FIT & LEGIT! "DON'T STOP. NEVER QUIT!"
Nutrition Information for Nutrients, Vitamins and Minerals
CALORIES are needed to provide energy so the body functions properly. The number of calories in a food depends on the amount of energy the food provides. The number of calories a person needs depends on age, height, weight, gender, and activity level. People who consume more calories than they burn off in normal daily activity or during exercise are more likely to be overweight.|
Fat: 1 gram = 9 calories Protein: 1 gram = 4 calories Carbohydrates: 1 gram = 4 calories Alcohol: 1 gram = 7 calories |
FAT should account for 30% or less of the calories consumed daily, with saturated fats accounting for no more than 10% of the total fat intake. Fats are a concentrated form of energy which help maintain body temperature, and protect body tissues and organs. Fat also plays an essential role in carrying the four fat-soluble vitamins: A, D, E, and K.
Excess calories from protein and carbohydrates are converted to and stored as fat. Even if you are eating mostly "fat free" foods, excess consumption will result in additional body fat. Fat calories in food are readily stored, while it takes energy to transform protein and carbohydrates to body fat. The only proven way to reduce body fat is to burn more calories than one consumes.
Excess calories from protein and carbohydrates are converted to and stored as fat. Even if you are eating mostly "fat free" foods, excess consumption will result in additional body fat. Fat calories in food are readily stored, while it takes energy to transform protein and carbohydrates to body fat. The only proven way to reduce body fat is to burn more calories than one consumes.
CHOLESTEROL intake should not exceed 300 milligrams a day. Individuals differ on their absorption of dietary cholesterol, what is important is one’s level of blood cholesterol. High blood cholesterol has been linked to the occurrence of atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is a buildup of fatty deposits in the coronary arteries and other blood vessels, and is a leading cause of heart attacks.
Dietary cholesterol is only found in foods from animal sources, including meat, fish, milk, eggs, cheese, and butter. You may have heard the terms HDL and LDL discussed in relation to blood cholesterol and heart disease. HDL and LDL are lipoproteins, substances found in the bloodstream, that transport cholesterol and triglycerides in the body.
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• HDLs help remove cholesterol from the blood, protecting you from heart disease (atherosclerosis). • LDLs are thought to deposit cholesterol in artery walls, increasing your risk of heart disease (atherosclerosis). Most abundant type, LDL carries approximately 65% of the total circulating cholesterol. High levels of LDL are associated with atherosclerosis. |
CARBOHYDRATES are a major source of energy and should account for 50% to 60% of calories consumed each day.
| Sugars: |
• monosaccharides and disaccharides • found in fruits (sucrose, glucose, fructose, pentose), milk (lactose), and soft drinks and sweets. |
| Complex Carbohydrates: |
• polysaccharides • found in whole grain cereals, flour, bread, rice, corn, oats, potatoes, and legumes. |
DIETARY FIBER Sources of fiber from highest to lowest are highfiber grain products, nuts, legumes (kidney, navy, black and pinto beans), vegetables, fruits, and refined grain products.
| Soluble Fiber: |
• may help lower blood cholesterol by inhibiting digestion of fat and cholesterol; helps control blood sugar in people with diabetes. • found in peas, beans, oats, barley, some fruits and vegetables (apples, oranges, carrots), and psyllium. |
| Insoluble Fiber: |
• helps prevent constipation, hemorrhoids, and diverticulosis • found in bran (wheat, oat, and rice), wheat germ, cauliflower, green beans, potatoes, celery |
PROTEIN should account for 10% to 20% of the calories consumed each day. Protein is essential to the structure of red blood cells, for the proper functioning of antibodies resisting infection, for the regulation of enzymes and hormones, for growth, and for the repair of body tissue.
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and are found in a variety of foods. Meat, milk, cheese, and egg are complete proteins that have all the essential amino acids. Other sources of protein include whole grains, rice, corn, beans, legumes, oatmeal, peas, and peanut butter. For those who do not eat meat, eggs, or dairy products, it is important to eat a variety of these other foods in order to get enough protein.
SODIUM intake is recommended to be less than 3,000 milligrams daily. One teaspoon of table salt contains about 2,000 milligrams of sodium. The difference between "sodium" and "salt" can be confusing. Sodium is a mineral found in various foods including table salt (sodium chloride). Table salt is 40% sodium.
People with high blood pressure (hypertension) may be instructed by their doctor or dietitian to reduce sodium intake. High blood pressure can increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, or kidney disease. The body needs a small amount of sodium to help maintain normal blood pressure and normal function of muscles and nerves. High sodium intake can contribute to water retention.
