Nutrition Basics
Nutrition is all the processes involved in the
assimilation and utilization of food substances and nutrients by which growth, repair, and
maintenance of activities in the body as a whole or in any of its parts are accomplished.
Includes ingestion, digestion, absorption, and metabolism.
Vitamins
Vitamins
are absolutely essential for life.
They contribute to good health by regulating the metabolism and assisting the biochemical
processes that release energy from digested food. They are considered micronutrients
because the body needs in relatively small amounts compared with nutrients such as
carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and water.
Water soluble vitamins must be taken into the body daily, as they cannot be stored and are
excreted within one to four days.
These include Vitamin C and the B complex vitamins.
Oil/fat soluble vitamins
can be stored to some degree for a longer period of time in the body’s fatty tissues
and the liver.
These include Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and Vitamin
K.
Synergy is a phenomenon in which two or more vitamins combine to
create a stronger vitamin function. An ideal example is bioflavonoids, in order for them
to work effectively they must be taken with vitamin C. Studies now indicate that
bioflavonoids may be a major factor in preventing cancer and many other diseases.
Minerals
Minerals are naturally
occurring elements found in the earth, fragmented by erosion, passed from the
soil to plants by microbes and then consumed for proper cell function and
structure. Minerals are necessary for proper composition of body fluids, the
formation of blood and bone, maintenance of healthy nerve function, and the
regulation of muscle tone. They function as coenzymes, enabling energy
production, growth, and healing.
All enzyme activities involve minerals and therefore are essential for proper
utilization of vitamins and other co-factors that maintain proper chemical
balance.
Mineral deficiencies are common because of the depleted soils used for years of
harvesting. crops, leaching of the soils by irrigation and erosion, poor dietary
habits resulting from the shift toward mineral deficient fast-foods and away
from mineral rich raw fruits and vegetables. Minerals are grouped into two
categories:
Bulk Minerals (Macrominerals) because they are needed in larger quantities and include
calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, phosphorus.
Trace Minerals (Microminerals) which are needed in smaller amounts,
but are equally as important for good health and proper body function and
include boron, chromium, copper, germanium, iodine, iron, manganese, molybdenum,
selenium, silicon, sulfur, vanadium, and zinc.
Enzymes
Enzymes are essential
chemicals that are the foundation of human bodily functions.
They are catalysts(activators) in the chemical reactions that are continually taking place
within the body. As coenzymes, vitamins work with the enzymes, thereby allowing all the
activities that occur within the body to be carried out just as they should be. Of the
major vitamins, some are water soluble and some are oil/fat soluble.
Amino Acids
Amino Acids are the
building blocks of proteins and are the end products of protein digestion. The
structure of amino acids has 2 conformations, D & L. This has to do with the way
the amino acid rotates plane-polarized light. The L (Levo)-conformation rotates
light to the left and is the form that is used by the body; the D (Dextro)-conformation
rotates light to the right and is indigestible by humans. The environment
consists of 80 amino acids; however, the body only utilizes 20 of them.
Essential amino acids are those that are not synthesized in the body so they
must be taken in through the diet. The body synthesizes the nonessential amino
acids yet this does not mean that they are not necessary, they are just as
important.
Essential Fatty Acids
Regardless of what tou have heard, the body needs fats and
oils, but, they must be the right kind, and are called essential fatty acids
because they are the building blocks of which fats and oils are composed.
Essential Fatty Acids (EFA's) can not be made by the body and must be consumed.
They are sometimes referred to as Vitamin F or polyunsaturates. EFA's improve
the skin and hair, reduce blood pressure, lowers cholesterol and triglycerides,
help prevent arthritis, reduces the risk of blood clot formation, are necessary
for nerve transmission, found in very high concentrations in the brain because
they are needed for normal brain function and development. Every living cell
needs EFA's, they are essential for repairing cells and building new cells. They
are used by the body to produce prostaglandin's which are hormone-like chemical
messengers that regulate various body processes.
There are now three basic categories: Omega-3 and Omega-6 and Omega-9
OMEGA-3 ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS are found in fresh deep water fish, fish oil,
certain vegetable oils, like canola, flaxseed, and walnut.
OMEGA-6 ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS are found primarily in raw nuts, seeds, legumes
and in unsaturated vegetable oils, such as primrose oil, sesame oil, soy bean
oil, borage oil.
Linoleic is the most essential EFA and is converted into non-beneficial
trans-fatty acids by hydrogenation or the making of hard oils like margarine.
OMEGA-9 ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS found
primarily in Olives
To obtain the daily requirement for EFA's, you must consume them as 10-20% of
your total caloric intake.
Recommended Daily allowances RDA’s were instituted over forty
years ago, unfortunately the amounts they came up with only give us the bare minimum
requirements to ward off deficiency diseases like beriberi, rickets, scurvy, night
blindness. In no way do they address what is needed to maintain maximum health, we prefer
to use the term optimum daily requirements ODA’s. Scientific studies have shown that
larger amounts of vitamins help our bodies operate better.
Vitamins Minerals, Enzymes, Amino Acids, Fatty Acid supplements all come in various forms, combinations, amounts and most important of all, the levels or grades of quality vary from exceptionally poor to USP XXVIII pharmaceutical grade nutritional supplements. Because there is no uniform standard for manufacturing practices in this industry currently, always select supplements manufactured with assay certification or USP XXVIII pharmaceutical purity and sterility standards.
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