foods). Generally, there are basic advice have not been changed in years, indicate to do exercise, drink enough water, eat plenty amount of vegetables and few of fats and meat.

Carbohydrates are type of macronutrients, and it is most found from plant resources except for milk sugar (lactose) and small amounts of glycogen in meats. They contain three subtypes: sugar, starch and fibers. Sugar found primarily in fruits, sugar cane, milk, and milk products. Starch is a polysaccharide comes from grains, legumes, and root vegetables. Finally, fiber represents the polysaccharide cellulose; it is not digestible by human beings, but it helps in increasing weight of stools thus become easier to pass. 

Although we have always heard bad news about fats, but they are essential for health. We eat saturated fats from animal products such as meat, dairy foods and in a few plant products, such as coconut. It is recommended to limit this type of fats because they produce what we call bad cholesterol. Saturated fats, a common example is Omega-3, are found in seeds, nuts, and most vegetable oils. They improve the cardiovascular system health by producing healthy cholesterol. 

Proteins are complex products made up of multiple amino acids. Amino-acids are classified as essential and non-essential. Essential amino-acids, counting 9 out of 20, are the type which our bodies cannot synthesize, that is why we need to get them from food. Animal products such as eggs, milk, fish, and meats contain complete proteins, sufficient to build healthy body systems. On the other hand, legumes, nuts, and cereals contain also proteins but do not carry all classes of amino-acids. We can conclude that strict vegetarians should be concerned about their healthy diet. Eating cereal grains and legumes together will provide all the needed amino acids. Some traditional dishes will serve this combination such found in Mexican tradition. 

Other organic compounds, important to the biochemical functions of body are vitamins. Vitamins are part of the micronutrients, so we need them is small amounts. Only total healthy diet can give us all types of vitamins that are in turn divided into: water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins. The importance of certain vitamins come from their role as antioxidant agents, thus preventing from malignant tumors. Such vitamins are A, C, and E, and they could be found in broccoli, cabbage, Brussels and sprouts. In addition, vitamins have crucial role in body reactions, so they act as co-enzymes to accomplish a catalysis.

Minerals are inorganic micronutrients need to be supplied exclusively by food. The most common needed minerals in moderate amounts are calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, sodium, chloride, and magnesium. There are also trace elements that we need them in small amounts such as iodine and zinc. The richest foods with minerals are vegetables, legumes, milk, and some meats. Other groups of food are scarce or absent with minerals. 

The digestive provides itself a special homeostasis environment to achieve its functions. This include maintaining specific conditions in the gastrointestinal canal, to transport the nutrients from gastrointestinal lumen to blood properly. Each organ of the digestive system is specialized in certain functions, for example the mouth grinds food, small intestine absorbs nutrients and large intestine defecates. Thus, the digestive system acts as a machine, each part of it does a role in order to accomplish the whole function. 

Let’s review in certain carbohydrates food group, because each group of nutrients has its special characteristics. Carbohydrates consist of monosaccharides (simple sugars) include glucose, fructose, and galactose; and disaccharides (two molecules of sugar) including sucrose, maltose, and lactose; these sugars consist of two simple sugars, and they are the only type our digestive system can break them down and benefit from them. Glucose is the most common type of sugar in plants and the most found in variety of foods. Fructose could be found mainly in fruits and galactose is most abundant in milk. Another type of sugars is starch. Starch is organic polysaccharide manufactured mostly by plants. Other polysaccharides such as cellulose are indigestible in our digestive system due to lack of specific enzymes doing this function; any way it helps in bulking stools with other gastrointestinal wastes to get rid of them as feces. 

As we know, the basic units of proteins are amino acids, thus digesting proteins will end up in polypeptides, which are the structures that form proteins. Fatty acids are mostly found with glycerol (an alcohol); these two units form lipids or fats digested by the digestive system. 

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