Sodium is found in table salt, baking soda, monosodium glutamate (MSG), various seasonings, additives, condiments, meat, fish, poultry, dairy foods, eggs, smoked meats, olives, and pickled foods.
POTASSIUM is essential for maintaining proper fluid balance, nerve impulse function, muscle function, cardiac (heart muscle) function
Sources: bananas, raisins, apricots, oranges, avacadoes, dates, cantaloupe, watermelon, prunes, broccoli, spinach, carrots, potato, sweet potato, winter squash, mushrooms, peas, lentils, dried beans, peanuts, milk, yogurt, lean meats
VITAMINS AND MINERALS are required for the regulation of the body's metabolic functions, and are found naturally in the foods we eat. Many foods are fortified in order to provide additional nutrients, or to replace nutrients that may have been lost during the processing of the food. Most people are able to obtain satisfactory nutrition from the wide selection of foods available in the United States.
If a person is not able to eat a variety of foods from the basic food groups, then a vitamin and mineral supplement may be necessary. However, except for certain unusual health conditions, very few persons should need more than 100% of the Recommended Daily Allowance for any single nutrient. Large doses of vitamin and mineral supplements can be harmful.
Vitamins come in two varieties: fat soluble and water-soluble. Fat-soluble vitamins can be stored in the body for long periods of time, while excess amounts of water-soluble vitamins are excreted in the urine.
| Vitamin A |
• needed for new cell growth, healthy skin, hair, and tissues, and vision in dim light • sources: dark green and yellow vegetables and yellow fruits, such as broccoli spinach, turnip greens, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, cantaloupe, and apricots, and in animal sources such as liver, milk, butter, cheese, and whole eggs. |
| Vitamin D |
• promotes absorption and use of calcium and phosphate for healthy bones and teeth • sources: milk (fortified), cheese, whole eggs, liver, salmon, and fortified margarine. The skin can synthesize vitamin D if exposed to enough sunlight on a regular basis. |
| Vitamin E |
• protects red blood cells and helps prevent destruction of vitamin A and C • sources: margarine and vegetable oil (soybean, corn, safflower, and cottonseed), wheat germ, green leafy vegetables. |
| Vitamin K |
• necessary for normal blood clotting and synthesis of proteins found in plasma, bone, and kidneys. • sources: spinach, lettuce, kale, cabbage, cauliflower, wheat bran, organ meats, cereals, some fruits, meats, dairy products, eggs. |
| Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid) |
• an antioxidant vitamin needed for the formation of collagen to hold the cells together and for healthy teeth, gums and blood vessels; improves iron absorption and resistance to infection. • sources: many fresh vegetables and fruits, such as broccoli, green and red peppers, collard greens, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, lemon, cabbage, pineapples, strawberries, citrus fruits |
| Thiamin (B1) |
• needed for energy metabolism and the proper function of the nervous system • sources: whole grains, soybeans, peas, liver, kidney, lean cuts of pork, legumes, seeds, and nuts. |
| Riboflavin (B2) |
• needed for energy metabolism, building tissue, and helps maintain good vision. • sources: dairy products, lean meats, poultry, fish, grains, broccoli, turnip greens, asparagus, spinach, and enriched food products. |
| Niacin |
• needed for energy metabolism, proper digestion, and healthy nervous system • sources: lean meats, liver, poultry, milk, canned salmon, leafy green vegetables |
| Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine) |
• needed for cell growth • sources: chicken, fish, pork, liver, kidney, whole grains, nuts, and legumes |
| Folate (Folic Acid) |
• promotes normal digestion; essential for development of red blood cells • sources: liver, yeast, dark green leafy vegetables, legumes, and some fruits |
| Vitamin B12 |
• needed for building proteins in the body, red blood cells, and normal function of nervous tissue • sources: liver, kidney, yogurt, dairy products, fish, clams, oysters, nonfat dry milk, salmon, sardines |
| Calcium |
• needed for healthy bones and teeth, normal blood clotting, and nervous system functioning • sources: dairy products, broccoli, cabbage, kale, tofu, sardines and salmon |
| Iron |
• needed for the formation of hemoglobin, which carries oxygen from the lungs to the body cells • sources: meats, eggs, dark green leafy vegetables, legumes, whole grains and enriched food products |
| Phosphorus |
• needed for healthy bones and teeth, energy metabolism, and acidbase balance in the body • sources: milk, grains, lean meats, food additives |
| Magnesium |
• needed for healthy bones and teeth, proper nervous system functioning, and energy metabolism • sources: dairy products, meat, fish, poultry, green vegetables, legumes |
| Zinc |
• needed for cell reproduction, tissue growth and repair • sources: meat, seafood, and liver, eggs, milk, whole-grain products |
| Pantothenic Acid |
• needed for energy metabolism • sources: egg yolk, liver, kidney, yeast, broccoli, lean beef, skim milk, sweet potatoes, molasses |
| Copper |
• needed for synthesis of hemoglobin, proper iron metabolism, and maintenance of blood vessels • sources: seafood, nuts, legumes, green leafy vegetables |
| Manganese |
• needed for enzyme structure • sources: whole grain products, fruits and vegetables, tea |
Nutrient Digestion
absorption and Transport of Nutrients
Digested molecules of food, water and minerals from the diet, are absorbed from the cavity of the upper small intestine. The absorbed materials cross the mucosa into the blood, and are carried off in the bloodstream to other parts of the body for storage or further chemical change. This process varies with different types of nutrients.
