In 400 words or more: Based on the lecture and reading, which pyramid is more reflective of your current intake? Which pyramid would fit your lifestyle and nutritional needs better? Of all the nutrients, vitamins and minerals listed in the chapter, where is there a deficit in your intake? What specific foods could provide what you need?

Chapter Six — Fuelling Optimally

Objectives

1) Identify Macro vs micro nutrients

• Macro: Protein, Carbohydrate, Fats
• Micro: Vitamins, Minerals, Fluids

2) Analyze 2 different food pyramids

Do you eat to live or live to eat?

Our ancestors, to survive had to not only find a food supply, which required physical exertion, but learn how to store that energy in the form of fat. For the majority of Americans, food supply is not an issue, but excess storage of energy is! Our food supply is increasingly tantalizing us with fast food, ordering in, eating out, with most portions suited for 2-3 persons, not one. Couple this sea change in eating habits with sedentariness, and we don’t have to wonder why obesity is an epidemic, contributing to numerous diseases. How many of us burn calories at work? How about after work? Is our leisure time in front of a screen or phone? Most of us did not grow up walking to school. Most people don’t walk or engage in vigorous activity. This combination of more energy in and less energy out has created a desperate need for educating ourselves.

Nutrients: The saying goes “If you eat like a slug, you act like one”. Conversely,If you fuel like an athlete at least you have the potential to act like one. If we were eating nutrient dense food, would we overeat as much? Are people getting fat eating beans and rice, or too much fruit? The answer is no., because nutritious food satiates our gut and our brain.l Nutrients can be broken down into six categories: Protein, carbohydrate, fats, vitamins, minerals and water. Protein carbohydrate and fats are macro nutrients because they make up the bulk of our diet. Vitamins and minerals are micronutrients, we need them in small amounts on a daily basis. As for water, the body needs a generous supply of it to thrive.

Protein: Protein is made up of amino acids which are the building blocks for our cell walls, muscle tissue, hormones and enzymes. These nine amino acids make up a complete protein, such as meat, eggs, dairy, chicken, seafood (anything with a head on it). Fruits, grains and vegetables (with the exception of soy) are incomplete proteins. Animal protein is a better source of essential amino acids (as well as iron and vitamin B12, however those on a vegetarian diet can combine grains, beans and leafy vegetables to get the complete protein they need. Training builds proteins, another benefit of training! Aerobic training builds aerobic enzyme proteins that produce energy, and strength training builds contractile proteins for strength. To accomplish this at least 15 percent of your daily caloric intake should be protein. There’s always debate among coaches as to how much protein their athletes need, especially those in endurance sports or strength and conditioning. Existing studies support a dietary intake of 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight for endurance athletes, and for strength athletes, 1.6 to 1.8 grams per kilogram of body weight (American College of Sports Medicine, 2000, Lemon, 1995).

Carbohydrate: Referred to as “carbs” they often are associated with the high caloric snack foods we shovel down. These are generally simple carbohydrate, but there is complex carbohydrate and fiber, which are essential for providing fuel for the body and brain food. Carbohydrate provides energy and is first to be burned off when you expend energy. Throughout the world, the major source of energy for most cultures is beans, rice and grains. We need these complex carbohydrates in their most whole form. When we strip grain of its bran and germ and then “enrich” it with vitamins, we’re getting a facsimile of a whole grain, void of the nutrients and fiber. The more “enriched”, the less fiber, the less happy your digestive system will be. Read your labels! A guideline for cereal is at least 5 grams of fiber and less than 5 grams of sugar. Very few cereals are low sugar, which is why steel cut oats is a great breakfast. Sweeten with fruit whenever possible. Simple sugars, like sucrose and fructose contain energy but no nutrients (i.e. vitamins and minerals). Fresh fruit contains simple sugars, but it also provides important nutrients. Studies show America is not getting fat on complex carbs like whole grains, beans and brown rice, but on bottled fruit juices and refined carbohydrate. Recalibrate your palate by letting the unadulterated sweetness of fruit sweeten your smoothies, your yogurt, your mineral water, and be your dessert!

Fat: This macronutrient is so often misunderstood, however it is an absolutely essential nutrient in a healthy diet and too little is a bad thing. Fat is the most efficient way to store energy with 9.4 calories per gram, versus 4.1 and 4.3 calories for carbohydrate and protein. Besides storing energy, it transports and helps us absorb vitamins A, D, E and K, conducts nerve impulses, and cushions vital organs. It makes up a large portion of bone marrow and brain tissue It makes food taste better, and when food is more satiating, we crave less sugar and simply eat less.

Our small intestine breaks down fat and distributes it to cells for energy or to adipose tissue (the layer of fat beneath your skin) for storage. As we know there was a time in human history where we needed this fat storage for survival–however unless you’re dealing with semi starvation as one of the last Alaska Survivors in the series Alone, most of us aren’t tapping into our fat stores for survival. It isn’t just fat that converts to fat, excess carbs and protein gets converted to fat and stored in adipose tissue.

