BASIC FOODS
PROTEIN – HELPS BODY GROW AND REPAIR.
Protein is a nutrient that helps body grow and repair itself. It has other jobs too. Every part of your body that you see your skin, hair, eyes is made up of protein.
Protein helps your body grow, repairs work. Your body is made of cells. Every day billions of worn-out cells are replaced, and protein is needed to help make these new cells.
Protein also gives you energy. But that’s not its main job. Helping to build and repair your body cells is its major function.
Protein mostly food from animals and a few plant foods are good sources of protein. Nuts, peanut butter, dry beans, and seeds are all foods from plants and good sources of protein.
CARBOHYDRATES - PRIME SOURCE OF ENERGY
Carbohydrate is an excellent source of energy. The amount of energy food provides your body is measured in calories. Two kinds of carbohydrates provide energy - starch and sugar.
CARBOHYDRATES come from grain foods, fruits and vegetables and foods made from sugar.
FIBER is another kind of carbohydrate that you need to stay healthy. Fiber helps food move through your body during digestion. It comes from fruits, vegetables, nuts, dry beans and whole-grain breads and cereals.
FAT IS NUTRIENT - GIVES ENERGY
It provides calories, too. Fat gives more calories than an equal amount of carbohydrate would. As a nutrient, fat has other functions:
It adds flavor to food. It helps satisfy your hunger because fat stays I your stomach longer than other nutrients do. It promotes growth and health skin.
Fat come from foods such as butter, salad dressing, vegetable oil, and margarine. Other foods such as nuts, peanut butter, meat and cheese have some fat in them along with many other nutrients.
Fat is important, too much isn’t good. It can lead to weight problems and heart disease.
VITAMINES
Vitamins are nutrients that help your body do its work. Even though your body only needs tiny amounts of each vitamin, they are essential to life. The name “vitamin” comes from the Greek word for life, “Vita”!
Vitamins are named after the letters of the alphabet. Some important vitamins are Vitamin A, the B Vitamins, and Vitamin C.
Vitamin A helps you eyes adjust to the dark. It comes from dark-green, leafy vegetables and yellow fruits and vegetables.
B Vitamins are grouped together because their job are similar. They all help your body use energy from Carbohydrate, fat, and protein. These nutrients keep your body healthy in other ways, too. For example, they help keep your eyes, skin and hair healthy.
B Vitamins come from different foods.
NIACIN B Meat, dry beans, breads, cereals.
THIAMINE B1 Meat, dry beans, breads, cereals
RIBOFLAVIN B2 Milk and many foods from milk
Vitamin C helps the wound heal. Vitamin C keeps your gums healthy too. Vitamins C come from fruits, such as oranges, berries and melon. Some dark-green vegetables such as spinach have Vitamin C.
MINERALS – REGULATORS
Like Vitamins, minerals often act as regulators, used by the body in its many processes. There are 20 known minerals. By eating a variety of foods daily, you should get the minerals you need.
Calcium
It has two basic jobs. Ninety-nine percent of your body’s calcium is in your bones and teeth. The best source of calcium is dairy food. Some green leafy vegetables and fish eaten with their bones, such as sardines or canned salmon, have calcium too.
Iron
The nutrient iron becomes part of your blood. Iron helps carry the oxygen breathe muscles, brain, and infact, to every part of body. The best source of iron is liver. But iron also comes from meat, eggs, dry beans and some breads and cereals.
WATER - BODY
Water is a nutrient. You can’t live without it. In fact, water makes up about two thirds of body. For example, blood is mainly water. It carries nutrients to every part of body. It also helps keep body at just the right temperature.
Need of water every day to replace water lose. Lose water in sweat, breath and in urine. Milk, juice, and soup are mostly water. Know that lettuce, apples, bananas, and cooked beef are more than half water.
