Chapter 3: Macronutrients
Section 3.1
Diet Terms
• Nutrients
• The substances in food that gives the materials needed for energy.
• Macronutrients
• Nutrients that are required in large amounts.
• Examples: Water, Carbohydrates, Proteins, and Fat
• Micronutrients
• Nutrients that are needed in small amounts.
• Examples: Vitamins and Minerals.
• They are not destroyed by the body when used or burned for energy.
Water & Nutrition
• Water helps to bring nutrients to different parts of our body.
• Water helps dissolve and eliminate waste products of digestion.
• Water helps to maintain blood pressure and is involved in all cellular
activities.
• After 3 days without water, you die.
• You can also get water from food.
Dehydration
• Not enough water in our bodies because we aren't drinking enough
water or we are sweating too much.
• Results of dehydration: muscle cramps, fatigue, headaches, dizziness,
nausea, confusion, and increased heart rate.
• Results of severe dehydration: hallucinations, heat stroke, and death.
• The body, including the brain, depends on water in the circulatory
system to deliver nutrients as well as some oxygen.
Do you drink enough water?
• Every day, we lose about 3 liters of water as sweat, in
urine, and in feces.
• To avoid dehydration, we must replace this water.
• We can get up to 1.5 liters of water per day from
food. The other 1.5 liters we need from water.
• The recommended amount is 6 to 8 (8 ounce)
glasses of water.
Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates come from:
• bread,
• cereal,
• rice,
• pasta,
• fruits,
• and vegetables.
Carbohydrates, especially glucose, is the major source of energy for cells.
Refined Sugars: Avoid or Eat Less
• These sugars are digested and enter the bloodstream
quickly after you eat them.
• Most refined sugars are simple sugars or
monosaccharides.
• These sugars are found in milk, juice, and honey. And
most commonly seen as white sugar.
• Fructose is a sugar found in corn syrup.
Complex Carbohydrates:
Healthy
• Complex carbohydrates are polysaccharides.
• Complex carbohydrates are found in vegetables, breads, legumes, and
pasta.
Complex Carbohydrates
• These sugars can be stored for later use.
• Plants, such as potatoes, store their excess carbohydrates as the
complex carbohydrate starch.
• Animals store their excess carbohydrates as the complex
carbohydrate glycogen in muscles and the liver.
• Both starch and glycogen are polymers of glucose, which is necessary
for life.
Nutritionists
• Nutritionist say that the complex carbohydrates are the most healthy
carbohydrate you can eat .
• They also say you should eat only a small amount of refined and
processed sugars. The Diabetes Association states that you can eat 6
to 7 teaspoons of added refined sugars a day, but in reality you should
not eat any of it.
• Complex carbohydrates also can give you dietary fiber which helps
maintain healthy cholesterol levels and reduces the risk of cancer.
Questions 3
1. What are macronutrients? Give examples.
2. What are micronutrients? Give examples.
3. What can happen if you have severe dehydration?
4. Does your brain need water?
5. How many liters of water can we get from food?
6. How much water should you have per day?
7. What foods have carbohydrates in them?
8. What foods have refined sugars?
9. What foods have complex carbohydrates?
10. What type of carbohydrate is healthy for you?
Protein
Protein-rich foods are:
beef, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, nuts, and dairy products such as milk,
yogurt, and cheese.
Proteins
• Most proteins can be made your body.
• Your body cannot make essential amino acids which must come from your
food.
• Complete proteins have all the essential amino acids your body needs.
Proteins from meat are complete. Meat is rich in protein, but it is also rich in
FAT.
• If the vegetarian diet is rich in a wide variety of plant based foods, the body
will have little trouble getting all the amino acids it needs to build proteins.
Fat
Foods rich in fats are
• meat,
• milk,
• cheese,
• vegetable oils,
• and nuts.
• You can remove the fat from a
chicken because it is on the surface
of the chicken.
• You cannot remove the fat in red
meat.
Essential Fatty Acids
You can only get essential fatty acids from your diet.
Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are essential fatty acids that you can
get from fish.
1-2 three ounce servings a week of anchovies will reduce heart disease
by 36%.
Unsaturated versus Saturated
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Saturated fat is saturated with hydrogen.
Saturated fats are solid at room temperature.
Example: Butter
Usually from animals.
Unsaturated fat is not saturated with
hydrogen.
Unsaturated fats are liquid at room
temperature.
Unsaturated fats have more carbon to carbon
double bonds.
When there are more double bonds, the fat is
polyunsaturated.
Example: Cooking Oils
Usually from plants.
Hydrogenation
• Commercial food manufacturers add hydrogen atoms to unsaturated
fat by combining hydrogen gas with vegetable oils under pressure.
This is hydrogenation.
• Hydrogenation makes food seem less greasy, and extends shelf life.
• Example: Margarine
Cis fatty acid versus Trans fatty acid
• When hydrogen atoms are on the same side of the carbon to carbon
double bond, they are in the cis form.
• When hydrogen atoms are on the opposite side of the carbon to carbon
double bond they are in the trans form.
• Trans fats are straight chain saturated fats with fatty acids in a trans
form.
These fatty acids are not needed and can
cause clogged arteries, heart disease,
and diabetes.
Questions 4
1. What foods have a lot of protein in them?
2. What proteins does your body need? Why?
3. Can a vegetarian diet give you the essential amino acids you need?
4. What foods are rich in fat?
5. What essential fatty acids do you need?
6. What foods have essential fatty acids in them?
7. Are unsaturated fats solid at room temperature?
8. What is an example of a saturated fat?
9. What fatty acids are not needed by your body?
10. What will these fatty acids cause if you have them?