Carbohydrates: An average American adult eats about half a pound of carbohydrate each day. Some of our most common foods contain mostly carbohydrates. Examples are bread, potatoes, pastries, candy, rice, spaghetti, fruits, and vegetables. Many of these foods contain both starch, which can be digested, and fiber, which the body cannot digest.
The digestible carbohydrates are broken into simpler molecules by enzymes in the saliva, in juice produced by the pancreas, and in the lining of the small intestine. Starch is digested in two steps: First, an enzyme in the saliva and pancreatic juice breaks the starch into molecules called maltose; then an enzyme in the lining of the small intestine (maltase) splits the maltose into glucose molecules that can be absorbed into the blood. Glucose is carried through the bloodstream to the liver, where it is stored or used to provide energy for the work of the body.
Table sugar is another carbohydrate that must be digested to be useful. An enzyme in the lining of the small intestine digests table sugar into glucose and fructose, each of which can be absorbed from the intestinal cavity into the blood. Milk contains yet another type of sugar, lactose, which is changed into absorbable molecules by an enzyme called lactase, also found in the intestinal lining.
Protein: Foods such as meat, eggs, and beans consist of large molecules of protein that must be digested by enzymes before they can be used to build and repair body tissues. An enzyme in the juice of the stomach starts the digestion of swallowed protein. Further digestion of the protein is completed in the small intestine. Here, several enzymes from the pancreatic juice and the lining of the intestine carry out the breakdown of huge protein molecules into small molecules called amino acids. These small molecules can be absorbed from the hollow of the small intestine into the blood and then be carried to all parts of the body to build the walls and other parts of cells.
Fats: Fat molecules are a rich source of energy for the body. The first step in digestion of a fat is to dissolve it into the watery content of the intestinal cavity. The bile acids produced by the liver act as natural detergents to dissolve fat in water and allow the enzymes to break the large fat molecules into smaller molecules, some of which are fatty acids and cholesterol. The bile acids combine with the fatty acids and cholesterol and help these molecules to move into the cells of the mucosa. In these cells the small molecules are formed back into large molecules, most of which pass into vessels (called lymphatics) near the intestine. These small vessels carry the reformed fat to the veins of the chest, and the blood carries the fat to storage depots in different parts of the body.
Vitamins: Another important part of our food that is absorbed from the small intestine is the class of chemicals we call vitamins. There are two different types of vitamins, classified by the fluid in which they can be dissolved: water -soluble vitamins (all the B vitamins and vitamin C) and fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, and K).
Water and Salt: Most of the material absorbed from the cavity of the small intestine is water in which salt is dissolved. The salt and water come from the food and liquid we swallow and the juices secreted by the many digestive glands. In a healthy adult, more than a gallon of water containing over an ounce of salt is absorbed from the intestine every 24 hours.
Why Is Digestion Important?
Why Is Digestion Important?
When we eat such things as bread, meat, and vegetables, they are not in a form that the body can use as nourishment. Our food and drink must be changed into smaller molecules of nutrients before they can be absorbed into the blood and carried to cells throughout the body. Digestion is the process by which food and drink are broken down into their smallest parts so that the body can use them to build and nourish cells and to provide energy.
The digestive system is a series of hollow organs joined in a long, twisting tube from the mouth to the anus. Inside this tube is a lining called the mucosa. In the mouth, stomach, and small intestine, the mucosa contains tiny glands that produce juices to help digest food.
Digestion involves the mixing of food, its movement through the digestive tract, and chemical breakdown of the large molecules of food into smaller molecules. Digestion begins in the mouth, when we chew and swallow, and is completed in the small intestine. The chemical process varies somewhat for different kinds of food.
