Nutrients are essential chemical compounds that provide our bodies with raw materials and fuel to fuel cell metabolism, as well as contributing to overall good health and preventing disease.
For proper functioning, your body requires six classes of nutrients – carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals.
Carbs provide our primary energy source, producing kilocalories (energy units). Proteins provide structure to cells, tissues and organs. Fats help regulate cholesterol and blood sugar.
Carbohydrates
Carbs can be found in numerous foods, from fruits to grains and legumes. Food manufacturers often add carbohydrates as added sugar or starch in processed food products. Carbohydrates consist of monosaccharides (sugar molecules with one sugar unit bonded together), disaccharides (two sugar units linked together), and polysaccharides (more than three sugar units joined).
Carbs provide energy in the form of glucose which your body uses as energy, while also storing some for later. Your body prioritizes burning glucose for energy over fat or protein; diets high in refined or added-sugar carbohydrates could potentially lead to weight gain; Nutrition Facts labels on food packages will help you identify these sources.
Proteins
Protein is an essential nutrient, supplying amino acids – the building blocks for many molecules in our bodies – which make up life’s building blocks. There are 20 amino acids, with 9 essential to human survival requiring food intake (known as essential amino acids). Proteins fall into seven categories according to their biological function: structural proteins like collagen; regulatory proteins such as hormones and antibodies; transport proteins like hemoglobin and cytochrome; storage proteins such as albumins and glycerol; as well as enzymes such as prolipoprotein A1C/lipase.
Foods considered high in protein are defined as those which provide all essential amino acids, while plants like beans, lentils, peas, peanuts and whole grains can provide incomplete proteins owing to missing one or more essential amino acids. When combined together like baked beans with rice or peanut butter and whole grain bread can create complete proteins.
Fats
Fat provides essential fatty acids that the body uses for energy and to make certain hormones and other substances required for normal bodily functions. Dietary fats consist of molecules known as triglycerides which contain carbon atoms linked to hydrogen atoms; their degree of saturation depends on how many hydrogen chains each carbon chain possesses.
Unsaturated fats, commonly referred to as the “good” fats due to their potential ability to lower cholesterol, are liquid at room temperature and found in avocados, peanut butter, olive, canola and corn oils; walnuts, almonds hazelnuts; salmon trout herring mackerel). Saturated and trans fats on the other hand tend to remain solid at room temperature; such as meat products whole milk cream cookies other commercially prepared baked goods.
Vitamins
Vitamins found in food and dietary supplements play an essential role in keeping your body functioning normally, from building bones and healing wounds, to supporting immune defense systems and helping cells work correctly. Vitamin intake plays a major role in keeping our bodies running at peak performance!
Water-soluble vitamins such as Vitamin C and the Bs can’t be stored by your body, so they must be consumed daily if you want the benefits. Any excess will leave through urine.
Fat-soluble vitamins (Vitamins A, D and E) can accumulate to toxic levels if taken in excessive quantities. Most people can get enough fat-soluble vitamins through eating healthily; however, supplements may be needed during pregnancy or special medical conditions.
Minerals
Minerals are inorganic nonliving solids found naturally. They have numerous physical characteristics such as hardness, luster and streaking; as well as chemical ones like solubility magnetism and radioactivity.
Human bodies depend on minerals to grow and develop properly. Minerals play an essential part of immune function by providing balance between pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory responses in our immune systems.
The body needs two types of minerals – major and trace. Major minerals (commonly referred to as macrominerals) should be consumed daily in amounts greater than 100 milligrams; examples of such macrominerals are calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium and chloride. Meanwhile, trace minerals include iron, zinc, iodine, fluoride selenium copper which play vital roles in immunity as well as bone and tooth health.
