Healthy Eating.- Four Basic Nutrients

Healthy Eating
Four Basic Nutrients

What is a healthy diet?It is a balance of nutrients that your body needs-the four basic nutrients are: water, carbohydrates, protein and fats. You also need vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients.

Water

Water is an essential nutrient needed for every function of the body. You should drink at least 8, eight ounce glasses of water a day.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates supply the body with the energy it needs to function. There are two groups of carbohydrates: Simple & Complex.
Simple Carbohydrates include: fruit sugar, milk sugar and table sugar.
Complex Carbohydrates include: fiber & starches. Examples are vegetables and whole grains.
Your body changes the carbohydrates you eat into glucose and it is used for energy or it is stored in the liver.
If you eat too many foods with carbohydrates, especially ones high in calories and if you take in more calories in a day than you need to, the carbohydrates may also be stored as body fat.
Healthy Carbo Choices: fruits, veggies, whole-grain products. If you eat whole-grain products everyday, it will help lower your blood cholesterol levels and keep your digestive tract clean.
Unhealthy: Refined products, processed foods, soft drinks, junk foods, candy, dessert. If you eat too much of these foods, too often it is a major risk factor to type 2 diabetes.

Protein

Protein is needed for your body's growth and development. Your muscles particularly need protein. Protein is broken into two categories, Complete and Incomplete.
Complete Proteins: meat, fish, poultry, cheese, eggs, milk.
It is recommended that you limit the amount of complete proteins you eat, they are often high in fat, and contain chemicals.
Incomplete Proteins: grains, legumes, leafy green vegetables.
You can get enough proteins from incomplete proteins.
Soy beans are good for you! Tofu and soymilk are complete proteins that are also low in fat. Don't be scared of tofu, many people think it is a weird vegetarian food but it is tasty when cooked with the right ingredients. If you have never tired tofu, try it first at a Vietnamese restaurant, where it is cooked full of flavor. You'll see that it is not bad at all!
YOGURT!! Is very healthy for you! It contains friendly bacteria needed for the digestion of foods. Beware of sweetened, flavored yogurts-they are not a healthy choice because they have too much added sugar. If buying yogurt in the grocery store-look for low-fat, unsweetened yogurt or better yet, buy Plain yogurt and add your own fruit or fruit juice.

Fats

The body needs a small amount of fat for energy and growth. People often eat more fat than they need to.
Too much fatCauses obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, colon cancer, puts you at risk to diabetes, the list goes on and on, of the types of health problems that can occur. Fats are broken into three categories of fatty acids: Saturated, Polyunsaturated, Monounsaturated.
SaturatedThis is primarily found in animal products: cheese, milk, pork, beef, etc. It is also found in vegetable oil and coconut oil.
Too many saturated fats can raise your blood cholesterol level. It is recommended that you take in only 10% of saturated fats of your total calories you take during a day.
PolyunsaturatedThese are found in: corn, soy beans, sunflower oil. These can lower your blood cholesterol level. You should still not eat a lot of this fatty acid, because they are also high in calories.
MonounsaturatedThese are found in certain vegetables and oils such as, peanut, olive and canola oil.
Vitamins & MineralsAre called micronutrients because they're needed significantly less than other nutrients but they are also very important.