Nutrients

Good nutrition is one of the most important things you can do to feel good now and to stay healthy as you grow up.  Nutrition is simply the total of what you put into your body as food and drinks.  This can be broken into categories of nutrients—the building blocks of nutrition.  These include vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.  You can also think of water as a nutrient.  Your body is able to make some nutrients on its own.  However, most nutrients must be taken into your body through your diet.  The balance of nutrients in your diet determines how healthy that diet is.  For example, if you take in too much fat and not enough protein, or too many carbohydrates and not enough fat, your diet is not well-balanced and you do not have good nutrition.

 

Below you will see a list of tips to help give you a good balance of NUTRIENTS in your diet.  Rather than worrying about exactly how many grams of fat, protein, or carbs you eat every day, you can follow general rules that will help you have a good diet.

 

● Try to eat fruits and vegetables every day.  If you cook or help your parents cook, these foods are healthiest when eaten raw or boiled.  Try not to fry or microwave them as this ruins a lot of the nutritional value of these foods.  In this way you will get the VITAMINS and MINERALS that fruits and vegetables provide.

 

● Make sure you get plenty of other MINERALS, such as calcium.  You get calcium mainly through dairy products, so try to choose healthier options like yogurt and low fat milk rather than cheese and ice cream.

 

● Choose meats that have less fat, and watch your portions!  A proper portion of meat is 3 ounces, which is about the size of a deck of cards.  Lean meats include white meat chicken and turkey.  You can also get your PROTEIN from nuts, beans, and fish.

 

● You must have FAT in your diet.  The key is to eat a proper amount of fat, and don’t be overly concerned about it.  Remember that you have to have it.  You should try to get your fat from dairy products and healthy proteins such as fish, rather than from deep-fried foods like potato chips and French fries.  Believe it or not, fish oils (or fats) have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease.

 

●  Drink plenty of WATER.  Try to limit sugary drinks like pop/soda and juice.  These provide calories, which turn into body fat, without providing very much good nutrition.  Even diets high in diet or sugar-free pop/soda have been shown to increase body fat.

 

●  Choose your CARBOHYDRATES wisely.  Some carbohydrates are healthier than others.  Try to choose whole grains (look for whole wheat or multi grain breads or pastas) over white breads and pastas.  These provide much more fiber, and are not as easily turned into body fat, while the carbs in white bread and pasta is processed into calories, which are then turned into fat.

 

You can use the food guide pyramid to help determine how to balance your diet.  This has been updated and probably looks very different from the food guide you saw when you first studied nutrition.  Spend some time at this website to learn about the new food pyramid.