Health and Fitness Hints

Nutrients are all those elements derived from food and drink in order to sustaining metabolic functions of our bodies. We most likely never think of water as nutrient but also many of us don’t realize the extremely important part it plays in all of our bodily functions.

Water is the vital link to life.

All the essential nutrients our bodies need must be supplied to them from outside sources such as food and/or drink as they cannot be made. One such nutrient is water or H2O. It is an essential nutrient simply because life can not exist without it. Health and integrity of every cell in the body highly depends on water. Our bodies’ composition is up to 75% water and deprivation of will kill you faster than the deprivation of any other essential nutrient. Actually it can happen within 3 to 4 days. Water loss needs to be replaced.

Daily water is lost through urine; respiration and perspiration to be replaced and balanced back again by water intake. Thirst being the trigger mechanism it tells us when to drink more of it. The daily recommendation of water is not as specific as with so many other nutrients. There are several reasons for this and they are related to variables such as your geographical location, season, physical activity, body composition and size, age and your state of health to name a few.

Under normal circumstances adults may drink from six to eight cups each day. On special circumstances however, the intake and output of fluids should be carefully monitored. For example young children tolerate high temperatures less efficiently and vomiting or diarrhea in infants and/or young children quickly leads to dehydration. The aged also may be at an increased risk of dehydration because of the influence of some medication, their state of health and less efficient thirst mechanism to alert them when the body needs more fluids. Both young and old should be encouraged to drink often.

For athletes of their entire nutritional concerns water intake is the most important. Athletes needs for nutrient water is critical in order to control temperature and levels of fluids in their bodies. Fluid loss of two to three percent of body weight from sweating can easily impair performance while fluid losses of eight to ten percent of body weight can result in heat stroke and even death. Marathon and long distance runners may lose up to three liters of sweat per hour. To prevent excess fluid loss (dehydration) during activity athletes must drink frequently before, during and after exercise.

Our water supply comes from many different sources. Most foods even those that are solid contain water. Some have very high content of water such as lettuce; 90 percent, while others such as fats, oils and sugar are among those with the least. Our bodies get about one third to one half of their water needs from food.

Water takes part in all of the body’s biological and chemical reactions including those of metabolic and digestive enzymes. For example the digestion of carbohydrates and protein to forms that can be utilized by the body it rests on water. Water is our body’s transportation medium. It is the means by which nutrients, essential elements, hormones and other substances get distributed to the entire body and waste byproducts are removed. However, when there is no need for extra water drinking too much and too often can cause hyponatremia. This is when sodium in the blood drops to a dangerously low levels.

The Purity and safety of drinking water is equally essential. Our oceans, rivers and lakes are heavily polluted from industrial, chemical and biological waste. In addition to those chemicals are chemicals such chlorine, fluoride and aluminum salts that added to our water by the water authorities, in the cities and towns around the world. They story is that they do so for our Well Being. It is of paramount importance for substances essential to life such as the air we breathe, nutrients we consume and the water we drink to be pure and safe for our bodies to do well.

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Thousands of substances in the body are made of proteins. Aside from water, proteins form the major part of lean body tissue, totaling about 17% of the body’s weight. The term protein comes from the Greek word “protos’ which means “to come first”.

They are crucial to the regulation and maintenance of the body. Body functions such as blood clotting, balance of fluids, enzyme and hormone production, visual processes and cell repair require specific proteins. Proteins can also supply energy for the body-on average 4kcal per gram.

The building blocks for protein are Amino acids. In chemistry, it is a molecule that contains both amine and carboxyl functional groups. In biochemistry, this term refers to alpha amino acids with the general formula NH2CHRCOOH. Each different protein has its own unique sequence of amino acids. Our bodies use the amino acids in the protein-containing foods we eat to generate proteins in many configurations and sizes so that can serve the greatly varied functions.

If you fail to consume an adequate amount of proteins for long periods of time many of the body’s metabolic processes slow down. For example the immune system will stop functioning efficiently when key proteins are not available, increasing the risk of infections, diseases and even death.

Amino acids contain carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen and some contain sulfur. The body needs 20 different forms to function. Although they are all important, 11 of these amino acids are considered to be nonessential - our bodies make them using other amino acids we consume. The other 9 amino acids the body cannot make and they are called essential and they must be obtaining from foods. Both nonessential and essential amino acids are present in foods that contain protein.

The two main functions of proteins in our diets are a) to provide essential amino acids and b) to provide either the nonessential amino acids or nitrogen which in turn is used to make the nonessential amino acids.

Animal and plant proteins differ in proportions of essential and nonessential amino acids. Animal proteins contain all the essential amino acids, plant proteins however do not much our needs for essential amino acids as precisely as animal proteins. Once any of the nine essential amino acids in the plant protein were used up, further protein synthesis would be impossible.

Adults need only 11% of their total protein requirements to be supplied by essential amino acid. The typical diet supplies an average of 50% of protein as essential amino acids. The estimated needs for infants and preschool children are 30% of total protein intake to drop in later childhood to 20%. Therefore young children; diet must be carefully planned.

