Nutrition - Vitamins

There are a group of organic compounds containing carbon that vitamins consist of. These are needed for normal metabolism and normal growth. Eating some animal products/plants are ways to to obtain vitamins in your diet as all vitamins are made by plants.

From the action of bacteria in our GI tract, we can synthesise some B vitamins and some K vitamins ourselves. B vitamins include riboflavin and biotin.

There are also inactive vitamins (pro-vitamins e.g. beta-carotene) that can help our bodies to assemble small amount of certain vitamins. Beta-carotene cane be found in dark green and yellow vegetables. In the right circumstances, our bodies can make vitamin A. However, vitamin A needs to be found from elsewhere as the vitamin A in beta-carotene doesn't produce enough.

Fat soluble vitamins can only be absorbed, transported and used when fat is there. These vitamins are A, D, E and K. There is a large lack of fat-soluble vitamins when a diet is low in fat which can result in a person becoming ill. Any lack of vitamin A means the body will not be able to produce hormones that are necessary such as oestrogen, cortisol and testosterone.

Water soluble vitamins are absorbed, transported and used in water. These vitamins are B and C. They have an effect in the cells as they are absorbed along the digestive tract however, these vitamins can't be stored in the body in large amounts. These vitamins are essential for our daily diets to avoid becoming ill. Deficiency will occur when refined simple carbs are a large part of our daily diets. This is because it leads to an excess of sucrose.

Next up will be the purposes and sources of all the vitamins. :)

Nutrition - Food Portions

So, continuing from yesterday's post...

When talking about the different macronutrients (protein, carbs, fat), they have an approximate amount of calories and useable energy. These figures are as follows:

There are 4 calories per gram in carbohydrates, 4 calories per gram in proteins, 9 calories per gram in fats. Although alcohol is not a nutrient, there are 7 calories per gram in it... approx!

There are portion guides that people prefer to follow to save time counting each calorie they take in. Some guidelines will give out typical portions of foods to help.

According to the guidelines, these are what are classed as typical portions:

Fruit - small, medium, large, dried and juice. Small = 2 satsumas, 2 plums, 2 kiwi, 7 strawberries, 14 cherries. Medium = 1 apple, 1 banana, 1 pear, 1 orange. Large fruit = half grapefruit, one 5cm slice of melon, 1 large slice of pineapple. Dried = about 30g, one large heaped tablespoon of raisins or sultanas, handful of banana chips. Fruit juice = 150ml glass of unsweetened juice.

Veg - green veg, salad veg, cooked veg. Green = 2 broccoli spears, 4 heaped table spoons of kale, spinach, or green beans. Salad = 3 sticks of celery, 5cm piece of cucumber, 1 medium tomato, 7 cherry tomatoes. Cooked = 3 heaped tablespoons of carrots, peas, corn or cauliflower.

Bread, rice, pasta and potatoes = 1 slice of bread, handful of rice or pasta, handful of breakfast cereal, 1 small to medium potato.

Meat, fish, eggs and beans = lean meat the size of a deck of cards, 1 large egg, side of fish the size of a standard chequebook, handful of beans, nuts or seeds.

Milk and dairy = small cup of milk, 150ml of yogurt, piece of cheese size of small matchbox.

Food and drinks high in fat and sugar = limit these foods to no more than 8% of total intake.

The next post will be about food quality etc...