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Getting
To The Root of Nutrition - The Pillars of Nutrition
By Dave Saunders
What are we made of? While
this may seem like a simple question, the
answer is essential to the study of nutrition. Over hundreds if not
thousands of years the study of nutrition has aimed to break down the
different compounds from which the body is made and to understand where
they came from. The simple fact is that the entire human body is made
out of food and water and to a lesser extent air and light. The things
that do not fall into these categories may be toxins and actually cause
a burden to the structures and functions of the normal body. Many
toxins are added to our food today and you may be surprised by what
some of them are. Knowing what supports correct bodily function and
what burdens it can help you make better choices about your lifestyle
and your diet and the result is an improved level of wellness. |
Understanding that from the very beginning you were and continue to be
made out of the compounds found in food and water, nutrition and the
study of it is obviously primarily health care and neither alternative
nor complimentary. Nutrition is the most fundamental aspect of life.
What makes the food that makes us?
First we have the so-called “pillars of nutrition.” These are also
known as macronutrients because they take up the largest portion of the
food, apart from water which makes up a substantial portion of any
food.
· Protein
· Fats
· Carbohydrates
Just like the basic parts used to make a car, these parts are all
required for life and in a ratio of about 30% protein, 20% fats and 50%
carbohydrates.
The quality of each of these pillars is very important. After all,
do you want to be made from high quality parts or low quality parts?
Protein is composed of twenty different amino acids. In adults
there are eight essential amino acids. Essential means there is no way
for your body to get these building blocks other than through your
diet. With children there are ten essential amino acids and premature
babies require eleven amino acids. Again, they cannot get in these
other way than through diet.
Meat from animals contains a complete profile of the essential amino
acids, but some erroneously believe that vegetarians have a difficult
time getting enough protein in their diets. Protein is a basic building
block in all life and vegetarians eating a reasonably varied selection
of foods not only get complete protein support, the protein from plants
tends to be easier to digest and does not cause a build up of toxins
like uric acid in the kidneys as is the case with all animal protein.
Modern diets tend to have the least amount of high quality
essential fats but large amounts of low quality and harmful fats. These
essential fats are found in foods such as flax seed, fresh nuts,
avocados and certain types of fish. Processed foods and red meat
contain saturated fats and trans fats which are neither essential nor
beneficial.
The essential fats not only assist the body in the management of
inflammation and other bodily processes, they make up some critical
structures in the body as well. Over 50% of the mass of a healthy brain
is composed of these essential, unsaturated fats.
A word of warning: have you ever opened a jar of raw nuts and
discovered the smell of “oil paint”? This is a sign that the essential
fats have gone rancid. Throw this food out.
The final pillar is the much maligned carbohydrate group. These
foods provide energy as well as fiber to the diet. Fiber is found in
most plants and is not considered a nutrient, but it is important for
normal bodily function and waste elimination. Fruits and vegetables
provide the best source of carbohydrates and varying amounts of fiber.
Grains also provide beneficial carbohydrates as long as they are whole
and are an excellent source of fiber. Refined grains provide the lowest
quality source of carbohydrates and in excess may now only lead to
unwanted weight gain, but also an increased risk of diabetes, and heart
disease.
These three pillars of nutrition are very important and provide the
bulk of any healthy diet. For hundreds of years, they were considered
to be the only components of nutrition in food. That all changed as
research moved forward in the late 19th and early 20th century.
In the next article, we will peer further into the essentials of food.
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