In a previous article (The Food Pyramid — Healthy Breakfast: What Our Body Needs (1)), we saw what our body needs and, broadly speaking, where we can find it: balanced nutrition, water and exercise. Here, we have a more detailed look at the nutrients we need and what their best sources are.
Macro-, Micro-, and Phyto-Nutrients
Let’s try and get this into perspective. A Ferrari is one of the most desirable high performance cars; its engine is based on state of the art engineering and technology. The total number of parts that make up a Ferrari is estimated to be some 20,000 or so. They purr into action at the push of a button. All the parts are man-made and replaceable.
Compare this with our body. It is a totally different engine. It consists of approximately 100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion) cells. All cells are active all the time and in need to be watered and fed continuously. All replace themselves incessantly during our lifetime, and not a single on can as yet be replaced reliably by anything man made.
While money can buy a Ferrari and its spare parts, and high-grade oil and fuel is what she needs to run, looking after our body is at a different level altogether.
To be able to function properly, the body needs 114 different nutrients every day. Both, our food and nutritional supplements should provide us with the full range of nutrients:
Macro-nutrients: proteins, carbohydrates and fats Micro-nutrients: vitamins, minerals and trace element Phyto-nutrients: plant-based nutrients
Macro-nutrients
We need to ensure that we obtain the full range of nutrients on a daily basis. This is why proteins and carbohydrates must be included not only in our food but also in the list of supplements although they are strictly speaking not supplements.
The sources of protein generally recommended are lean meat, fish and pulses, preferably grilled or steamed. Sometimes, people find it difficult to eat sufficient quantities of the right proteins in their daily routines. In these cases, your regular meals benefit from supplements.
Macro-nutrients, especially soy isolate, are conveniently available in the form of meal replacement shakes. Meal replacement shakes are, obviously, associated with weight loss and recent research has shown that the most effective weight loss methods incorporate meal replacement and personalized protein management. But far beyond weight loss, this method of supplementation also generates a host of health benefits that can lead to reduction or even elimination of medication. The use of meal replacement shakes is therefore not reserved exclusively to weight loss. They can also serve as a convenient shortcut to help provide optimally balanced nutrition as part of your everyday regime in addition to your regular meals.
Soy protein is regarded as the healthiest protein available. It is the most kidney friendly protein on the planet. It is 100 percent absorbed and provides impressive health benefits. The FDA allows the claim that 25g/day may reduce the risk of heart disease. Soy protein helps lower cholesterol levels, helps the bone mass, makes the menopause easier for women without any of the health concerns attributed to hormone replacement therapy such as breast cancer, heart disease or stroke. In some opinions, 80% to 90% of heart disease deaths are preventable by weight loss and by nutritional intervention such as soy protein. However, no one should reduce medication for any condition without prior consultation with their treating physician.
We need proportionately more carbohydrates than anything else. Carbohydrate consumption itself is not the problem. The problem lies in the types of carbohydrates we choose to eat. When eating carbohydrates think dark grain, that is, wholegrain bread, rice and pasta. Dark grains are also one of the best sources of fibre.
Fruit and vegetables are equally great for fibre. We need 5 to 11 servings of fruit and vegetables every day. Women should have at least 7 servings and men 9 servings. As most people seem to have difficulties eating even 5 servings of fruit and vegetables, we need to introduce appropriate supplements in our diet. However, none of the supplements can truly replace the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables. We’ll return to the issue of plant-based or phyto-nutrients in the next article in this series (Eating By Colours — Healthy Breakfast: What Our Body Needs (3)).
Another group of macro-nutrients are fats. We know that saturated fats, those that solidify at room temperature, contribute to arteriosclerosis, the furring up of arteries, and therefore to cardio-vascular diseases. Unsaturated fats, on the other hand, especially those high in omega-3 fatty acids like flax oil, olive oil and fish oil, are healthy, but should equally be consumed in moderation because of their high calorie count.