Fat is essential yet is it all created equal? The three primary fatty acids are saturated, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. These fatty acid chains reflect how many hydrogen molecules they have and how they break down in your body. Saturated fats are found in meat and dairy. Olive oil is considered mono unsaturated and margarine, polyunsaturated. Better to have olive oil or butter than margarine which is processed with hydrogenation. Read your labels! Hydrogenation creates trans fatty acids and are found in many snack foods, extending their shelf life. Avoid these! The healthiest fats you can consume come from salmon (omega 3s and 6s), sardines, nuts, seeds, avocado. This is their whole food form and includes all the nutrients, phytochemicals and fiber as well as the fat. Roughly 25 percent of your daily calories should come from fat. But again, quality is critical! We need to eat more nutrient rich foods, fewer calorie rich foods. The body has an amazing healing and protective ability when we consume the most nutrient dense foods. When we consume foods completely devoid of nutrients like sugar, fake sweeteners, processed foods, hydrogenated oils and most fast foods, we set up our immune system for illness. Our ability to fight off a virus once we’ve been exposed is directly affected by the quality of our diet prior to being exposed. Again, poor nutrition not only makes us more susceptible to illness, but impacts the length and severity of the illness.

Micro nutrients: Vitamins and minerals are essential for life however they are needed in very small doses. The small amount of vitamins and minerals needed is readily available in a well balanced, nutrient dense diet. As mentioned earlier, fat soluble vitamins like A, D E and K are absorbed with fats in the diet. An excess of water soluble vitamins like B complex and C are flushed away in the urine. As you look at the table below, notice the food sources giving you the vitamins your body needs.

Minerals have an important supporting role in our health and maintain the body’s enzyme and cellular activity, some hormones, bones, muscle and nerve activity, and acid base balance. Minerals are available in many food sources but concentrations are higher in animal tissues and products. Do you need to take a vitamin or mineral supplement? Ideally, if you are eating nutrient dense macro nutrients, you will be getting the micro nutrients you need. If one is training hard, while losing weight, it’s possible supplementation might be important. Look at the chart below and the foods giving you the minerals you need. The goal is not to erase all “fun” food from your diet, but to include more nutritional bang for your calorie buck by filling up on this first! Hydration: Interestingly water contains no energy or vitamins, just trace amounts of minerals, yet water is the most important nutrient in the body. Making up more than half the body’s weight, water is essential for the absorption of vitamins and minerals in food. Water transports energy, gases, waste products, hormones, antibodies, and heat. It maintains the acid-base balance in the blood. Water regulates your temperature through perspiration, and lubricates surfaces and membranes.

Water awareness has risen considerably over the past decades. Most likely you were sent off to school as a child with a water bottle in your backpack. As for bottled water? A study by a consumer advocacy group found that of the 1,000 bottles and 103 brands tested in the U.S., about one-third were contaminated with bacteria, arsenic or synthetic organic chemicals and at least one-fourth were drawn directly from the tap (Natural Resources Defense Council, 1999). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concluded that bottled water, on average was not safer or more pure than regular tap water. In spite of this 1 in 15 American households spends between 250 and 10,000 times more for water by choosing to purchase bottled water (U.S. FDA, 1999). If you want to test your tap water, get a filtration kit and have it tested. If you want better tasting water, a reverse osmosis system is recommended, or for a lot less money a Brita filtration system that you refill daily.

Satisfy your thirst with water

How much is enough? A general rule of thumb is dividing your body weight in pounds by two, and drinking that number in ounces of water per day. So a 150 pound person would drink 75 ounces of water a day. Know how many water bottle refills that is for you. An excellent habit is to rehydrate yourself first thing every morning with a glass of water, before consuming anything else. If working out in hot weather or simply sweating a lot, you’ll need considerably more water. Another simple indication you are hydrating enough is urinating frequently with pale yellow urine.

Nutrient Density: High sugar, low nutrient foods give us empty calories. High nutrients relative to the calories or energy that is provided are said to have packed calories. Take note of this when it comes to drinking your calories. Sodas–empty calories! Diet sodas– empty nutrition, and worse, the fake sugars distort the flavor of sweetness on your palate, so that a naturally sweet food like a piece of fruit is not as appreciated. Elevate your palate by eliminating fake sugar. This includes stevia, monk fruit, xylitol, all of it! Better to sweeten some ice tea or mineral water with a little fruit juice; or a protein smoothie with fruit: you can gradually ratchet down your palates propensity for sweetness.

Summing up with food pyramids:

Take a look at the following two food pyramids and how they compare or contrast.

MyPlate is the recommendation from the U.S Department of Agriculture and US Dept of Health and Human Services. Notice the size of the quadrants on this plate. The idea is to add more vegetables, fruits, whole grains and pure dairy, while giving lean protein a supporting role.

No one food pyramid will represent all Nutrition Counselors recommendations.