These are essential nutrients Vitamins are organic substances - made by animals & plants Minerals are inorganic substances from soil & water - humans & animals absorb them through eating plants. Many vitamins, minerals & trace minerals cannot be made by the body so they must be ingested - calcium, chromium, iodine, selenium, copper, zinc & iron
C - citrus fruit, many other fruits & vegetables & liver
D - eggs, liver, mushrooms, fish & fortified dairy
E - many types of fruit & vegetable, seeds & nuts
K - leafy vegetables, egg yolk & liver
Trace minerals are needed in tiny amounts & its possible to get them from a healthy diet.
Click the link below to see a list of important minerals, the amount needed, purpose and dietary source.
Phytonutrients
Though not essential to life, they help prevent & cure disease & maintain the body systems
There are over 25,000 phytonutrients found in plants -6 major ones
Caretenoids
Flavenoids
Resveratrol
Ellagic acid
Glucosinolates
Phytoestrogens
Cashews
Health Benefits of Cashews A great mineral source, cashews contain 31% of the daily recommended value for copper, along with 23% for manganese, 20% for magnesium and 17% for phosphorus, add to that 12% of the daily recommended value for vitamin K.
What does this mean for the body? Studies show that magnesium helps diminish the frequency of migraines, improve cognitive ability & also lowers blood pressure, which can prevent heart attacks. Also a great anti depressant. Copper contains antioxidants that render free radicals harmless. This protects against heart disease & cancer. Enzyme components like tyrosinase convert to the pigment melanin, which provides not just our skin & hair color, but protects our skin from UV damage. Magnesium works with copper to provide bone strength & with melanin & elastin to provide joint flexibility, giving the nerves just the right tension. Another ingredient in cashews is proanthocyanidins, which contain flavanols that inhibit the ability of cancer cells to divide & multiply, reducing incidences of colon cancer.
Surprisingly, cashews contain zero cholesterol. All but a small amount of the fat in cashews is the good kind - oleic acid - found also in olive oil, which is the reason both are so good for you. It's the high- or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol conversation that explains what "good fat = HDL; bad fat = LDL" actually means. It's just another way of saying it makes a difference what fats you eat. That's because HDL cholesterol travels through your body, picking up bad bits of LDL cholesterol along the way, leaving it off at the liver, which breaks it down & gets rid of it.
Carbohydrates
Carbs are another essential building block of the body.
They include starches, sugar & fibre
The main function is to fuel the brain & bodily systems.
Enzymes break carbs down into glucose which the body uses as fuel - this glucose can be used immediately or is stored in the muscles & liver for later use.
Saccharides are generally sugars & often end in the letters "ose" - fructose (fruit sugars), lactose (milk sugars), sucrose (cane sugars)
Although carbs are an essential source of energy, they are not an essential nutrient . We could get all daily nutrients from protein & fat without eating any carbs.
Diets low in carbs result in high ketone levels - ketones are by products of fatty acids broken down by the liver to produce energy - the body goes into ketosis after eating exclusively protein for several days.
Carbs are 4 calories per gram, the same as protein
Refined / processed foods are usually higher in carbs - sweets, pasta, bread & fruit. Whereas unrefined foods like potatoes, rice, beans & unprocessed fruit are lower in carbs.
Carbs can be simple or complex - depending on how quick the sugars digest.
Simple carbs - bad carbs -quickly digested - short term energy - sweets, syrup, soft drinks, milk & milk products, table sugar & white flour
Complex carbs - good carbs - slowly digest - sustained energy - starchy vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fruit ( although fructose is a simple sugar the fibre makes it a complex carb )
Protein
This is found throughout the body - In muscle, bone, skin, hair, and virtually every other body part or tissue.
It makes up the enzymes that power many chemical reactions and the hemoglobin that carries oxygen in your blood.
At least 10,000 different proteins make you what you are and keep you that way.
It is an essential building block in the body - an essential nutrient & it serves as fuel.
It is broken down to form amino acids
Protein is built from building blocks called amino acids.
Our bodies make amino acids in two different ways - either from scratch, or by modifying others.
A few amino acids (essentialamino acids) must come from food.
Animal sources of protein tend to deliver all the amino acids we need.
Other protein sources, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts & seeds, lack one or more essential amino acids - vegetarians need to be aware of this. People who don’t eat meat, fish, poultry, eggs, or dairy products need to eat a variety of protein-containing foods each day in order to get all the amino acids needed to make new protein.
Protein malnutrition leads to the condition known as kwashiorkor.
Lack of protein can cause growth failure, loss of muscle mass, decreased immunity, weakening of the heart & the respiratory system.
Protein contains 4 calories per gram - the same as carbohydrates
To see a list of foods & the percentage of which is protein please click link below
Fat is another essential building block of the body
Some fats like polyunsaturated and monounsaturated are not unhealthy.
Other fats like trans fats, saturated fats & cholesterol are less healthy.