Like vitamin C, our body does not produce some of essential fatty acids (EFAs). We have to obtain them from food or supplements. Tip: wherever you see the word “essential” in the definition of a nutrient, it means that our body absolutely needs it but is unable to produce it; we have to eat to obtain this nutrient.
In recent years, the importance of omega-3 fatty acids has been documented for many different health related uses. Cardiologists, arthritis specialists, psychiatrists, neurologists, all recommend omega-3 fatty acids because of their powerful anti-inflammatory effects.
In contrast to the benefits derived from soy protein, which can only be obtained from eating soy, the benefits derived from omega-3 fatty acids can be obtained from supplements. You don’t have to eat fish to get it. Studies have shown that supplementing with omega-3 fatty acids will provide at least as many benefits as eating fish. The difference is that supplements are safe while some fish are contaminated.
Omega-6 is closely related the omega-3 essential fatty acid. Both fatty acids are necessary for good health but must be consumed in the right proportions. Plants provide them in the correct ratio (3 to 1) and also provide vitamin E and other anti-oxidants to counteract the inflammatory properties of omega-6 fatty acids. Modern processed food, however, uses a lot of oils that have omega-3 stripped out in the processing. As a result, modern diets contain omega-6 and omega-3 in ratios between 10 to 1 and 30 to 1. Many scientists now believe the unnaturally high ratio of omega-6 explains many inflammatory conditions such as IBS, auto-immune diseases, asthma, heart disease and many common forms of cancer because the anti-oxidant vitamins naturally occurring in plants are not present in the ingredients used in modern cooking.
Micro-nutrients
The use of multi-vitamin supplements has exploded in popularity over the last two decades. Now, also the medical profession has begun to subscribe to vitamin and mineral supplementation.
Scientific studies support their use for a variety of reasons. Supplements can help bring consumption of vitamins and minerals up to recommended levels. Their use at levels above recommended intake may be beneficial for maintaining optimal health and preventing diseases. Adequate intake can be beneficial in reducing the risk of birth defects and may help reduce the risk of some chronic disease. However, vitamin and mineral supplementation alone is not a substitute for a healthy diet. It will help to achieve overall nutritional health in combination with a balanced diet drawn, for instance, from the California Cuisine Pyramid (I discuss this in my article: The Food Pyramid — Healthy Breakfast: What Our Body Needs (1)).
Nutritional and Pharmacological Standards for Supplements
Few people know that nutritional supplements can be produced to differing standards. The nutritional standard requires that the supplement contain at least 30% of the ingredient listed on the label. The pharmacological standard requires that the supplement contain at least 98% of the ingredient listed on the label. Adding this to the quality of the ingredients explains why many users of cheap vitamin supplements report that they don’t feel any different when taking them. It is the same old song again: You get what you pay for.
RDA
Many visitors to health food shops and supermarkets are puzzled by percentages on the label called RDA. It is important to know that the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is a minimum standard defined by the World Health Organization and adopted by the relevant authorities in each country. If intake falls below the RDA, the population would be classified as malnourished. For instance, the RDA for vitamin C is 30 mg. Vitamin C is an essential nutrient; it is fundamental to the health of our body cells. As the human body is unable to produce vitamin C, we need to obtain Vitamin C from food and/or supplementation. Consistently consuming below the RDA for vitamin C will produce scurvy. At the other end of the scale, the safe upper limit for vitamin C is 10,000 mg. In combination with normal meals, vitamin C supplementation is, therefore, not only perfectly safe but also necessary in many cases. Should a danger of overdosing exist, the manufacturer of the supplement in question is obliged by law to state this on the label.
In the next article in this series, Eating by Colors — Healthy Breakfast: What Our Body Needs (3), I’ll outline a simple but highly effective method to select fruit and vegetable for optimally balanced nutrition.Max Alter, Ph.D.To get the complete survey of what our body needs, download the other articles in this series or download the free report on how to “Get Your Day Off To A Great Start” from http://www.myhealthybreakfast.com/freewellness/I deal with other aspects of healthy breakfast and nutrition on my website http://www.myhealthybreakfast.com and in my blog (you can click through to my blog from my website).
