What is something that all of us do every day? We move, speak, drink, jump, run, and a LOT more. But have you ever wondered what gives us the ability to perform these activities? It’s our food and the nutritional values we get from it! So we know that food is vital for our survival, as everything we do (even sitting and sleeping) needs energy to happen. Another important consideration is the type of food we eat. Eating a chocolate bar won’t give you the same amount of energy that you would have gotten if you had eaten a piece of bread. Eating a whole orange will let you have an easier time in a toilet rather than eating a whole doughnut or burger. Why could this be?
Let me introduce you to something called (drumroll please) … NUTRIENTS! There are different types of food, and I’m 99.8% sure anyone can realise that. Different types of foods have different benefits and (sometimes) disadvantages. For example, when you eat rice or noodles for breakfast, you generally have more energy over the day, and you can probably last till lunch (unless you are a REALLY heavy eater). However, if you had eaten a bar of chocolate or a caramel pudding for breakfast(yum… lucky you), you probably would want to eat something else to fill your tummy, and you probably wouldn’t have enough energy to even last an hour and a half!
There are 6 main types of nutrients. Carbohydrates, the body’s main source of energy, are one of the most important and common types of food we eat. I can bet that you ate a carbohydrate this morning to keep you going for the rest of the day. Carbohydrates include starches, sugars, and dietary fibres. Starches and Sugars are what give us our energy. Now most of you are probably thinking, “Eh? Sugars? Aren’t they bad for you?” Well, your mom was indeed right when she said sugar is not good for health, but what she didn’t tell you was that there are 2 types of sugar. The sugar that you keep craving for, but it’s kept in a box too high up on the shelf, is called refined sugar. This sugar is extremely sweet(which YOU definitely know), and has nearly no good benefits, apart from being an instant source of energy. The other type of sugar, also known as ‘simple carbohydrates’, is a natural part of many foods! Even a fruit or your beloved milk has it! These provide a good amount of energy, which allows you to go on with your day without a hitch(most of the time at least).
Remember that time you fell off your bicycle or tripped over a rock and hurt yourself? Have you ever wondered how the wound healed? Well, you will learn today, and it healed because of… PROTEINS! Proteins are units which march to your wound and repair the area, using their selves in the process. Proteins are so darn important that 1 fifth of the body’s total weight consists of proteins! You also grow because of proteins; without them, you would still be the size of a baby! With a baby face! Anyway, there are lots of ways to get proteins in your body. The main ways are by eating food like meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products. These consist of lots of protein cells and help your body a TON. Fun Fact: your very own beautiful hair is made of dead protein cells! How cool is that?
Now, we go from being super cool to being very serious. We need to talk about a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Fats. No, not the big people you see on the road. Fats in the sense of nutrition. Some types of food that you eat, like chips, consist of fats. Fats are a concentrated source of energy, and they have more than twice as many calories per gram compared to carbohydrates and proteins. Fats also have 4 main types: saturated, polyunsaturated, monounsaturated, and trans. Each of them has a different effect on blood cholesterol levels. But the worst of the 4 are the saturated fats and trans fats, as they tend to increase one’s risk of heart attack and other cardiovascular diseases. Polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats and theorised to lower those risks. While these names and powers sound menacing, fats are vital for us. People are only ‘fat’ because they have a thick layer of fat (in terms of food) on their skin! These fats keep us warm during colder seasons! Still, we should strive to reduce these fats (unless they are good for us) as they can cause us heart attacks, and unfortunately for us, we can’t defend them.
Next, we have Vitamins. I’m sure all of us have heard this at some point, be it from your mom, your science teacher, your cook, or maybe even a random person in your dreams! Vitamins are important to us as they keep body functions going, and the organs and stuff in check. There are many types of vitamins: A, C, D, E, K and the most dreaded ones of all: the Vitamin Bs. There are unfortunately 8 types of Vitamin B, and here’s a list of them: B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B7, B9, and B12! Whew. That was a lot. Without vitamins, we would not be able to do lots of functions that happen without our notice in our bodies.
Let’s talk about Minerals. No, not rocks, you geologist. I’m talking about minerals in food. There are 2 types of minerals: major and trace. As their name specifies, major minerals are needed in higher quantities, and trace minerals do not need to be consumed as much. Some major minerals are calcium, phosphorus, potassium, and sulfur, while some trace minerals are chromium, copper, iron, and zinc. Almost all foods have some minerals in them.
Next up, we have Water. Water is vital for our survival. It allows us to go with the flow(see what I did there?) and live our lives. Water is like that one reliable friend that we need all the time to help. It is necessary for many chemical reactions that occur in our bodies, and it is also necessary to carry nutrients to other parts of the body. Water is so important that over 60% of our bodies is water! There are many ways to intake water, from simply drinking it to consuming juice and soups. Most fruits are 90% water.
So now that you know all the main components of food types, how and in what moderation should you eat them? To your aid, there is something called the Food Pyramid! The Food Plate is also something that exists, but I’m sure that we can all agree that pyramids are superior to circles. The Food Pyramid is divided into multiple parts; bigger parts mean more intake, and smaller parts mean smaller intake. Here is a list of which nutrients are to be taken in more.
NUTRIENT OLYMPICS
1st : Carbohydrates
We all saw this coming, and it’s quite obvious that carbohydrates are the most required nutrient to keep our body running! Without it, we wouldn’t have enough energy to go on with our lives!
2nd : Fruits and Vegetables
A child’s worst nightmare, fruits and vegetables are really important. As discussed above, they have a lot of vitamins and minerals and water and a lot of important nutrients overall.
3rd : Protein
This one should be quite apparent. We grow and get injuries. We need proteins to heal and grow. Simple.
4th: Dairy Products
We all love our milk and cheese, and they give us calcium and a lot of other minerals. So keep drinking milk, kids!
5th : Fats
Coming in dead last, we have Fats. Fats, while being good on one hand, can damage us a lot over time. So, avoid eating sweets and other sugar-filled confectionery; while they taste good, your heart won’t find them as tasty.
Well, we all have learnt a mindful lesson today: to be mindful of what we eat, what is in what we eat, and if we should eat it. So thank you, folks, and I hope this helped you rethink your eating choices.
By: Pradyun Reddy Chintala
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