High protein diets have come and gone several times over the last 40 years. They have again risen as weight-loss diets. People many times ask the question whether the high animal protein intake of adults is harmful. For example the extra minerals zinc, iron and vitamin B6 that accompany protein foods are often beneficial. However, high protein foods are low in some beneficial and necessary substances including, magnesium, folate, fiber and phytochemicals. High protein diets can also increase calcium loss in urine. Vegetable sources of proteins disserve more attention that they have given so far.

Many plant foods provide not only plenty of protein but also ample magnesium and dietary fiber and the underestimated “nutrient” water- we could not live without-along with many other benefits. It is critical for us to have a basic understanding of the foods and or combinations of foods we eat to be able to choose rightly for our individual needs. In the case of proteins and amino acids we need them daily. Humans do not have all the enzymes required for the biosynthesis of all of the aminoacids.

proteins - amino acids.

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Business interest is extremely powerful and affects all of us. When the contact of businesses however is not based on commitment to the common good it could become destructive and dangerous. The fats and oils business is no exception. North Americans, Europeans and other industrialized nations consume 40% of their daily calories, average 2500 calories, in the form of fats and oils.

The actual fat consumption may be closer to 150 grams of fat per day (1350 calories).

For North America alone human consumption of fats and oils is more than 12 million tones each year. In 2000 producers expected to sell more than 85 million tones, bringing in more than 90 billion dollars. With huge volumes and profits at stake the edible fat and oil industry has developed powerful political and economic lobbies to protect their profits even though the health benefits of some of these products is dubious at best if not outright dangerous.

However, everyone should be aware of the risk posed by consuming too much saturated fat, Trans fat, and cholesterol. But what is trans fat, and how can you limit or rather eliminate this fat in your diet? Decomposing oils emit a disagreeable odor and taste as their double bonds in fatty-acids break down. Natural oils exposed to ultraviolet light, oxygen and/or heat become with time rancid. This is a great problem for manufactures as it reduces their products self life.

The use of a common process called hydrogenation comes to their rescue in drastically changing natural oils to an unspoiled substance that could last forever; trans fatty-acids. Hydrogenation of liquid vegetable oils increases their shelf life and makes them solid at room temperature. It is however; very important to understand and be well-informed how hydrogenated oil molecules can affect human health.

Lipids are a diverse group of chemical compounds that don’t readily dissolve in water and among others include fatty-acids. Fatty-acids are common part of most lipids both those in the body and in foods. Foods contain a varying proportion of both saturated and unsaturated fats. Fat is a lipid that is solid at room temperature. Oil is one that is liquid at room temperature. Both are lipids. Fatty-acids are grouped according to the type of double bonds between the carbons. Saturated fatty-acids have no double bonds, monounsaturated fatty-acids have one double bond and polyunsaturated fatty-acids have two or more double bonds.

Saturated fats are very stable and have a high degree of resistance to oxidation. They are mostly solid at room temperature. Monounsaturated fats, since they have a pair of missing hydrogen atoms are somewhat vulnerable to oxidation. Polyunsaturated fats, which are missing several pairs of hydrogen atoms, are very unstable and highly reactive to oxidation even at room temperature. Both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are generally liquid at room temperature.

Certain polyunsaturated fatty-acids, essential fatty acids, are parts of our diet because our bodies need them but don’t produce them. We have to obtain them by consuming polyunsaturated vegetable oils and fish on a regular basis. They are used by the body to make structural components of cell membranes and take part in many biochemical reactions and biological functions. Monounsaturated fatty-acids are used in our cell wall membranes and as energy for the body’s needs.

However, the desire to solidify these types of oils for commercial-financial purposes has lead to hydrogenation. Hydrogen atoms are added on opposite sides of carbon atoms in the chemical chain. This process changes their shape from cis to trans with important effects on the physical properties and functions of the molecules.

Contrary to naturally occurring monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty-acids, as found in natural vegetable oils, those oils that go through hydrogenation for commercial applications, Trans Fatty-Acids (TFA), a type of man-made fat, have trans double bonds at unsaturation sites within the fat/fatty-acids molecule. This produces a more solid fat, approaching that for saturated fatty-acids.

Hydrogenation of unsaturated liquid vegetable oils results in the transformation of more solid partially hydrogenated oils, including margarines, vegetable oil spreads, and vegetable shortenings. These hydrogenated vegetable oils and shortenings are used extensively in processed foods and fast foods as they provide greater resilience to oxidation and therefore longer shelf-lives. Hydrogenation provides inexpensive spreadable products that can last almost for ever and they can be labeled by the manufacturers ‘animal and cholesterol free’ to gain appeal with consumers.

Trans fatty-acids are an increasing health concern, since the amounts in a typical North American diet have increased markedly. Besides the fact that our bodies do not need this form of fats, they contain toxic residues, as metal catalysts such as nickel, aluminum or copper is used during processing. Hydrogenation produces dozens of other non-natural chemicals many of which have never been studied to determine their effects on human health.

