Nutrition: Living a Healthy Life

Nutrition: Living a Healthy Life

Anatomy and Physiology Project

Fats• Includes transfats, polysaturated fats, polyunsaturated fats,

monounsaturated fats, and cholesterol• Functions: Needed to repair and make new cell membranes, mylein

sheath around nerve axons needed to conduct nerve impulses, energy storage, cushioning, steroid making, make chemicals for natural pain relief, absorb fat soluble vitamins, add flavor and fullness etc. (You need fat – it isn’t all bad!)

• Can get fats by eating them or turning excess sugars into fats• Two types of fats are essential – meaning the body cannot get them from

converting another molecule into them. These are omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids

• Sources of each fat type will be covered under each type of fat• Fat and cholesterol have been blamed for heart disease (still #1 killer in

U.S. – however some fats are to blame and some are protective)• Note that all foods containing fats usually contain a mix of the different

types but have one type in most abundance. For example: Butter is 62% polysaturated fat and 29% monosaturated fat, whereas, olive oil has 14% polysat., 74% monounsaturated, 8% polyunsaturated

Good Fats vs. Bad Fats• Transfats are BAD• Polysaturated Fats are generally bad and

shouldn’t be eaten in large quantities• Polyunsaturated Fats are good and necessary and

Omega 3’s are essential and really good and not eaten much by most Americans

• Monounsaturated Fats are also good• Eating too much of any fat can lead to too much

fat storage but try replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats

• Excess sugars eaten turn into polysaturated fats which are bad

New Thoughts on Heart Disease• Fats and cholesterol have been blamed for clogged arteries but..• Worst types of heart attacks caused by clogs of fat and immune

cells that break off suddenly, move thru blood and clog of an artery. These “clogs” are mostly caused by an inflammatory response to the fat that isn’t supposed to be there

• Saturated fats create inflammation, unsaturated in most cases prevent it

• Inflammation also can lead to cancer, insulin resistance which causes diabetes, and maybe a host of other diseases like Alzheimer’s

• Inflammation is an immune response that is necessary to kill bacteria and viruses but also is activated by stress, being overweight, and clogs in artery walls

Inflammation a major cause of heart attacks

Inflammatory Response

Trans FatsNow thought to be the most unhealthy of all fats

Should limit to less than 1% of your diet to be healthy• Transfats –These are artificially hydrogenated

vegetable oils• Found in most fast fried foods, processed foods, and

restaurant foods – has a longer shelf life• Fries, chicken nuggets, fried fish burgers, pies,

danishes, pancakes, donuts, margarine, regular veggie oils

• Transfats increase LDL (bad cholesterol) & decrease HDL (good cholesterol) so probably increase the risk of heart attacks

• Leads to weight gain faster than other fats• Transfats also increase inflammation – possibly leading

to heart disease, cancer, asthma, diabetes

Polysaturated Fats• Since they are straight chains and fully hydrogenated, they

pack together better and are thicker and stickier in the blood, more dense, and contain more energy than unsat. Good if you need lots of energy because you are extremely active but if not build up to make you overweight and stick to arteries causing clogs

• Linked to heart disease and diabetes• Found in animal products: meat, cheese, whole milk, egg

yolks, sour cream, ice cream, butter, most junk food like cookies, candy, cakes, etc.

• Also found in some plant products – coconut oil and milk, cocoa butter, palm kernel oil – find these in chocolate, non-dairy whipped toppings, coffee creamers

Structure of Saturated vs. Unsaturated Fats

Saturated FatsAverage Americans eat 25.5 g of saturated

fat/dayShould eat 5-10 g less per day

Ways to reduce Saturated Fat Intake:•Eat less red meat/more fish•Remove skin from chicken•Use canola and olive oil•Flavor with spices instead of sauces•Substitute lower fat versions of dairy•Increase fruit, veg, whole grain intake

Polyunsaturated Fats• Polyunsaturated Fats eaten can be used for energy but seem to be used

to repair membranes, prevent heart disease and diabetes, cut cancer risk, cut risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s, prevent or decrease depression, decrease inflammation, and are needed to create natural pain killers

• Omega 3’s are not eaten much by Americans and are the best at fighting inflammation etc.

• Omega 3’s are found in fish oil of cold water fish like salmon, albacore tuna, lake trout, Atlantic Mackerel. They are also found in walnuts and flax seeds and flax oil.

• Omega 6’s are polyunsat. but actually are needed to cause inflammation. Your immune system needs them to work but too much makes too much inflammation. They also oxidize or harden clogs making them worse. We do get a lot of them in food we generally eat and don’t need a lot. Cutting back a little on these is good. They are found in safflower oil, turkey, walnuts, pumpkin and sunflower seeds, chicken, and corn oil.