Eat less than 300mg of cholesterol per day
Use oils to replace solid fats & avoid eating solid fats
Limit to less than 2mg, or eliminate trans fats (or partially hydrogenated oils) from diet - trans fat raises bad cholesterol (LDL) & lowers good cholesterol (HDL), more than any other type of fat. Trans fat is found in many processed foods such as crackers, biscuits, cakes & fried foods, it prolongs their shelf life. This is the main reason processed foods are not nutritious
Saturated fats are found in meat & dairy products (the solid fat you see around corned beef).
A diet high in saturated fats may be linked to chronic conditions like heart disease. New research suggests that inflammation within the arteries is the reason why these fats stick to the arterial walls.
Foods with saturated fat include - butter, whole fat cream & milk, whole milk, high fat cheese, ice cream, custard, high fat cuts of meat, coconut & palm oils
Beware low fat versions of foods can often be misleading as they usually contain higher amounts of sugar, so it is better to buy leaner cuts of meat, try removing poultry skin before cooking, skimming fat off soups & stews & buying meat free products. Cholesterol levels are affected by genetics & what you eat. So, what is this cholesterol stuff?.......
Total cholesterol is the amount of measured cholesterol in the blood including LDL & HDL cholesterol High cholesterol gives few outward signs so it is important to control it in your diet.
LDL is low-density lipoprotein & it is considered bad ( L=keep it low)
HDL is high-density lipoprotein & is considered good ( H= keep it higher)
High Cholesterol can be a serious problem & is tied to heart disease - cholesterol build up forms a plaque in the arteries, which causes narrowing - this can lead to hardening of the arteries & heart attack. (drinking distilled water can help remove the calcification from arteries)
Recently Dr's suggest that it isn't the cholesterol itself that contributes towards heart disease, but inflammation. Other factors such as autoimmune diseases, obesity & other irritants such as simple carbs & sugar may create the inflammation needed for the cholesterol to stick to the artery wall. Essentially the inflammation needs to be tackled to prevent the plaque accumalating.
Regardless, it is a good idea to limit saturated fats, eliminate trans fats and try & eat from sources of unsaturated fat where possible ( nuts, fish & vegetable oils)
Omega -6 polyunsaturated fat - soybean, corn oil, cotton seed oil & safflower - essential fatty acid - we can only get it from food - the body needs it but cannot make it - Omega 6's may lower LDL
Omega -3 polyunsaturated fat - soybean oil, canola oil, walnuts, flax seed oil, Fish, including herring, trout & salmon - essential fatty acid the body cannot make on its own - needed for functions such as blood clotting & construction of cell membranes - protects from stroke & heart disease - positive effect on IBS and auto immune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's, lupus & cancer
2 Types of Omega 3's
Alpha - linolenic acid (ALA) - vegetable oils, canola oil, flax seed, walnuts, leafy greens including spinache,kale, salad greens & brussel sprouts - The body partially turns these fats into EPA & DHA
Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) & docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) - found in fish
It is unclear if any one source of omega-3's is more beneficial than the other, but what is clear is most western diets do NOT contain enough omega-3's
Omega 3's & omega 6s both play a critical role in brain function, growth & development of skin, hair & bone, regulation of the metabolism & the reproductive system. Western diet has too many omega 6's & not enough omega 3's - omega 6's have been linked to inflammation.
Balancing omega 6's & omega 3's with a ratio of 2:1 decreases incidences of cancer.
Omega 3's - work on hormones that reduce inflammation
Omega 6's - work on hormones that increase inflammation
Omega 6's benefits include - fight inflammation, helps diabetic neuropathy, rheumatoid arthritis, allergies, ADHD, high blood pressure, exzema, menopausal symptoms & other medical conditions - often taken as a supplement & can be found in evening primrose oil & spirulina
In general a gram of fat is 9 calories
Weight loss is one of the key issues nutritionists are consulted on. Today more than a third of all adults are classed as obese. Health benefits can be observed and experienced with a weight loss of as little as 5-10%
OBESITY SIDE EFFECTS
SHORT TERM - reducedmobility, high blood pressure, joint and muscle pain, high cholesterol, GI issues, sleep apnoea, blood sugar spikes, cardio inefficiency
LONGTERM - cancer, gallbladder disease, GI problems, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, joint and muscle pain, osteoarthritis, stroke, diabetes, asthma, infertility
Negative Calorie Soup This simple soup recipe is filled to the rim with negative calorie effect foods. Not only are the ingredients low in calories, but they help burn body fat. Try out this comforting vegetable soup to get your metabolism going.
Ingredients
6 cups vegetable stock
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup cauliflower florettes
1 cup green beans, cut into about 1 inch pieces
2 cups shredded cabbage
1 medium zucchini, diced (about 2 cups)
1 cup small turnip, diced
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 small jalapeno seeded and deveined, finely chopped
2 cups baby spinach
salt
pepper
Directions
1. Combine all ingredients, except the spinach, in a soup pot and bring to a boil. 2. Reduce to a simmer and cook covered for 20 minutes. Add a little salt and pepper if desired. 3. Stir in the spinach and cook for another minute. 4. Remove from heat and serve.