Approximately 90% of the TFA consumed per person daily is derived from vegetable/plant-derived primary food sources, often from processed and fast-food products. Margarine contribute almost20% of the total TFA intake in the North American diet, with the remaining coming from a number of other foods often contain up to 50% of the total fat as FTA. In 1956 a leading article in the prestigious Lancet Magazine presented the following warning. “The hydrogenation plants of our modern food industry may turn out to have contributed to the causation of a major disease.” (Lancet. 1956. 2. 557).

The thing that has to be understood about fats is that the essential fatty-acids they contain are essential in all bodily processes; brain cell function, hormones, cell wall function, nervous system, immune system, digestive-tract operation. The problem with trans fatty-acids is that while the chemically active part is altered due to hydrogenation the part that gets attached to the cell wall remained unchanged. This results in trans fatty-acids to take up their position in the cell wall but they cannot do their job. Repeating the process over long periods of time it will affect human health. If humans fail to consume enough essential fatty-acids signs and symptoms of deficiency develop.

Partial hydrogenation has been used commercially since 1930 supplying unnatural fat products to our food. Trans fats interfere with normal cell biology and that they are a recent and unnatural intrusion into our diets. When hydrogenation takes place we end up with a product that has almost all of its essential nutrients removed or destroyed. Besides extra virgin olive oil and a few other exceptions that are usually only sold by health food companies, almost all cooking oils and margarines are either hydrogenated or they contain high proportions of hydrogenated fat, and almost all products that list fat, or partially hardened fat, will contain hydrogenated fat.

Hydrogenated vegetable oils are used extensively in foods such as chips, cookies, fries, and pastry. Hydrogenation allows manufacturers to start with cheap, low-quality oils, and to turn these into products that compete with natural products such as butter. It is astonishing how many products you will find that contain partially hydrogenated oils when you start reading food labels in your local supermarket. Fortunately, the word is getting out. Media frequently covers the subject and information is beginning to penetrate the public consciousness.

Fats are important for many body processes and we need to include them in our diet. The human body needs moderate amounts of dietary fats to function properly. They are important nutrients and some are better than others as different types of fats react differently inside the body. Using them correctly to meet our body’s needs offer many health benefits. In contrast, regardless of the long and wide use of trans fatty-acids, the most important finding to have come out of the research in the last couple of decades is this: there are no safe levels that can be used.

The National Academy of Sciences-Institute of Medicine, has said there is no safe amount of trans fatty-acids in our diet. Trans fatty-acids raise bad cholesterol levels and lower the good raising the risk of heart attack. Researchers found that women who received 2% of their daily calories from trans fatty-acids were 70% to 100% more likely to suffer infertility due to lack of ovulation. Researcher Dr. Jorge Chavarro said. “It’s really a small amount of fats that we observed having a significant effect on infertility,”

The best oils are unrefined cold pressed or mechanically expelled without solvents natural oils. They retain more of the beneficial nutrients and health promoting qualities. They must be stored in containers that can protect them from light, oxygen and heat and they must be consumed fresh so they don’t spoil. They do not keep forever and will go rancid.

There are basic steps you can take to avoid them in your diet and substitute them with “good” fats. For starters, read food labels and avoid anything that contains the words “hydrogenated”. It really means partially hydrogenated oils, hydrogenated oils, or anything similar. Some of the foods labeled as trans fatty-acids free are not. Packaging can be deceptive.

When it says No trans fat, by law it may contain half a gram or more per serving. It depend what part of the world you live. A few servings a day and you could find yourself in dangerous ground. Stay clear of commercially fried foods, high-fat baked goods. Whenever possible substitute one of the natural unsaturated vegetable oils, in recipes calling for margarine, or other products that are known to contain trans fatty-acids

In conclusion, hydrogenation is chemical reactions that result in the direct addition of diatomic hydrogen, under pressure and in the presence of catalysts, on unsaturated bonds between carbon atoms as in the case of hydrogenation of vegetable oils. Knowing that unsaturated fatty-acids become rancid relatively quickly, to combat instability, manufacturers began to hydrogenate them. The result, a more solid and longer lasting form of vegetable oil, called “partially hydrogenated” oil.

Subjected to hydrogenation the new type of fatty-acids formed, trans fatty-acids, is cheaper and longer lasting but unnatural. Trans fats have been added to our daily diet, from manufacturers, Since1930in an ever increasing rate. With time larger and larger amounts of trans fatty-acids have been added to the typical diet to the point they have become a real health concern. The amounts in a typical North American diet have increased markedly.

The best oils are unrefined cold pressed or mechanically expelled without solvents, natural oils. They have higher retention of the beneficial nutrients and when consumed in a diet rich in high quality protein foods, for their essential amino acids, and complex carbohydrates provide health promoting qualities. Such oils must be stored in containers that can protect them from light, oxygen and heat and they must be consumed fresh. They do not keep forever and will go rancid.

Scientific evidence has shown that small amount of trans fatty-acids over long periods of time having a significant effect on human health. To avoid trans-fats take basic steps of reading foods labels and substitute them with “good fats”. In July 2003, the U.S. FDA issued a final rule requiring manufacturers to list Trans fatty-acids on a separate line, following the listing of saturated fats on nutrition labels. This policy became effective in 2006.

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