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Combining Nutrients - Creating Meals

Now that you know all there is to know about individual nutrients, we can move onto putting them all together.

Energy-providing nutrients are rarely consumed singularly. Often they are found in combinations in nature. The meals we prepare are usually combinations of all three. Protein and fat are commonly found together, like in meat. Carbohydrates are usually a component in all meals. The specific combination of foods in a meal changes the body’s reaction to them. While a piece of white bread alone may elicit a high insulin response (white bread has a glycemic index of around 70) the addition of peanut butter to the piece of bread (peanut butter is mainly fat and protein) lowers the insulin response considerably. Knowing what foods to combine and how these foods complement each other is essential for weight control and meeting your body’s basic needs.

The Basics:

Carbs are readily used as energy in the body, and are preferentially used first, thus sparing other nutrients, like protein, for higher maintenance functions. Simple carbs (high G.I.) are quickly absorbed, leading to a quick rise in available energy, but will be stored if they are not used. Complex carbs (low to moderate G.I.) are more slowly converted to sugar and absorbed, leading to a sustained release of energy, but are still stored when not used. Low blood sugar levels cause a sense of hunger, which is quite often why people crave carbs when feeling hungry. Unfortunately, eating simple carbs may not lead to a feeling of fullness and often leads to overeating due to the lack of this sensation. Optimal choices in carbohydrate selection will have to be made in order to avoid weight gain.

Fat is an important component of a meal: a meal with some fat will digest slowly, have a lower glycemic index, and give the person a stronger feeling of fullness. The longer a meal takes to digest the more the body will be able to absorb from that meal. The lasting feeling of fullness is also very important. This will prevent the irritating hunger that sometimes follows only a short time after a meal and even more importantly, helps prevent overeating. There should be a fat component to all meals, and care taken to make sure that most of the fat consumed is a “good” fat.

Protein should be made a part of every meal to lower the glycemic index of a meal and give the body the important amino acids it needs. Remember, a meal containing protein will require a larger amount of energy to digest than a meal of mostly carbs. Proteins are not readily available as energy in the body and must undergo a lengthy process in the body to be used for this purpose. A constant intake of small amounts of protein will keep the metabolism at a higher level as well as keep the body in positive nitrogen balance, leading to muscle and vital protein synthesis.

Take Home Message: Your meals should be combinations of nutrients. This will ensure several things: 1) variety to prevent boredom which will allow you to maintain habits longer, 2) adequate intake of all nutrients, especially protein and fiber to keep metabolism high and meals satisfying, and 3) good control of insulin to ensure efficient nutrient use.

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October 1, 2008

The Foods That You Eat - FAT

For our next installment of the nutrition blogs, we are going to begin to cover all the different nutrients that you consume. The first will be FAT!

There are three nutrients that provide energy, or calories, in food: Fat, Carbohydrates, and Protein. Vitamins and minerals are found in all three of these categories but do not contribute calories, so they are not the focus when discussing weight control. To help you understand what you are really eating, we will cover each of the energy-providing nutrients in detail.

Fat: Fat is the most energy dense of all the nutrients, containing nine calories per gram. Fat is absolutely essential to life, providing the body with fat soluble vitamins as well as the building blocks for hormones, and other molecules vital to immune and brain function. There are 4 different types of fats, and three that occur naturally.

Saturated Fat: The worst type of fat, saturated fats are solid at room temperature and are found mainly in animal sources. For example: Beef fat is composed of mostly saturated fat. Saturated fats are highly organized molecules that pack together tightly in the body and are easily stored. Science has shown that high intake of saturated fats is linked to heart disease, obesity, and high cholesterol. In fact, it has been shown that high intakes of saturated fats are more responsible for high cholesterol than consumption of cholesterol itself. The intake of saturated fats should be carefully controlled. Saturated fats are found most commonly in red meats and whole dairy products, as well as baked products using lard or butter as an ingredient.

Monounsaturated Fat (MUFA): Monounsaturated fats have one point of unsaturation somewhere along the fatty chain, which leads to a less organized structure. They are therefore liquids at room temperature. MUFAs are commonly found in nuts, avocados, seeds and olives. These fatty acids have been shown to have positive effects on the heart and vascular system. In general, MUFAs are regarded as good fat, and are recommended in part of an everyday diet.

Polyunsaturated Fat (PUFA): Also normally considered a good fat, PUFAs are most commonly found in plant sources like vegetable oils, though fatty fish, like salmon, is also a good source. Fatty fish, walnuts, and flaxseeds contain a PUFA commonly referred to as omega-3 fatty acid, which is one of the best-known PUFAs. Omega-3 fatty acids are essential of synthesis of hormones, and building cell membranes, especially nerve cells in the brain. PUFAs are also liquid at room temperature. Polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats should make up the vast majority of your daily fat consumption.

Trans-Fatty Acids (TFA): Trans-fatty acids, although they occur in small quantities naturally, largely are created when vegetable oils are chemically altered, or “hydrogenated.” This process gives them a much longer shelf life and makes them suitable for a number of other purposes. TFAs are commonly found in baked goods, cookies, crackers and fried foods. They are also a large constituent of vegetable based shortenings, like Crisco and margarines. Usually found on the ingredient listing as “hydrogenated vegetable oil” or something closely resembling that, TFAs are quite predominant in today’s foods. They are essentially treated like saturated fats by the body. Avoiding trans-fatty acids is straightforward as long as you read labels. Look for the word “hydrogenated” in the ingredients listing and they are included on food labels under fats as well.

Take Home Message: Fats are not all bad. There are different types of fats and some of them are good for you. Saturated fats and trans-fatty acids should be avoided. Mono- and poly- unsaturated fats have attributes that are beneficial and should be made part of an everyday diet.