Monounsaturated Fats

• Prevent heart disease, help stabilize blood sugar, help lose weight, reduce risk of cancer

• Find in olive oil, canola oil, peanut oil and peanut butter, and avocadoes

Comparing Types of Fat in Cooking Oils

Cholesterol

• Found in high fat dairy, egg yolk, shellfish, high fat meats, poultry skin

• Needed to stabilize cell membranes, make all steroid hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone), makes cortisol, bile

• Your liver makes it – if eat extra, you should make less – problems arise when overwhelm homeostasis or something is wrong with homeostatic mechanism

Conclusion about Fats

• Need fats for many things and some fatty acids (omega 3 and 6) are essential and must be eaten in that form or you won’t get them

• Since fats stores a lot of energy, if eat too much of any kind, you will store extra as saturated fat which clogs arteries, strains the heart, and increases inflammation. This includes all fat we make when we eat excess carbs that we don’t burn

• Replacing bad fats with good fats and keeping them to a reasonable level with probably increase your life and keep you healthier

Protein• Protein is needed to build muscle, make enzymes, protein channels,

marker proteins, clotting proteins, messengers and receptors, antibodies, bones, hair, nails, skin, teeth, etc.

• They are the main structural parts of our bodies and make everything happen because we couldn’t do any chemical reactions without them, we couldn’t signal anything to happen without them, we couldn’t control what moves in or out of cells, our immune systems wouldn’t work, etc.

• Protein is found mostly in: meat, cheese, soy, nuts, eggs, dairy, seeds, and tofu

• If you don’t get all 20 amino acids, you can’t build all of your proteins. Eight amino acids are essential (you can’t make them in your body from other amino acids and so have to be eaten as is) Veggie sources of proteins don’t always contain all the essential amino acids so vegetarians must get a mix of grains, corn, and beans to make sure they get all 20 a.a.

• Myth: Eating tons of extra protein will bulk you up. If you don’t have enough a.a. you can’t build muscle, however having extra doesn’t make you make extra muscle – this is signaled by weight bearing exercise and testosterone

• If you are growing and or actively building extra muscle, you do need more protein than someone who is not growing

Carbohydrates• Main energy source but if eaten in large quantities, will

be stored as fat (some fat storage is good and necessary)

• Carbs can be found in all fruits, vegetables, grains, but also found in all flour products (cakes, cookies, etc.), pasta, rice, cereals, etc.

• “junk carbs” didn’t exist in the human diet until recently and many people have most of their diet composed of these. The human digestive system isn’t adapted to utilizing these properly.

• Natural carbs usually contain good sources of vitamins and fiber

• Fiber is a carb but is indigestible and bulks up the feces to make bowels move better and slows the absorption or sugar

Good carbs vs. bad carbs• The main idea is that good carbs provide energy by slowly raising blood

sugar so that it can be absorbed by cells at the right rate. Good carbs also don’t cause an inflammatory response.

• Remember that inflammation is linked to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, dimentia etc.

• Shooting up blood sugar too quickly causes an over production of insulin which causes cells to take up sugar too quickly which then causes blood sugar to go too low stimulating hunger and shakiness. This continued process leads to being overweight and becoming diabetic.

• Carbs that are absorbed slowly usually have a good source of fiber which slows the absorption. Whole fruits and vegetables and whole grains have this. Whole wheat and junk food, and potatoes all absorb very quickly and are bad. (whole wheat is not same as whole grain! But better than white)

• The amount a carb shoots up the blood sugar is called the Glycemic Index (GI). The higher the GI, the faster your blood sugar increases and the more unhealthy the carb is for you.

• If your carb source is not a fruit or veggie, you will look up the GI on the internet which has charts. The GI is only for foods that contain a significant amount of carbs

Carbohydrate Conclusion• The more active you are the more carbs you need• Even if you are couch potato, you need carbs for

basic muscle movements, brain functions, chemical reactions etc., but you should eat less carbs

• Choose good carbs – fruits, veggies, and whole grains

• Bad carbs are not only usually higher in calories which make us overweight but cause inflammation and diabetes, and a host of other problems

High Fructose Corn Syrup is not Natural

• HFCS is extracted from corn and then ½ of the glucose is converted to fructose

• Created in 1975 (systems not adapted for it)• Fructose is sweeter and activates the pleasure

centers of the brain more and makes it more addictive and makes people crave it

• Fructose is not under the same regulation as glucose in cellular respiration so it messes up the control mechanisms of energy burning

Vitamins

• Act as coenzymes which are needed for many normal chemical reactions

• Act as anti-oxidants which scavenge free radicals which are chemicals missing electrons. Free radicals are formed from normal body functions and need to be gotten rid of. If not, they steal electrons from other molecules damaging them. This damages DNA and proteins making many things not work right.

• Many believe that having plenty of anti-oxidants is the key to preventing cancer

• Best sources of vitamins are fruits and veggies

What does each vitamin do?What foods are high in each vitamin?

• http://kidshealth.org/teen/misc/vitamin_chart.html• Go to the link above and it has a chart of the major

vitamins, what they are needed for, what foods they are found in, and how much of each vitamin is necessary for teenagers.

Overall Conclusion

• People that keep their weight down, avoid saturated fats, and eat lots of fruits and vegetables live longer!

• All of things listed above reduce inflammation which seems to be a major factor in most diseases plaguing modern society.

• Processed foods are less nutritious and contain more sodium, sugars, saturated fat, and transfats. Flavorization also causes pleasure centers to become addicted.