What should we eat? What shouldn't we eat? How much of this? How much of that?
It leaves a lot of unanswered questions I feel, and due to this I have created this blog to try and help you along the way.
First of all we need to look at: What composes Nutrition?
Well, our basic diet (our normal eating habits on a day to day basis) is composed of 5 different areas. The first area we are going to talk about know are known as the Macro nutrients. Macro Nutrients are called so because they are needed in larger quantities in our diet. To most of us we will be aware that these Macro Nutrients are made from:
- Carbohydrates (CHO)
- Protein
- Fat
These 3 key nutrients will make up the bulk of our diet, and are needed within the body for numerous reasons. CHO is needed as a prime energy source, as when it enters the body it is broken down in Glucose which will be saturated into our bloodstream in order to give us energy to perform day to day activities.
Protein is used as a primary repairer, its job is to help repair microfiber tears in our muscle mass. This is why we see Body Builders and Athletes alike banging on about "what protein do you take?... how much protein do you take?...man I love chicken!" and to be fair to them it is needed to help them make muscular gains, but is it going to be needed by 'average Joe'?? (will talk about that later in the series). But, protein will also be used as a reserve energy source, and will be utilized when stores of other energy sources are running low or scarce.
Fat is used at a insulator for our bodies, but don't let this put you off eating fat (which is something i will be banging on about in this series)because fat is 100% a necessity in our diet, we need it as a energy source for slow to moderate intensity exercise, so things like walking our dogs, going for a light jog etc. It actually gives us more energy per gram consumed then any other nutrient:
- Carbohydrates-1g = 4k/cals of energy
- Protein-1g = 4k/cals of energy
- Alcohol -1g = 7 k/cals of energy
- Fat -1g = 9k/cals of energy
so as can be seen its a pretty big deal! Along with this the majority of our brain and our nerves are made up from fat, which is quite scary when you think about how all of the big companies are telling us to "eat low fat" products. Well if we cut out fats from our diet (theoretically speaking) it means we are more likely to have optimal functioning of our nerves and senses, as well as a huge increase in the chance of depression and anxiety. Finally, Fat is used as an absorption device. In our diets we have 4 fat soluble vitamins :A,D, E and K, which are need to optimal functioning and stability of the body and its well-being. Now just just sit back and ponder over this for a second. Why is it that the population of this Country (UK) seems to be so damn miserable and under the weather all the time? why is it the our grandparents, and their parents never seem to be unhappy? is there a direct link to the fact that all of these 'Low...' products are actually doing greater harm to our body then good? (well once again keep following these and you will find out).
Next time we will talk about Micro Nutrients and what they do for us.
But for now, spread the word!
Information is the Greatest Weapon!
- Matthew Grant
Personal Trainer & Nutrition Adviser
