Health

I. What is Nutrition? It's the science or study of food & the ways in which the body uses food. It is also the study of how and why we make food choices. Nutrition is also the study of the nutrients food contains. Nutrients are substances in food that provide the body with energy, help it grow & help it repair itself.

II. A Balanced Diet Keeps You Healthy
A. Diet is everything you eat & drink
B. To stay alive & healthy a person must eat & drink the right amounts of nutrients
C. Too little: weight loss, poor growth, even death
D. Too much: illness, excess fat, high blood pressure, heart disease

III. Six Classes of Nutrients
A. Carbohydrates (the body's preferred choice for energy)
i. Simple carb- simple sugars
ii. complex carb- starches, plant foods
iii. 45-65% of the calories in our diets should come from carbohydrates
iv. Fiber- a complex carb. Provides little energy & cannot be digested. Very important to your intestine's health, helps prevent colon cancer, heart disease, constipation
B. Fats- belong to a class of chemical compounds called lipids. They are not dissolved in water
i. saturated fats are made up of saturated fatty acids, come from animal meat & milk & a few vegetables
ii. unsaturated fats are made up of unsaturated fatty acids
iii. For teens, 25-35% of calories should be fats
iv. Cholesterol- a fat like substance not a nutrient, cholesterol also from diet. Cholesterol is found only in animal tissue
C. Proteins- your muscles, hair & nails are made up of mostly protein
i. proteins in the body help build new cells & repair existing ones
ii. Proteins are also needed to form hormones, enzymes, antibodies, & other important molecules
iii. If you eat more protein than needed, it's stored as fat
D. Vitamins- are a class of nutrients that are chemical elements that are needed for certain body processes, such as enzyme activity & bone formation
F. Water- most important nutrient- 60% of the body is water

IV. Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) The recommended nutrient intakes that will meet the need of almost all healthy people

V. The Nutrition facts section of a food label provides info. on how much energy & nutrients a serving of food gives

VI. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans is a set of recommendations on diet & lifestyles designed to promote health, to support active lives & to reduce chronic disease risk in the general population

VII. Healthy snacks like fresh fruit, low fat yogurt or low salt pretzels, provide a good source of essential nutrients without excessive calories & fats

VIII. As children grow, their total nutrient & energy requirements increase with total needs being greatest in teen years

IX. Athletes need a well balanced diet that's higher in energy & fluids than the diet of a less active person

X. Simple dietary changes like switching to low fat dairy products & eating fresh fruits & vegetables in place of sweet/salty snacks can reduce the amount of fat, sugar & salt in your diet