The eternal desire of people to be healthy and able to work has led to the fact that recently much attention has been paid to rational nutrition as one of the important components of a healthy lifestyle. Correct, scientifically grounded nutrition is the most important condition of human health, performance and longevity.
With food a person gets all the necessary elements that provide the body with the energy needed to grow and maintain the vital tissues.
Nutrients necessary for the body are divided into six main types: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, mineral elements and water. Eating well means that you get enough of everything your body needs from your food and in the right combinations.
Proper nutrition is first of all a varied diet that takes into account genetic characteristics of a person, his age, physical activity, climatic and seasonal environmental conditions. It allows the body to maximize its genetic potential, but the body is not able to surpass this potential, no matter how well the diet is organized.
It should be noted that there are no foods that are good or bad on their own. All foods have nutritional value to a greater or lesser degree, but there is no such thing as a perfect food. It matters not only what we eat, but how much we eat, when we eat it, and in what combinations we eat certain foods.
Let’s take a closer look at the main types of nutrients the body needs.
Carbohydrates are organic compounds consisting of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. They are found in all foods, but especially in cereals, fruits and vegetables.
Carbohydrates are divided into two groups according to the complexity of their chemical structure: simple and complex carbohydrates.
The basic unit of all carbohydrates is sugar, called glucose. Glucose is a simple sugar.
Several residues of simple Sugars combine with each other to form complex sugars. The basic unit of all carbohydrates is a sugar called glucose. Glucose is a simple sugar.
Several residues of simple Sugars combine with each other to form complex sugars.
Thousands of residual molecules of the same Sugars combine to form a polysaccharide:There are about 50,000 different types of proteins. They all consist of four elements: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, which combine in a certain way to form amino acids. There are 20 types of amino acids. A compound consisting of a large number of amino acids is called a poly peptide. Each protein in its chemical structure is a polypeptide. Most proteins contain an average of 300-500 amino acid residues. It should be noted that some bacteria and all plants are capable of synthesizing all the amino acids that make up proteins.
Vitamins are organic chemical compounds needed by the body for normal growth, development and metabolism. Vitamins are not related to carbohydrates, proteins or fats. They are made up of other chemical elements and do not provide energy to the body.
Citrus fruits are a great source of vitamin C. Getting the right amount of vitamin C from fruits and vegetables energizes the immune system.
Zinc, which has antiviral and antitoxic effects, is also very important for the immune system. You can get it from seafood, from unrefined grains and beer yeast. In addition, you need to drink tomato juice – it contains a lot of vitamin A.
Need to consume protein. Protein builds immune protective factors – antibodies (immunoglobins) If you eat little meat, fish, eggs, dairy dishes, nuts, they simply can not be formed.
Probiotics:
It is helpful to eat foods that increase the amount of beneficial bacteria in the body. These are called probiotic foods and include onions and leeks, garlic, artichokes, and bananas.
In the spring and late winter, the body is deficient in vitamins. You know the boxes and jars of vitamins, of course. Some people buy sweet pills containing vitamins, and eat almost the whole package at once. Then suddenly, all of a sudden, nausea and headache start…. It’s the body lets you know about the increased vitamin content. Therefore, vitamin preparations can be taken only on the recommendation of a doctor, or at least with the permission of adults.
The human body contains a variety of substances: iron, calcium, magnesium, potassium, etc. But most of all the water in the human body. The brain, for example, contains 80% of water in the brain, 76% in muscles and 25% in the bones.
In the process of evolution, animals have lost the ability to synthesize ten particularly complex amino acids, called indispensable. They get them in the ready form from plant and animal foods. Such amino acids are found in the proteins of dairy products (milk, cheese, cottage cheese), eggs, fish, meat, as well as in soybeans, beans and some other plants.
In the digestive tract, proteins are broken down into amino acids, which are absorbed into the blood and enter the cells. The cells make their own proteins from them, which are characteristic of the organism.
Minerals are inorganic compounds that account for about 5% of body weight. Minerals serve as structural components of teeth, muscles, blood cells, and bones. They are necessary for muscle contraction, blood clotting, protein synthesis, and cell membrane permeability. The body gets minerals from food.
Minerals are divided into two classes: macronutrients and trace elements.
Macronutrients are calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine and magnesium.
Micronutrients are iron, manganese, copper, iodine, cobalt, zinc and fluorine. The need for them is somewhat less.
Water is one of the most important components of the body, making up 2/3 of its mass. Water is the main component of all biological fluids. It serves as a solvent of nutrients and toxins. Great is the role of water in regulating body temperature and maintaining acid-base balance; water takes part in all chemical reactions in the body.
In order for nutrition to meet the requirements of a healthy lifestyle, it should provide the body with all the necessary nutritional elements in the right quantities and in the right combinations. The human body is a complex mechanism. Human health depends on how much energy a person receives and how much of it he uses and how harmoniously all his organs work to provide the necessary level of vitality.