Movement of Food Through the System
• Mouth: Seconds
• Esophagus: Seconds
• Stomach: Up to 3 ½ hours
• Small Intestine: Minutes
• Large Intestine: Hours
The large, hollow organs of the digestive system contain muscle that enables their walls to move. The movement of organ walls can propel food and liquid and also can mix the contents within each organ. Typical movement of the esophagus, stomach, and intestine is called peristalsis. The action of peristalsis looks like an ocean wave moving through the muscle. The muscle of the organ produces a narrowing and then propels the narrowed portion slowly down the length of the organ. These waves of narrowing push the food and fluid in front of them through each hollow organ.
The first major muscle movement occurs when food or liquid is swallowed. Although we are able to start swallowing by choice, once the swallow begins, it becomes involuntary and proceeds under the control of the nerves.
The esophagus is the organ into which the swallowed food is pushed. It connects the throat above with the stomach below. At the junction of the esophagus and stomach, there is a ringlike valve closing the passage between the two organs. However, as the food approaches the closed ring, the surrounding muscles relax and allow the food to pass.
The food then enters the stomach, which has three mechanical tasks to do. First, the stomach must store the swallowed food and liquid. This requires the muscle of the upper part of the stomach to relax and accept large volumes of swallowed material. The second job is to mix up the food, liquid, and digestive juice produced by the stomach. The lower part of the stomach mixes these materials by its muscle action. The third task of the stomach is to empty its contents slowly into the small intestine.
Several factors affect emptying of the stomach, including the nature of the food (mainly its fat and protein content) and the degree of muscle action of the emptying stomach and the next organ to receive the stomach contents (the small intestine). As the food is digested in the small intestine and dissolved into the juices from the pancreas, liver, and intestine, the contents of the intestine are mixed and pushed forward to allow further digestion.
Glands of the digestive system are crucial to the process of digestion. They produce both the juices that break down the food and the hormones that help to control the process.
The glands that act first are in the mouth--the salivary glands. Saliva produced by these glands contains an enzyme that begins to digest the starch from food into smaller molecules.
The next set of digestive glands is in the stomach lining. They produce stomach acid and an enzyme that digests protein. One of the unsolved puzzles of the digestive system is why the acid juice of the stomach does not dissolve the tissue of the stomach itself. In most people, the stomach mucosa is able to resist the juice, although food and other tissues of the body cannot.
After the stomach empties the food and its juice into the small intestine, the juices of two other digestive organs mix with the food to continue the process of digestion. One of these organs is the pancreas. It produces a juice that contains a wide array of enzymes to break down the carbohydrates, fat, and protein in our food. Other enzymes that are active in the process come from glands in the wall of the intestine or even a part of that wall.
The liver produces yet another digestive juice--bile. The bile is stored between meals in the gallbladder. At mealtime, it is squeezed out of the gallbladder into the bile ducts to reach the intestine and mix with the fat in our food. The bile acids dissolve the fat into the watery contents of the intestine, much like detergents that dissolve grease from a frying pan. After the fat is dissolved, it is digested by enzymes from the pancreas and the lining of the intestine.
How Is the Digestive Process Controlled?
How Is the Digestive Process Controlled?
Hormone Regulators
A fascinating feature of the digestive system is that it contains its own regulators. The major hormones that control the functions of the digestive system are produced and released by cells in the mucosa of the stomach and small intestine. These hormones are released into the blood of the digestive tract, travel back to the heart and through the arteries, and return to the digestive system, where they stimulate digestive juices and cause organ movement. The hormones that control digestion are gastrin, secretin, and cholecystokinin (CCK):
• Gastrin causes the stomach to produce an acid for dissolving and digesting some foods. It is also necessary for the normal growth of the lining of the stomach, small intestine, and colon.
• Secretin causes the pancreas to send out a digestive juice that is rich in bicarbonate. It stimulates the stomach to produce pepsin, an enzyme that digests protein, and it also stimulates the liver to produce bile.
• CCK causes the pancreas to grow and to produce the enzymes of pancreatic juice, and it causes the gallbladder to empty.
Nerve Regulators
Two types of nerves help to control the action of the digestive system. Extrinsic (outside) nerves come to the digestive organs from the unconscious part of the brain or from the spinal cord. They release a chemical called acetylcholine and another called adrenaline. Acetylcholine causes the muscle of the digestive organs to squeeze with more force and increase the "push" of food and juice through the digestive tract. Acetylcholine also causes the stomach and pancreas to produce more digestive juice. Adrenaline relaxes the muscle of the stomach and intestine and decreases the flow of blood to these organs.
Even more important, though, are the intrinsic (inside) nerves, which make up a very dense network embedded in the walls of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and colon. The intrinsic nerves are triggered to act when the walls of the hollow organs are stretched by food. They release many different substances that speed up or delay the movement of food and the production of juices by the digestive organs.
Source: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health.
